France and Italy Itinerary – Help Please
 

France and Italy Itinerary – Help Please

I am planning a trip to France and Italy in May or June 2006. I had originally planned on Italy only, but decided to add France since I hadn’t been in a while and really wanted to go.

I need help with some point to point transportation solutions and feedback from the members of this board on the best way to accomplish my trip. At this point I am pretty decided about flying into Paris, but I will be checking airfares to see which city is most economical to fly out of: Paris, Florence or Rome.

I haven’t decided on the total number of days in each place, but here is what I have proposed.

Paris – Lyon – Cinque Terra – Florence

Fly into Paris, spend a few days in Paris and then catch the TGV to Lyon. Spend a few days in Lyon. Travel from Lyon to Cinque Terra and then from Cinque Terra to Florence, spending a few days in both the towns of Cinque Terra and Florence. Fly out of Florence, Rome or Paris

How easy or difficult is it to get from Lyon to Cinque Terra? Would it be easier to catch a train to Florence then go to Cinque Terra? If I travel from Cinque Terra to Florence from which town does the train depart?

Any information you can give me, either from experience or information on applicable websites will be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

I can't help with the train connections, but you definitely want an open-jaw flight into Paris and out of Italy, presumably Florence if you can get connections to your home city (maybe not a direct flight). A waste of time and money to get back to Paris to fly home.

From Florence, there are 4 airports within 2 hours' travel: Florence itself (FLR), Pisa (PSA), Bologna (BLQ), and Rome-Fiumicino (FCO). If, logistically, it's better to go to Cinque Terre last, you can add Genoa (GOA) to that list. Flying from anywhere but FCO will require an intermediate stop in an intervening European airport, presumably Paris-CDG.

There is a TGV that runs from Lyon to Milano Centrale via Torino Porta Susa and Vercelli. Direct routes from Lyon to Genova, La Spezia, and the Cinque Terre themselves all came up empty. From Torino PS, it takes about the same amount of time (4.5-5 hours) to go to either the 5T or Florence. From Milano C.le, it's 3 hours to Florence or 3-4 hours to 5T. The only problem with the TGV from Lyon to Milano C.le is that it arrives in Milano C.le at 22:00.

Maybe you ought to consider a stop in Nice. Take the train from Lyon to Nice, stay a day or so. Then continue via Genoa to the Cinque Terre.

Nice is nice, lots to see.

Hi nw,

Train scedules are at http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...n?L=profi&

For cheap flights from France to Italy check www.whichbudget.com

((I))

Thank you for your responses. I apologize for not responding more quickly, but long hours at work have prevented me from spending much time online.

Thanks tdyls on the detailed train route information. Thanks ira and Mimar for the information about www.whichbudget.com and the suggestion of traveling to Nice. I hadn't thought about Nice (or going to another city), but that would be a nice alternative.

Florence is mobbed with tourists in those months, so you might want to stay somewhere just outside the city...even in the town of Prato, for example. Also, be sure (when the trip gets near) to go online and reserve your admissions (it's a nominal cost) to the crowded venues in Florence, namely, the Uffizi, and also, the Accademia di belle arti, which as you prob know is where the original David statue is.

Lyon-Nice-Genoa-Cinque Terre is probably your best bet by train. You'd have to switch to a local train for Cinque Terre in Genoa. Train time from Nice-Genoa is about 2 1/2 hours.