I would not buy a pass that covers Italy. I think it’s more convenient NOT to have a pass there. The fastest Italian trains require a reservation that’s not covered by the pass and the lines to buy reservations are sometimes miles long. You can buy your ticket (with reservation if it’s required) at the automated kiosk (or at trenitalia.com) in less than a minute, but you will have to wait in line to buy a reservation to use with a railpass. There are thousands of trains and most are relatively fast, so you can avoid trains that require a reservation fairly easily. Sometimes, however, the best train for you requires one. Maybe the 8:00AM train requires a reservation and you’d have to leave at 6:00 or wait until 10:30 to take a train that didn’t require a reservation.

Plus you’ll have to buy your ticket to Prague anyway and you may want or need reservations on other trips. I don’t think a pass will be all that much more convenient than buying tickets.

Thanks,

so would you suggest that I get a 4 or 5 day pass that covers just the 3 countries (Switz., germany and austria). Then just buy all of my tickets between Rome, Florence and Venice. What will happen on the train from Venice to Interlaken? Will i just have to buy a ticket from Venice to the Italy/Swiss border and then use my pass from the border to Interlaken?

No, I would suggest railsaver’s recommendation and not buy a pass at all. Since you seem to have your heart set on a railpass, buy a ticket to the border in Venice and then use your pass.

quote:
I would not buy a pass that covers Italy. I think it’s more convenient NOT to have a pass there. The fastest Italian trains require a reservation that’s not covered by the pass and the lines to buy reservations are sometimes miles long. You can buy your ticket (with reservation if it’s required) at the automated kiosk (or at trenitalia.com) in less than a minute, but you will have to wait in line to buy a reservation to use with a railpass. There are thousands of trains and most are relatively fast, so you can avoid trains that require a reservation fairly easily. Sometimes, however, the best train for you requires one. Maybe the 8:00AM train requires a reservation and you’d have to leave at 6:00 or wait until 10:30 to take a train that didn’t require a reservation.

Plus you’ll have to buy your ticket to Prague anyway and you may want or need reservations on other trips. I don’t think a pass will be all that much more convenient than buying tickets.

I am going to Italy in May and I am thinking about buing a Italy Interrail-card, but what you are saying is that it would be quicker and less expensive to by local train tickets? I am traveling in Italy for a week.

Chris

I am going to Italy in May and I am thinking about buing a Italy Interrail-card, but what you are saying is that it would be quicker and less expensive to by local train tickets? I am traveling in Italy for a week.

Chris

Interrail-card?
I only know about[url=‘http://www.interrailnet.com’]InterRail Passes[/url]. And these are only available to European residents. And there is also no one week, they start with a 1 zone 16 days pass.

You can check prices for train trips in Italy at
http://www.trenitali…
Cheap. Esp. if you avoid the fastest ones (EuroStar Italia).

Interrail is for residents of Europe, so I don’t really know about it. From posts that I’ve read I got the IMPRESSION that it is not honored on some of the premier trains. You may want to repost this as a new thread with "interrail" in the subject so you get better answers.

Tickets are cheap in Italy which is why a EURAIL (for those of use who aren’t residents of Europe) pass usually doesn’t pay. What’s expensive is the required reservation on EurostarItalia and Pendalino trains. A eurail pass does not cover the reservation. It’s easy to buy tickets in Italy (with or without reservations) from the kiosks or trenitalia.com What’s a hassle is waiting in line to buy a reservation. If you take regional and local trains instead of the premier trains this won’t be an issue.

Check prices and schedules at trenitalia.com and then decide about your interrail pass. You can figure out if it’s easy to avoid the premier trains for your itinerary and then use the prices (for trains that don’t require reservations) to calculate whether or not interrail will save money.