Italy by rail

[Equimum]

Hi, we are just starting to consider doing a 14day Italy trip next year, travelling by train. We are tempted to do Eurostar, then a sleeper to Milan. Beyond that, we are roughly thinking about Lake Como, a couple of the other Northern cities (maybe Rome and Venice) then down to Naples to see Pompeii and Herculaneum. We might consider flying back to maximise our time there.

Has anyone done anything similar recently, and if so, do you have any pointers please? Could I also ask about rough costs for this type of trip. I feel a bit clueless. It'll be two adults and two kids (11 & 8). We're happy with fairly basic accommodation.

TIA

I haven't done this myself, but would recommend you have a look at seat61.com. It's an absolute gold mine of info on rail travel.

We took the train from London to Italy last year.Paris,night in Geneva then to Desenzano ( Lake Garda) via MilanThen onto Venice with a day trip to Padua and home with a night in Turin. Absolutely fabulous-and yes! Highly recommend seat61.com and Rail Europe to buy tickets. We did it without kids.

Sign up to the Trenitalia app. Italian train tickets on the Frecce (high speed trains) work in the same way as the UK - the earlier you book, the cheaper they are. Lots of offers too. I got a "2 together" first class ticket from Bologna down to Puglia for about €50 instead of over a €100 this August. There's also a loyalty points system via the App and automatic partial refunds if the trains are late.

Train travel across Italy isn't as good as up and down, so if your itinerary includes Venice, Rome and Naples, you should think about Rome-Naples rather than Venice-Naples iyswim.