cgremillion

I'm planning our lst trip to Europe for our 25th wedding anniversary. We have round trip frequently flier tickets to Paris next May, but we want to see Rome and Venice (and Florence). We have 14 days so I was thinking from Paris train to Rome train to Venice back to Paris. Is this doable? Any suggestions? We had wanted to fly into Paris and out of Rome, but were told it was unlikely we would be able to get a flight out of Rome with Frequent Flier miles so just booked rt Paris.

Zerlina

No, in my opinion.

Fly with a discount airline from Paris to Rome and back from Venice or vice-versa.
www.whichbudget.com

Within Italy, travel with a fast ES train.
http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

travelfan1

I hope you at least checked to make sure you couldn't fly into Paris and out of Rome! Try looking for a cheap flight between Paris and Rome. You can try www.whichbudget.com or ryanair.com. Have a wonderful trip and congratulations!

cgremillion

My husband really wants to travel by train, he spends so much time in airports!

barbmike

Hi Newbie,

What's With All The Caps?????

cgremillion

I've never used a forum or chat site before, sorry. But this seemed like such a wonderful resource, I had to at least try it out.

travelfan1

Tell him he can travel by train from Rome to Venice! It's almost 15hrs from Paris to Rome...and then back again!! Surely he doesn't want to do that?

cgremillion

It will certainly help to have your comments to help me sell him on a quick cheap flight to Paris/Rome and back. Thanks. Having never been, it's hard to plan this stuff all alone.

suze

You could use an overnight train on some parts. I have done this between Venice and Paris and it worked out great for us. Reserve a private 2-person cabin for about the cost of a hotel room (in addition to your train ticket).

cgremillion

We might consider an overnight train then, for one leg for instance Paris/Venice, then take the train to Florence to Rome and Fly out of Rome to Paris. I was told one way fares were outrageous but we could just buy RT and use just one leg of the tkt.

nytraveler

Do you mean one-way train fares - not they're not outrageous at all. Nor one-way air fares - as long as you use the discount airlines (and can meet their extremely stringent luggage requirements).

If it's not too late I would definitely change the tickets to into Paris and out of Rome. Then you can fly or (overnight) train Paris to Venice and do short trian rides on to Florence and then to rome.

cgremillion

I meant one way flights, at least one travel agent I spoke with indicated that, but I don't think she uses the local discount airlines, so it helps to know that. We tried to book Portland/Paris/Rome/Portland, but could only reserve Portland/Paris/Portland being extremely flexible on dates, and rather than loose out all together we just decided to go for it and book roundtrip PDX/CDG.

Ninkette

Definitely look into the budget airlines. We had to do something similar last year with FF miles, flying in to Paris and out of London. We flew to Paris on miles, then took Ryanair to Venice. The cost of the two tickets to Venice - $60 total. They do have very tight luggage limits though - I had to pay additional for my heavy suitcase, but it was still cheap. These are very budget airlines, so no frills, and they do not usually fly out of the big airports, but totally worth it to me.

doug_stallings

I believe Ryanair flies between Rome and Paris-Beauvais airport (this is not anywhere close to Charles DeGaulle, so you'd have to fly to Paris the night before returning to Portland). But this can be purchased as a one-way ticket and is pretty cheap (certainly less than $100 even with the stupid luggage supplement fees). You can book this easily online, but it's absolutely unchangeable and uncancellable, and you'll have to pay to check your luggage, so keep that in mind and make sure it's still an affordable option.

I guess you could do an overnight train from Rome to Paris and book a sleeping compartment ... this wouldn't be too uncomfortable, esp. if there is a private compartment on the train, but again, you'd probably want to spend a day in Paris and freshen up before flying home.

cgremillion

After reading everyones comments and suggestions (thanks so much), I called and changed our tickets, now we're Portland Rome/ Paris/Portland. I'm not sure why it was an option today, and not before, perhaps more award seats opened up. Felt the change fee was well worth it! So, I'm thinking after 4 nights we will take the train from Rome to Florence for l-2 nights, then by train to Venice for 2 nights, then to Paris from Venice on the overnight train and spend the remainder of our trip in Paris (5-6 nights). Does this sound like a good plan?

dawnnoelm

Cgremmillion,

Congrats on your 25th wedding anniversary!

We recently flew into Paris and trained to Montreux Switzerland, stayed for 3 nights, and went to Florence, then to Rome. It was a lovely way to travel - I would not have changed it at all. We did not have too much more time then you - I think 16 days total.

cgremillion

dawnnoelm- Thanks for your encouragement-How long were you in Rome and Florence?

tomassocroccante

I think your new plan sounds dandy.

MaureenB

Now you've got a good itinerary. I was going to suggest you keep calling the airlines for a better flight plan. I've found that you can keep calling and it will be different availability for FF tickets every time you call. It's worth it to be persistent.

Flying open jaw is the only way to visit Europe, IMHO. If your husband enjoys trains, and you've never done this before, your overnight trip will be a good choice.

Search this Forum for hotel recommendations. There are many, many good ones in the cities you will visit. Personally, I wouldn't rely on a travel agent when you can get first-hand advice from Fodorites.

Have fun planning your trip.
>-

PalenQ

If going Paris-Italy and back then strongly look at either the France-Italy railpass or the Eurail Select pass for three countries -m France, Italy and Switzerland as Switzerland would make an ideal break on the way back to paris - fabled Interlaken area is about half way.