France to Rome
 

I will be traveling with my son (16) this summer and we are arriving in Paris, spending four nights there, one night in Lyon and two nights in Eze then on to Rome for a guided school trip. Any help in what train to take, what to not miss or any other helpful information? I have never been anywhere in Europe and would welcom any helpful info!

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The fastest trip from Eze, France to Rome, Italy by train would probably require three different legs and take about 10 hours. I'm not sure of the best train station to choose in France, so I computed for departing from Nice.

The train trips:

Eze/Nice to Ventimiglia
Ventimiglia to Milano Centrale
Milano Centrale to Roma Termini

Note that some low cost airlines (easyjet, blu-express) fly between Nice and Rome, and may be cheaper than taking the train.

Not sure why are you going to Lyon or Eze...? While both are two of my favorites cities in France, they do not make a lot of sense in the context of your trip, specially, since the stops are, basically, overnight stays. It is borderline insane to even consider going by train from Eze to Rome when it is faster and cheaper to fly!~

My strong suggestion is that you train Paris to Nice and FLY Nice to Rome. There are at least two nonstop flights Nice to Rome daily around 11am; a One way should be about $125/pp; buy early. You could use the three days in Nice to explore the GORGEOUS French Riviera with a day trip to Monaco & Eze combo-- a very easy bus/train daytrip from Nice. Hope this helps.

My son wanted to see Lyon, but are you suggesting we skip this? We were going to spend one night there. Also, I just found out I can either meet our group in Rome the morning they arrive, or in Sorrento, which is where they are headed the first night. Eze looked like a good place to spend two nights and see both Nice and Monaco from there. Is this not the case?

Maybe the one night in Lyon, then Nice for two nights before flying to Rome?

There are 2 Ezes, Eze-Borde-de-Mer and Eze up high, with great views of the Med and the coast. The train line goes through Eze-Borde-de-Mer. There's a rough uphill walk from the coast to the other Eze.

Nice is really a better place to stay. It's a center of public transportation for the area. Easy to get to Monaco by train. And Eze up high is easily reached by bus from Nice.

In one night, you're not going to see much of Lyon at all.