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Hello all!  Id appreciate it if anyone can critique our Euro trip plans (mostly Italy though, as I have been fortunate enough to recently have been officially recognized as Italian).  Wife and I live in the US, the plan is to get a pair of 3 month EURail globalpasses for the following, staying in Florence the whole time but travelling on the weekends:

Monday, August 18, 2025         fly into Zurich

Thursday, August 21, 2025       Night train to Roma

Saturday, August 23, 2025       Roma

Saturday, August 30, 2025

Saturday, September 6, 2025     Positano / Amalfi

Saturday, September 13, 2025

Saturday, September 20, 2025    Munich - 5 day weekend

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Saturday, October 4, 2025       Venezia

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Saturday, October 18, 2025      Vienna - 5 day weekend

Saturday, October 25, 2025

Saturday, November 1, 2025      Napoli / San Nicola Arcella

Saturday, November 8, 2025

Wednesday, November 12, 2025    Paris - night train

Saturday, November 15, 2025     fly home from Paris
 

Those in-between empty weekends, we’ll fill with places around Italy that we find interesting (Milan, Siena, Ravenna, etc)

The primary concerns:

  1. Even though its AUG, Roma will still be fine, right?
  2. Will global pass get us on the ferry from Salerno to Amalfi?
  3. Will global pass get us to Munich from Florence, then work on Munichs metro rail?
  4. Will global pass get us to Vienna from Florence, then work on Viennas metro rail?
  5. I dont think global pass works from Napoli to Pompeii or even around Vesuvius?
  6. Will global pass get us to Paris from Florence, then work on Paris metro rail?
  7. What have I screwed up here?
  8. Any low hanging fruit I’ve missed?
  9. Other tips in general?

Thanks so much!

 

 

  1. Even though its AUG, Roma will still be fine, right?
  2. Will global pass get us on the ferry from Salerno to Amalfi?
  3. Will global pass get us to Munich from Florence, then work on Munichs metro rail?
  4. Will global pass get us to Vienna from Florence, then work on Viennas metro rail?
  5. I dont think global pass works from Napoli to Pompeii or even around Vesuvius?
  6. Will global pass get us to Paris from Florence, then work on Paris metro rail?
  7. What have I screwed up here?
  8. Any low hanging fruit I’ve missed?
  9. Other tips in general?

Thanks so much!

1-2. I’m not well travelled in Italy, the questions about exact validity of the pass in Italy questions will be best answered by someone else.

  1. Yes it’ll get you there. Metro’s (U-bahn, Metro, Métro, T-bana,...) and other city transport like trams, city and regional busses are not included. These don’t cost much anyway, only a few euro’s and are rarely worth the use of a pass day. On the other hand Munich’s (and any other city) S-bahn (real mainline trains) are included and fully included in the pass.
  2. Same as above
  3. I don’t know, someone else might know better
  4. Yes, it’ll get you there. BUT! The pass doesn’t work on the métro, tram, parisian busses, RER (Parisian S-bahn) or Transilien. Only on mainline SNCF trains (TER, Intercités, TGV Inoui,...)
  5. Seems okay, you didn’t really screw up :)
  6. You can visit a looooot in 3 months, enjoy your trip!
  7. Don’t forget seat reservations (small extra cost on top of your pass to guarantee you a seat). This mainly will be an issue in Spain, France and Italy or on Night trains. Book night trains as soon as you can. Some interesting introductory webpages are found here and will answer a lot of your other possible questions or uncertainties: https://www.seat61.com/european-train-travel.htm
    https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a-eurail-pass.htm

 

 

  1. Yes, metro’s (U-bahn, Metro, Métro, T-bana,...) and other city transport like trams, city and regional busses are not included. These don’t cost much anyway, only a few euro’s and are rarely worth the use of a pass day. On the other hand Munich’s (and any other city) S-bahn (real mainline trains) are included and fully included in the pass.
  2. Same as above
  3. I don’t know, someone else might know better
  4. Yes. The pass doesn’t work on the métro, tram, parisian busses, RER (Parisian S-bahn) or Transilien. Only on mainline SNCF trains (TER, Intercités, TGV Inoui,...)
  5. Seems okay, you didn’t really screw up :)
  6. You can visit a looooot in 3 months, enjoy your trip!
  7. Don’t forget seat reservations (small extra cost on top of your pass to guarantee you a seat). This mainly will be an issue in Spain, France and Italy or on Night trains. Book night trains as soon as you can. Some interesting introductory webpages are found here and will answer a lot of your other possible questions or uncertainties: https://www.seat61.com/european-train-travel.htm
    https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-a-eurail-pass.htm

