mammalmaniac

My husband and I will be in Italy in early Sept. The Eurail Pass will be cheaper for me, but not my husband (he's going mostly for business in Padova, I'm going for fun). After his conference in Padova (near Venice-which we'll see for 2 days before his conference), we'll both travel to Cinque Terre then Rome but for 1 week I'll be "stuck" in Padova. I've decided I'd like to take a few day trips (Dolomites, Florence, perhaps Milan). I realize these are not ideal day-trips for regular vacationers, but best for my circumstances. I want a lot of flexibility in these trips, prefering to get reservations the day of or day before my travels. However, I'm going to be really upset if I can't use my rail pass because the number of eurail pass users is already maxed out. I can't find any specific information on these restrictions. All I can find are vague cautions that some trains limit the number of eurail pass users (which ones? how often does this happen? etc.) I'm trying to balance my risk for last-minute reservations for maintaining flexibility. Does anyone have any experience being denied reservations because you're a eurail pass holder? What are my chances at getting last-minute seats in Sept.?

kybourbon

I don't think you will have any problem getting seats as trains between Padova/Florence and Padova/Milan run at least hourly. You are required to buy a seat reservation with the pass(10€ per train ride) for most trains in Italy. You might not need reservations on trains to the Dolomites, but depends on where you are going (slow R trains don't have reserved seats so you can't get a reservation).

Gretchen

Have you really checked the price of point to point possibilities against the use of a Eurailpass.

treplow

First of all, you don't need reervations to go from point A to Point B on most Italian (or for that matter any EEC trains, except some ICE's). Reservations are for a specific seat, not access to a specific train. The number of people on trains are not limited. People get seat reservations if (a) they want window seats), (b) they want a place to sit, instead of stand if the trains are very full, (c) they don't want to hunt for a vacant seat. That said, except at times near holidays, trains are rarely so croweded that you have to stand. Besides, local trains don't take any reservations, Eurail Pass or not. For most of the day trips, chances are that you will have to use a local train anyhow.

In summary, you can use your Eurail pass on most any train, seat reservation or not.

J62

I believe treplow's advice is incorrect.

In the last year or so things have change and now all speed trains in Italy require a seat reservation. That includes ALL IC, ICE, ES, ES*, AV, etc. trains. You can no longer simply hop on any train in Italy with a eurail pass. The exception being the slower R (regional) trains.

mammalmaniac

Gretchen - thanks for the caution, but I've done lots of "math" over the last month. Assuming I can get on fast trains (which is one of my concerns with last-minute reservations), it will be about $150 dollars cheaper -including resevation fees - using the eurail pass. The value is not so great, both time and money, if I get stuck on all slow R trains.

pookymimi

We needed reservations/assigned seats only on the fast trains, we usually paid about 10-15 euros per seat. We didn't get window seats, we always got aisle seat, it seems they don't give you window seats if you have an eurail pass.

On a couple of occasions we were so in a hurry catching a train at the last minute that we just hopped on and stand on the 1hr trip and we didn't have to pay, the eurail pass was enough to stand in the train, per inspector. So, it does pay off having an Eurail pass if you do a lot of traveling on a single day, at least it did to us.

ellenem

I'm sorry but I think treplow is not aware of the changes to train ticketing that took place in Italy in the last year or so. As kybourbon mentioned, at this point most trains in the Italian National rail system (AV, ES IC) require a ticket that comes with an assigned reserved seat. To ride these trains, a passholder must purchase a reservation for a particular seat on a particular train.

The only type of trains a pass holder can just hop on without taking the time (and paying the fee) for a seat reservation are the slowest type, R trains. It is true that for trains from Padova the OP may be riding a lot of R trains.

kybourbon

Seat reservations are mandatory in Italy on AV, ES, ICPlus, IC ESCity. Seats are cheaper on ICPlus and IC (3€) than on AV and ES (10€). R trains do not have seat reservations.

You won't get stuck on R trains. I usually buy tickets last minute (at the station when I'm ready to depart) and have never had problems getting a train even in high season.