Hi All,
I am trying to estimate costs for travel during our Europe trip (France, Italy, Spain) in 2010.
We spend 12 days in France and are doing about 9 train journeys in total (Paris to Vernon return; Paris to Versailles return; Paris to Caen, Normandy return; Paris to Lourdes; Lourdes to Avignon and Avignon to San Remo, Italy). Total costs P2P per adult (using PREMS in most cases and Jan 2010 dates aligned to the actual day of the week we are hoping to travel) is: 206 Euros approximately.
We will also be doing several train journeys in Italy over a period of 28 days (Lake Como; Venice, Genoa; Florence, Seinna, Trevi, Rome). We are a group of 7 during the first 6 weeks of travel.
After 8 nights in Rome the group reduces to two . My husband %26amp; I then have a further 6 weeks to ourselves (with no real plans apart from a visit to London and flying out of Madrid at the end of June 2010). My questions are:
(a) Should the group (5 adults and 2 Youth aged 18 %26amp; 19 yrs) buy P2P tickets or a rail pass for france and Italy?
(b) Would it be better for my husband and I to buy rail passes seeing we will be in France, Italy, Spain and London for a whole 3 months while the rest of the group is there for only 6 weeks. I guess this is a hard question given we havent planned the last 6 weeks yet.
(c) I have been using snfc website and there doesnt seem to be discounts for the group of 5 adults, neither does there seem to be discounts for over 60s (for my mum and dad). Am I doing something wrong?
Sorry for all the detail but I read in previous forums thatd etails make a big difference. Oh our travel dates for the group are: 5 April 2010 to 16 May 2010. My husband an I only fly out on 27 June 2010 from Madrid.
Look forward to the advice.
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A pass will very rarely be worthwhile for rail travel in France and Italy, particularly as you would have to make and pay for seat reservations on all the faster trains in these countries.
a. P2P will be cheaper than a pass
b. P2P will be cheaper than a pass
c. I am not aware of discounts for groups or for older people in France.
Italy train times and costs: www.trenitalia.com but it does not yet have information past 12 December. Times will not change much, so use dates in the next week for your planning. There are no discounts for purchasing well in advance over the Internet, and you will probably find that your card does not work on this site. Just buy the tickets in Italy.
Spanish times and cost: www.renfe.es/horarios/english/index.html . Tickets go on sale 62 days before travel, and the cheap seats sell out quickly.
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Thanks for your prompt response sydneynick.
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There are two possible ways in which your parents may be able to get discounted fares. On local TER trains, I%26#39;m not sure about other services, that leave outside busy periods (in Period Bleu) they can get Senior Decouverte fares which are about 25% lower. Alternatively, they could purchase a Carte Senior which gives a discount of up to 50% on virtually all fares outide the Paris Region. I do not think if gives an extra discount on Prem fares which affects whether it is worth buying one.
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Thanks for the tip !
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I may be wrong about this but I think the Senior Découverte discount applies to all trains not just Ters and that it only applies to round-trip travel. The PREMs fares will always be lower than either the SD fares or the CS discounted fares in any case but (1) you need to book them well in advance, especially as I think your travel dates coincide with school holidays in France at least, and (2) once you have booked them you are locked into those specific trains. You cannot change or cancel your booking.
Don%26#39;t forget that most trains will require you to pay for a reservation if you do have a pass. These can be expensive.
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