OK thanks…

It would seem then, that this eurail globalpass just doesnt work on any city metro lines?  Like for instance, some time ago I spent a week in Roma and got the metro/bus week pass and really got our money’s worth around Rome that week.

Given our plan is to stay in Florence during the week for these 3 months, we’d need to make other plans to use their metro there, as well as the Roma metro for the week we are there?

I think my main issue here is Im not quite sure what is meant by “real mainline” trains?  Is that the means for inter region/city and not for intra-city then?  If so I’ll need to make additional plans then.

Thanks again!


Yes the pass doesn't work intra-city, at least not on trams, subways, buses,... -> it's called Eurail after all.

It does work on suburban trains in some cities but it will never be good value to use a pass day.

I'm not sure it will be good value to get a pass honestly, especially if your dates are set. Advance tickets for high-speed trains are cheap and regional trains have a (low) fixed price. You should compare ticket prices when they become available in March 2025 or so.

There's no night train to Rome. The journey takes 1h30 from Florence.

There's also no night train between Italy and France for a few years. I'd travel via Switzerland instead and experience some Alpine scenery. For example the Bernina Railway is incredible!

Please avoid Rome in August. It will be a terrible experience: extremely crowded and hot. Really unpleasant. You've got loads of time to go there on another weekend.

I'd go there in late October/November when there will be less tourists and enjoyable temperatures.


Indeed. Eurail is a product of all major railway companies in Europe, ideal for local trains (sometimes even intracity trains like S-bahn, TER, R, RB, L, Sprinters,...), interregional, Intercity and international trains. 

The pass is valid on (almost) every train of the participating companies, this is the list: https://www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/trip-ideas/trains-europe/useful-train-information/participating-railway-companies. About 95% of European trains is covered I'lld say. 

If you take a train (or any other type of transport) of a company that is not on that list, your Eurail pass won't be valid and you'll have to resort to ordinary tickets. 

Although on rails, intracity public transport like metro's  (U-Bahn, Underground, Tube, Metro, subway, T-bana,...) or trams are not considered as (mainline) trains and are run by much smaller local companies, and not included in the pass (since they are not in the list mentioned above) .

But these local public transport companies have often a lot of options in their tarrifs. Single ride, 10-rides ticket or 100 tickets (10 rides are usually already a lot cheaper than constantly buying single ride tickets), visit tickets coupled with museum entrances, season tickets of a week, month, 3 months, a year,... The more modern one's you can just swipe your bank card at the scanner and you're good to go. These are usually quite cheap, barely a few euro's for a ride. The fraction of the price of a Eurail pass, you can cruise unlimited on local transport. Since many European cities have an essential social role in providing affordable transport for the locals and want to convince you to not use a car, the extra cost will be minimal.

Just ask at the counter of the local transport company what the best offer is if you stay a weekend/week or a couple of months.

To put in perspective, for the cost of a Eurail pass, I'lld be able to use busses and trams, every day, without any limitation in my home region for almost 3 years long :) 


OK this is all great info then on rethinking Roma/AUG, travel between countries, and the pass versus scheduled dates in advance.

thanks all!!!


It's always interesting to compare prices of a pass with advance tickets, but a three months pass is really interesting product for your extensive travel plans!

You should take into account that a 3 months pass costs about 10 euro per day if you'lld take a train every day. And theoretically you can get from Barcelona to Amsterdam in a day  for 10 EUR or take an infinite number of trains to practically anywhere in Europe for that price, seat reservations excluded. Not a single advance ticket comes close to that insanely good value for money. 

Going from my home town to Brussels and back for a work meeting (35 min train ride) with ordinary tickets even costs much more than 10 eur 😅


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