I have hit the summer rush of travelers. The Nice train station has lines dedicated to Eurail pass travelers.
This is the first time that I have seen these station signs for Eurail and InterRail (the similar pass for European travelers). It´s a good place to meet other international travelers. Go here for seat reservations and help booking trains that cross into other countries. The reservationists speak good English; and several are young French students fluent in English working these lines as a summer job.
The traditional route from Nice to Rome involves 1 transfer in Genova. But as the reservationist explained to me, these trains quickly get booked out in the summer. Have no fear, she assured me, reciting an alternate schedule off the top of her head. One can go from Nice to Milan, and then take the high-speed ESI train from Milan to Rome. The total travel time is nearly similar if you were connecting thru Genova. Ultimately, I took the coastal train from Nice to Ventimiglia, an IC train from Ventimiglia to Milan, and the ESI train from Milan to Rome. Only the ESI train required a seat reservation, of 5 Euros.
The 5 Euro seat reservation seems rather standard in Italy, as this was also the cost for seat reservation on the train from Rome to Salerno. I ended up on a local train, as the high-speed was booked out. (Which I am finding is quite typical during the summer months when trying to buy a day-of-seat reservation. I like the thrill of determining my plans day-by-day; you may not.)
Train Tip: Book your Italian seat reservations at the station to save money. One of the conductors told me that the normal 5 Euro seat reservation fee jumps to 13 Euros if you have to buy it on the train. I haven´t seen any conductor not ultimately sell the seat reservation on-board, so long as a seat is available. But it is a real roll of the dice.
Benjamin Thomas
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