I’d "wing" it. Since you won’t have any idea where, when, and how often you are going, it’s probably not a good idea to buy a pass. Just incase you don’t get your money’s worth out of it.

For travelling within Italy, tickets will be cheap enough that a pass won’t be required. Then, if you are going any longer distances you may even be better off flying.

Try www.whichbudget.com to see some cheap flights.

I’m inclinded to agree with Nivid. Train tickets are expensive in Switzerland and France, but you may not be traveling very long distances, so a pass might not be worth it. Also, some of the specialty trains in Switzerland do not honor the railpass — but the railpass may provide a discount.

Try running a likely itinerary through www.railsaver.com

Possible pass options:

A 2 country pass for France and Switzerland (may be a better deal for some of the specialty trains in Switzerland) and point to point tickets in Italy.

A 6 day (7th day free if you buy it before the end of March), select pass for Switzerland, France and Italy. It costs $275. Use it for any trip that costs over $45, or for days where you may be taking more than one train. Buy a point to point ticket for any trip that’s cheaper.

thanks so much… the more i think about it the more i’m probably going to not buy a train pass yet (especially because none of my plans are decided)

also, does anyone know how the airport in Rome is? I have a pretty good understanding of the Italian language but since I’ll be there alone I’m hoping it’s not too big or confusing (like the one in Amsterdam! which took me almost an hour to find my way across it…)

Which Rome airport? FCO or CIA

Here’s the website that covers both:

http://www.adr.it/de…

You can find maps of both airports on that site.

I have been to FCO, and have absolutely NO knowledge of Italian, and I had no problems at all. But i’ve also been to AMS twice (with NO knowlegde of Dutch) and had no problems there either. From what I remember, all the signs were in English at AMS anyway, so i’m not sure why you found it so difficult.

I flew into FCO from AMS and then immediatly took the Leonardo Express train to Termini station, so I wasn’t there very long. From baggage claim to the train, may have been about 10 minutes walking (maybe 15). The train platform was upstairs in relation to baggage claim.

I’m sure you’ll be fine.