Bpesta

Traveling in May from Venice to Reggio-Emilia and am wondering whether or not you'd recommend renting a car or taking a train? Looking on raileurope.com and on a couple car rental sites (autoeurope.com and hertz.com) it seems to be about the same price, though a friend said buying the tickets while in Italy was much cheaper than raileurope.com. Does anyone have any experience renting a car in Italy? Would you advise to do so? Or take the train? How did you find the cost of the train?

Jean

Raileurope adds fees for the "convenience" of selling you tickets before you've left home.

You can check the actual cost of the Venice to Reggio-Emilia ticket at the official Italian rail site:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD

Plug in your cities and date and hit "send." When the results are displayed, click on the shopping cart under the "Buy" column for the train you want. In the "Fare" drop-down menu, select "Standard," and the fares will appear. There's no need to travel in first class for such a short journey. You might also be able to buy "Amica" fares which are 20% cheaper on most routes, but seats are limited.

When you get to Reggio-Emilia, how do you plan to get around? What towns do you want to see? You can use the rail site to investigate train service for your itinerary, but most likely a rented car will give you the most flexibility. Driving in the Italian countryside is pretty easy IMO, as long as you have good maps.

DalaiLlama

Just buy your ticket in Venice when you get there, maybe a day or two before you take the train to Reggio, just in case the fast train to Bologna is filling up at the time you want to go (not likely but possible).

On that stretch, Venezia Santa Lucia to Bologna Centrale, your ticket comes with an assigned seat.

In Bologna Centrale you switch to a regional train, no seat reservations, or you take a fairly fast one that comes with assigned seats - depends on your schedule.

Have you considered spending a few hours in Bologna to look around, maybe have lunch (they pride themselves on good food!)? That would be great - just tell the agent in Venice so s/he can book your trains accordingly.

The entire trip takes just under 3 hours (unless you break the journey, of course), or just over three hours if you take a slower regional on both legs.

The 7:15 departure (IC train 713 Adriatico to Bologna, regional after that) costs 21.30 Euros per adult one way in 2nd class, or 28.90 Euros in first class.

The 8:43 departure (EuroStar ES* 9487 to Bologna, EuroStar City 9780 from there, also with assigned seats) costs 31.40 Euros per adult one way in 2nd class, or 43.70 Euros in first class.

The even faster train ES*AV (Alta Velocita - High Speed) 9641 departing at 10:43 for Bologna followed by the IC (InterCity) 582 Vesuvio to Reggio, with assigned seats, also costs 31.40 Euros per adult one way in 2nd class, or 43.70 Euros in first class.

Look at schedules at
www.ferroviedellostato.it

input Venezia Santa Lucia and Reggio Emilia.

But the question about how you'll get around when you get there if you don't have a car is a good one.

Bpesta

Thank you so much for your replies and information. The question of how we'll get around once we arrive is a great one!! We'll have to figure that one out for sure.

DalaiLlama

"[...]t he question of how we'll get around once we arrive is a great one!! We'll have to figure that one out for sure."

This is the site for public transport in the region (in English!), very detailed, even lists something called "DiscoBus" - can you tell us about that one when you come back???:

www.actre.it/eng/main/index.php

Beyond that, ask your landlords/hosts/whoever you're staying with.