Eurail Pass in Italy?

Hi all,
My sister is heading to France, Italy & Spain for five weeks next month and
is considering purcahsing the 3 country pass (10 days unlimited travel in 2
mths). I initially advised her that she should not use a eurail pass in
italy (her longest train trip planned in Italy is Florence to Naples)
because when I travelled in Europe for several mths in 1999 I never used my
Eurail Pass in Italy because trains back then were inexpensive and it was
not worth "wasting" my eurail days on trips in Italy (my trip was 6 mths and
I intended travelling more countries). Obviously back then Euro was not
standard currency and I was spending Lira.
What is the case now? From what I can see, trains are not as cheap as they
once were. What do you advise? Can you also advise of any websites that
have journey times and costs so she can compare how much it will cost
compared to using a 'eurail day'.
Cheers,
Lor

In article , Lor
wrote:

Hi all,
My sister is heading to France, Italy & Spain for five weeks next month and
is considering purcahsing the 3 country pass (10 days unlimited travel in 2
mths). I initially advised her that she should not use a eurail pass in
italy (her longest train trip planned in Italy is Florence to Naples)
because when I travelled in Europe for several mths in 1999 I never used my
Eurail Pass in Italy because trains back then were inexpensive and it was
not worth "wasting" my eurail days on trips in Italy (my trip was 6 mths and
I intended travelling more countries). Obviously back then Euro was not
standard currency and I was spending Lira.
What is the case now? From what I can see, trains are not as cheap as they
once were. What do you advise? Can you also advise of any websites that
have journey times and costs so she can compare how much it will cost
compared to using a 'eurail day'.
Cheers,
Lor


Definitely not worth using a Eurail pass any more unless one never
stops running about. Trains in Italy are still less expensive than
Switzerland or Germany. I last used a pass about 20 years ago.
billfrogg

Definitely not worth using a Eurail pass any more unless one never
stops running about. Trains in Italy are still less expensive than
Switzerland or Germany. I last used a pass about 20 years ago.

True. If you plot out most of the Eurail options they run $60 per day and
up. If you get esoteric enough about the passes you can get a good deal
though. I have family who are getting the 10-day Germany/Benelux 2nd class
pass, and since they travel together they get the "Saver" option. Their
cost winds up to be $30 U.S. per day--and if you figure that this is 25
Euro, it really is a great option, especially considering the longer hauls
they will wind up putting in, which would normally cost 80 Euro and up per
leg (even figuring the discounted fare options on www.bahn.de ).

Lor wrote:
I initially advised her that she should not
use a eurail pass in italy (her longest train
trip planned in Italy is Florence to Naples)

From www.trenitalia.com
Eurostar 2nd Class =8042.35 Journey Time 3:37.
InterCity 2nd Class =8034.03 Journey Time 4:00-4:46 An optional seat
reservation the last I checked was =801.5. Regards, Walter



...And Paradise Was Lost...like teardrops in the rain...

True: I found trains cheaper in Italy but I got my value out of a pass
day for sure with my night trip from Geneva to Venezia...

My best 'pass day' started at 19:30 Braunschweig to Berlin ( a three
hour layover at Berlin Zoo to buss about the Centrum) Berlin to Bophal
(7:50 arr) (en rhein) via nachtzug; *free* Eurail 4hr+ ride on KD ferry
Bophal to Rudelsheim on the prime middle Rhein, train from Bingen to
Mainz, Geneva, into Interlocken Ost by 23:20... Must have been worth
200Eu!

The worst value day I had was probably the last day of use, Venezia to
Rome on ES with a mandatory upcharge... All in all I still *might*
consider another Eurail pass with good planning of use... I think I got
my money's worth, just barely (5 day-3 country- 356 USD). It did save
hassle at ticket counters sometimes. but the reality discovered was
that I still needed to use the ticket counters anyway most times for
route advice, information and train times, reservations as required,
etc...

One clueless conductor even threatened to confiscate my pass early on
because it was not carried in the 'official blue binder' it was issued
in... a cardboard cover sheath imprinted with *no* documentation or
reference to the ticket/pass or holder thereof whatsoever...? Thank God
I had the blue paper wrapper in my stuff to appease the twit.

Tim K

"Lor" wrote in message
u...
Hi all,
My sister is heading to France, Italy & Spain for five weeks next
month and
is considering purcahsing the 3 country pass (10 days unlimited travel
in 2
mths). I initially advised her that she should not use a eurail pass
in
italy (her longest train trip planned in Italy is Florence to Naples)
because when I travelled in Europe for several mths in 1999 I never
used my
Eurail Pass in Italy because trains back then were inexpensive and it
was
not worth "wasting" my eurail days on trips in Italy (my trip was 6
mths and
I intended travelling more countries). Obviously back then Euro was
not
standard currency and I was spending Lira.
What is the case now? From what I can see, trains are not as cheap as
they
once were. What do you advise? Can you also advise of any websites
that
have journey times and costs so she can compare how much it will cost
compared to using a 'eurail day'.
Cheers,
Lor

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 22:53:37 +1000, "Lor"
wrote:

Hi all,
My sister is heading to France, Italy & Spain for five weeks next month and
is considering purcahsing the 3 country pass (10 days unlimited travel in 2
mths). I initially advised her that she should not use a eurail pass in
italy (her longest train trip planned in Italy is Florence to Naples)...

What she should do is divide the total cost of the pass by ten and use
that amount as the limit for trips she pays for out-of-pocket. I
suspect that none of the trips in Italy will cost enough to make it
worth using up a pass day. Spain has pretty cheap trains as well.
Maybe she should do a little price comparison to see if she really
needs that pass after all.

-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

"Lor" wrote in message
u...
What do you advise? Can you also advise of any websites that
have journey times and costs so she can compare how much it will cost
compared to using a 'eurail day'.

http://www.trenitalia.com When you pick a particular train it will show you
the price between the cities you requested. I recall the trains in Italy
being very economical.

--
Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net