DRIVE Paris to Rome!!
 

Please help. My boyfriend bought tickets for the two of us from the US to Paris for a 12 day trip. He wants to rent a car in Paris on our arrival and drive to Rome "for a visit". How long of a drive will that be and any suggestions for me to help discourage such a trip? PS He's paying for everything and it's my first visit to Europe.

Clair, <BR>Your instincts are right. According to mappy (www.mappy.com), the drive is 900 miles and would take in the neighborhood of 15 hours. That's not my idea of a holiday! Alternately, you can take a night train from Paris to Rome, leaving at 6:25 p.m., arriving at 9:50 a.m., changing trains in Lausanne. However, that still leaves you with the return trip. You might see if your boyfriend can exchange his round-trip tickets for open-jaw, arriving in Paris and departing from Rome -- usually you can do this for a fee of $100, which would be cheaper than a return train trip. <BR> <BR>To sum up, I suggest you exchange your tickets to fly into Paris and depart from Rome, then take the night train to Rome and save one night's hotel bill. <BR> <BR>s

If exchanging the tickets is economically feasible (and it may not be), then consider visiting Belgium for a day (a pleasant and interesting place in its own right) and flying on http://www.virgin-express.com very, very cheaply - - often less than the tolls and gas to drive to Rome (easily $150 US dollars) - - and that's not even counting the cost of the car rental. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Rex, I'm beginning to think if someone said they wanted to go to Greece to visit their mother, you'd suggest they add a side trip to Belgium. Belgium is a nice enough country, but why in the world do you keep pushing it at people? If someone wants to go to Paris and Rome, what makes you think they'd prefer Belgium?"

Because the fares from Brussels to Italy are so cheap, and it takes 90 minutes to fly instead of 15 hours by ground. <BR> <BR>No, it is not the best way to get to Greece - - that's via Germany. <BR> <BR>I recommend spending a day there because it is often a cheaper, refreshing contrast to spending an additional day in Paris, and it helps to defray/justify the cost of taking the train from Paris to Brussels. <BR>

If you're boyfriend is interested in visiting some big cities other than Paris, Amsterdamn and London are much closer alternatives than Rome. You do have plenty of time though, it sounds like he has his heart set on a European road trip, which could be enjoyable if you plan well and make interesting stops. Just make sure your rental car is allowed to be driven into Italy.

And if you want to fit in an interesting "other" country to contrast with France, the cheapest travel from Paris to another country is to Ireland. <BR> <BR>http://www.ryanair.com <BR>