Getting from Paris to Venice?
 

We're family of 5 (with kids ages 11-17) traveling from Paris to Venice in August. We only have 4 days to spend in Venice. So we're thinking of taking an overnite (sleeper) train from Paris to Venice.
Any other suggestions or recommendations about how to get there? What about train travel during the day or driving?

The overnight sleeper option could be pretty cool, but with five of you that's not going to be cheap. The drive (and daytime train ride) is pretty long, and it sounds like your time is short.

Are you firmly committed to Venice? August is far from the ideal time to visit.

I would suggest you look into MyAir, a low cost carrier. myair.com It flies from Paris Orly airport to Venice, and I see one way airfares in August for as low as 29 Euros, one way.

:-)

The flights may be cheaper than the train, but why so far, and in August no less.

I literally just had to figure out the whole Venice to Paris flight thing, so hopefully this will help you make a choice (keep in mind, all prices are based on a specific Sunday flight in late October):

EasyJet $183
Leaves Marco Polo 2:10 pm, arrives CDG 3:55 pm
We chose EasyJet because I've flown them before and trust them (and I'm hoping they'll be less prone to strikes since they're a British carrier). Con: Charles de Gaulle is a bit further out from Paris than Orly.

Air France $1,050
Don't even bother.

Vueling $257
Leaves Marco Polo 5:15, arrives CDG 6:55
I almost went with Vueling, which gets high marks for being like Jet Blue, but they suffer from delays and strikes, which could affect your flight.

RyanAir $111
Leaves Treviso 8:45 pm, arrives Beauvas 10:25 pm
I don't like RyanAir... Treviso and Beauvais are FAR away from Venice & Paris, and RyanAir is like flying steerage.

MyAir.com $138
Leaves Marco Polo 6:10, arrives Orly 7:50 pm
I almost booked this flight, but noticed that MyAir.com had a strike notice posted on their site. Then I read their reviews... not good. Sounds like they're frequently delayed or cancelled.

At this this gives you a list of carriers to look at!

I've taken Myair on this route twice in the last few years and found it inexpensive and convenient. I typically go for three or four days and it's fine.

The prices vary considerably depending on the day and time, so be careful in choosing your flight.

I went to www.govoyages.com and entered the random date of 15 August for the departure.

Air France was the cheapest at 192€ for an adult round trip, followed by Alitalia at 206€.

HI M,

www.myair.com flies from Paris ORY to Venice VCE.

((I))

For one adult Paris-Venice on August 15th:

EasyJet - 175€
Vueling - 65€
MyAir.com - 65€

The regional carriers are almost always cheaper. Be sure to book directly through their sites... a lot of carriers are ONLY offering the best rates through their websites these days.

Does that include all the taxes, slangevar?

I didn't check on all of them, but for at least two of the carriers, the price did include all taxes and most fees (except baggage fees of about 10€ per bag).

Okay - checked all of them, and all of those prices included all taxes and fees, except for some small additional charges. Here are the full prices, including one checked bag:

EasyJet - 175€

Vueling - 75€ (78€ if you want to pre-select a seat; 88€ if you want a pre-selected XL seat)

MyAir.com - 77€

Oh, I understand, having looked at the Easyjet site. You are looking at one way fares, whereas I was looking at round trip fares with a return 4 days later.

It's too long a trip to go by day, imo. I'd either take a night train in a 6-person couchette or find a flight.

Sorry - should have clarified that. I thought the OP only wanted one way?

I just checked one-way fares on govoyages.com... as usual, they're higher than round-trip. But even round trip on Vueling, for example, is only 151€ (including bag fees). Still cheaper than the major carriers.

Of course one way fare are higher than round trip. I thought that everybody knew that. Since messi4 said they were spending 4 days in Venice with no other information, I looked for round trip tickets.

An Air France round trip for 192€ is a helluva better deal than Easyjet for 175€.

But Air France round-trip for 192€ certainly isn't a better deal than Vueling or MyAir.com for 75/77€, especially when you're talking about a family of five.

Vueling/MyAir - 375€ for whole family

Air France - 960€

I love Air France, too, but I would take the Jet Blue-like savings any day.

Give the kids an experience they can talk about once back home - taking a European overnight train!

You can fly anywhere and all airports look alike IMO but to get a chance to do an overnight train is a rarity for an American and i know when my son was young it was a thrill for him to do overnight trains

Driving straight thru with a family of five and luggage crammed in one car would to me be a nightmare - fine it you had several days to break it up but the car option is a poor one i think - esp since you may have to pay a steep drop-off fee for not returning the car to France IME

So take the Artesia Hotel Train IMO - unfortunately there are no five-person compartments so put the old folks in a double and the kids in their own triple - you can get these types of accommodations in the same sleeper car usually.

If you went the 6-person couchette route you'd not doubt have a 6th stranger in there as well - not fun for your family nor the stranger IME

And you save on an overnight hotel cost and arrive bright and early in Venice, right at the boat dock in front of the Venice train station.

You would want to book these trains ASAP as the do fill up in August and there are cheaper tickets perhaps that are sold in limited numbers but sell out often far in advance. Go to www.voyages-sncf.com for usually the cheapest fares but be warned this site is extremely frustrating for scores of Fodorites who report their travails using it. In the U.S. RailEurope handles these tickets and i always recommend calling BETS 800-441-2387; www.budgeteuropetravel.com for any RailEurope product due to their expertise and great service IME - try voyages-sncf.com first and compare prices with U.S. ones and see if you can do online - if not be sure to book thru U.S. as if you just show up they may well be sold out

A day train trip is IME a long haul but you would see some lovely Alpine scenery when you cross the Alps between France and Italy.

If the overnight train is anywhere near the cost of flying + one night of hotel, messi4 should go for it. I did it once and had a ball with my sister. But it was too rich for our blood this trip... we're flying a regional carrier. :-(

When I was young I loved to take overnight trains (especially the old trains where you could pull out two seats and make them into a bed, so you didn't have to pay for a sleeper).

But the last couple of times I tried overnighters (in private sleepers both times) I got about 2 hours sleep. All of the stopping, starting, rocking, and noise kept me awake and took most of the romance out of the experience.

So if you're a light sleeper, I'd suggest flying.