Help!I leave in a week and don't know which way to go!Just got my Eurail Pass and am trying to figure it out. I've been told to catch an overnight train from Nice.My travel agent suggests Venice via Switzerland but that seems out of the way!I do want an overnight train out of somewhere in that area of southern france.I'd surely appreciate some experienced advice!

You can do Nice/Milan/venice. <BR> <BR>I did once Zurich/Insbruck/Venice. Didn't find it an interesting ride, too monotonous IMO. If you travel via Milan, the ride will be shorter.

I think that any train originating in Provence or the Cote d'azur is going to require you to change at Ventimiglia. <BR> <BR>I amnot a big fan of overnight train travel (I have never done it - - and I prefer that my bed not disappear just because the train has reached the end of the line!) <BR> <BR>but this IS doable - - perhaps plan to spend the day in the Nice or Monaco or Menton or Ventimiglia area. <BR> <BR>There's a departure frm Ventimilia that arrives Venice SL at 6:40 am. <BR> <BR>Sometimes, you can use this trick proposed more than once by Ben Haines - - ride on beyond your destination for an hour (to sleep later); get off, have breakfast and ride back. but I don;t think that is applicable. You would have to change at (Venice) Mestre at 6:26 am to go any where other than on into Venice. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

The train that Rex mentions actually does start in Nice; it stops at Ventimiglia, but there's no need to change there. It leaves Nice at 20:35, but beginning June 11, it shifts to a slightly later schedule, leaving at 21:01 and arriving in Venice at 7:15. To get from Aix-en-Provence to Nice, you'll probably have to change at Marseille. (I assume you mean Aix-en-Provence; if it's Aix-les-Bains, the route through Switzerland might make more sense.)

Bringing back up to the top for you. <BR>

Thank you Fodorites, now I can return to my packing instead of wasting time trying to work out the train schedule. I have trouble finding any of my posts, they seem to disappear! A special thanks to Georgine, I will follow your advice. Rex, what is " bringing it to the top"?

I used that phrase instead of the more customary "topping" because I figured that would be more self-evident. Any time you add any message - - no matter how insignificant - - it brings your message "thread" back up "to the top" of the left hand column of messages. <BR> <BR>Adding any little message - - just so that someone can better find a message thread is called "topping". <BR>

This thread got divided. Here is a copy of my reply on the other half of this divided entry. I may sound critical with this comment, but the advice given so far is not very precise. This schedule is more difficult that what meets the eye. <BR>None of you gave precise departure and arrival times. You should try it; you might find that the schedule is not that easy to figure. <BR> <BR>The shortest route time wise wherein you travel on one calendar day is this: <BR>Leave Aix at 6:34 on train RE 80133 to Marseilles. Change in Marseilles; leave at 7:22 on RE 17475 for Nice Ville. Change again; leave NV at 10:02 on IC 343 for Milan arriving at 15:50. Leave Milan at 15:05 on train IC 621 for Venice, arriving at 17:57! (6 PM our thinking) <BR> <BR>You also could leave Aix at 7:07. <BR>Change in Marsailles to leave at 8:01. <BR>Change in Ventimiglia to leave at 11:40. <BR>Change in Genoa to leave at 15:18 and arrive in Venice at 20:06. That is 13 hours. <BR>You can also go by Lyon. Leave at 7:07 and arrive in Geneve at 11:22. Leave Geneve for venice at 12:18 and arrive at 20:06 <BR>You also go by Milan on this route, too. <BR>13 hours on this one. You end up on the same train out of Milan. <BR> <BR>If you could leave the day before and spend the night in Lyon, you could have a shorter trip the next day. And actually shorten the total trip time. <BR>Leave Lyon at 7:07 and arrive in Milan at 12:45. Leave Milan for Venice at 13:05 and arrive in <BR>Venice at the S. Lucia station at 15:57. <BR> <BR>By the way, the French SNCF scheduler has got to be the worst one in captivity. Try find a few trains it and you will tear your hear. Rather than telling you that there is no train at the time you specify, the system tells you that there are no more seats!! <BR>The German scheduler knows more about French trains than the SNCF system! <BR>I kid you not. The best route I saw was the one listed first and it was not findable using the SNCF system!!