Isabella36

Hi,
My friend and I will be traveling to London for a few days and we then want to travel to Italy. Can you offer some suggestions on how to get there from London? I know that there is an overnight train to Paris but I am wondering if there is another place in France that you would recommend besides Paris?
Also, we will be going to Cinque Terre, Siena, Rome and then working out way down to Positano, Sorrento, etc. and then Tropea and home from there.
We are both Italian and have traveled to Italy before but my friend has only been in Tropea, where her family is from but traveled to Italy several times. I traveled on my own last year for 3 months and I enjoyed it. It went by so fast and I can't believe that I am going again this year! I wasn't planning on it but my friend is younger than me and didn't want to travel alone so I offered to go with her.
Anyways, back to my questions. I was in Paris last year and took the overnight train to Florence and then from there, to Rome but I didn't enjoy it. I didn't sleep well and we stopped in the middle of the night because there was a problem with the train and we had a few people trying to open the door.
I am trying to figure out how to get from London into Italy without having to make too many stops along the way. I know that most trains go to Florence, Milan and Rome but I am wondering if there are any places near the south of France that we can go and then head to Cinque Terre? What about Monaco to Cinque Terre or is there another place that isn’t expensive like Monaco?
Thanks.

sassy_cat

Fly! I read your other post and this one confirms it!

Dukey

there is no longer an overnight train London Paris

You can get a lot of rail info at www.seat61.com

you might also consider taking a budget flight out of London and you can find those by looking either at www.skyscanner.net

or www.whichbudget.com

alihutch

I'm pretty sure that you can do London-Milan in one day on the train...something I;'d love to do. check out

http://seat61.com/

PeaceOut

London-Nice-Liqurian Coast (we liked the low-key, small harbor town, named Santa Marguerita Liqure which is between Portofino and the Cinque Terre)- then Cinque Terre and on?

Have you tried STATravel.com? (Which is great for young adults traveling They have relatively good prices, advice and packages; in case that applies to you.)

bobthenavigator

Fly !
See www.whichbudget.com

Isabella36

Thanks. Which airport would I be flying out of in London? I don't know whether it's Heathrow and Gatwick.

Also, I was on the whichbudget.com site and I'm finding it confusing. I typed in Heathrow to Nice but I gave me all of these other options from Heathrow to other places around the world. Huh?? Help.

Isabella36

What if we took the Eurostar & TGV to the South of France... I got this from the seat61.com site.

jent103

<i>I am trying to figure out how to get from London into Italy without having to make too many stops along the way.</i>

I'm confused - do you want to go straight from London to Italy? If so, I don't see a reason to do anything other than fly to Italy. Or do you really want to stop in the south of France first? Even then, I'd still fly. It appears from whichbudget that you can fly from London Stansted to Genoa (close to Cinque Terre) via Ryanair, or to Nice via Easyjet.

As far as which London airport, you could choose from several - Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted are all easy to get to from central London (I believe Luton is too, but I haven't done it in a long time). If you choose a "budget" airline like Ryanair or Easyjet, make sure you are aware of fees (to check bags, for overweight luggage, etc).

Gina817

I took a flight from London Heathrow to Florence, Italy. It was inexpensive, quick and easy.

Isabella36

Our plan is to go from London to Nice, Genoa and then Cinque Terre. However, the I found out that the flights to Nice are expensive because of there are several events being held that week - Film Festival, Monaco Grand Prix and French Motorcycle Grand Prix. I already looked for flights on Easyjet and they were quite costly - $300-500 one way! That's why I was considering taking the train from London to Nice -unless someone knows of a cheaper price?

hazel1

I'd say skip Nice, especially if you're not interested in any of the events going on there, and fly directly from London to Genoa. There are flights from Gatwick (British Air) and Stansted (Ryanair) airports, but not Heathrow.

BigRuss

Swimming would be an alternate way . . . may be a bit tiring.

There are cheapie flights - lots of them. Google european budget airlines.

nytraveler

If you are going the weeks those events are happening you're not going to get a hotel either. (And if you're not staying a couple of days - why waste the time? Just fly where you want to go.)

You need to either pick a different destination or a different week.