Nice/Cannes to Florence by train?
 

Hi - I'm new to the forum, so I apologize if this has already been addressed.

I'm new to rail travel as well. We would like to get from Nice to Florence via train. I'm told the Eurail will go from France to Italy, but am having a heck of a time figuring out what cities we connect to (I'm using raileurope.com). Do we need to bridge the Eurail with a local Italian train? Also, is there a guesstimate of how long it will take?

Our overall trip is Paris > Avignon > Nice > Florence > Venice (4 weeks).

Many thanks!

Is a long way from Paris..

1) Paris -Avignon is a little over 3
hours with the TGV.
2)Avignon- Nice, is probably the
same the same, I have
taken the trip few times.
3) Nice to Florence is between 7:15hrs
to 9 hours.
You must change in Genoa.
or
4)-Nice to Venice, I will do the same
trip but reversed in
June is over 8hours
Check trenitalia.com for fares and schedules.

I've traveled all over Europe by train for years, but I'll have to admit I don't know what a Eurail is. Is that something new? There are Eurail passes, but I've never heard of a Eurail train.
Kismetchimera has explained the times. You take a train from Nice to Florence, but you need to change in Genoa or in Milan, depending upon the train.
Here's the link I use to look for all train schedules, times, and connections:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Eurail is a train pass that you purchase not a particular train or railway. To see if a pass is even practical for this trip go to railsaver.com and enter your train trips and check the option "only if it saves me money".

Hi vm,

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

is the best site for rail schedules in Europe.

You can purchase your tickets Paris/Avignon/Nice/Florence at any train station in Paris or from http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/

For the Florence/Venice portion, you buy your tickets upon arrival at the train station or on line from www.trenitalia.com/en.

You might find reduced fares booking 60 days in advance on the French site.

As noted, to see if a railpass will save you money, use www.railsaver.com.

If you use a pass, you will have to pay extra for seats on TGV, THALYS, ES* trains (about 10E per seat).

Have a nice trip.

((I))

Thank you all for your responses! Very helpful in our planning. The railsaver.com info is particularly helpful!

On a different note, this forum has been especially helpful in our booking apartments and B&Bs in France and Italy. I appreciate all the tips other users have offered.