jenl

Hi, in researching the prices for the night train from Venice to Paris, I found that Trenitalia offers a special of 60 euro Mini C Tariffs on the Artesia trains.

What is a "tariff"? Is it the equivalent of tax or a supplement?

The three US authorized agents listed on the trenitalia website no longer sell these tickets. Other than on-line, how else can I purchase these tickets?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

ira

Hi Jen,

You can't buy international tickets online from Trenitalia.

You can buy online from the Frnech railway: http://www.voyages-sncf.com

It's 112E 2 cl but only 99E 1 cl.

You could buy your ticket upon arrival in Italy.

TopMan

A traiff is another name for the price charged

TopMan

Oops..sorry..that should be TARIFF

jenl

Thank you! I checked http://www.voyages-sncf.com and found that they mail tickets to certain countries only, excluding USA and Canada (which I assume is because raileurope.com has the monopoly in this market). So two follow-up questions:

1. Can I use my friend's address in France and ask her to forward the tickets to me upon receipt?

2. I am only interested to book a two-bed cabin for my husband and me. How can I make sure that I booked the proper one? The sncf "first class" does not specifically indicate as such - is it presumed?

Thanks again for your help.

shellio

I assume that you specifically want to take the train. If not, are you aware that air tickets Venice-Paris with www.volareweb.com will cost about €95 (including taxes) per person for a mid-October date?

suze

Can't help with details but I love taking the route. From Venice we went to Milan (~3 hrs.) and then transfer to the overnight train and our cabin. We had a private double (called 'wagon lit' in Switzerland anyway). We bought point-to-point tickets when we were there. Take a nice dinner picnic, bought ahead or even at the train station.

TopMan

RailEurope does not have any "monopoly" on tickets..RailEurope IS a wholly-owned SNCF-Swiss Federal Railways North American subsidiary set up to market European rail travel in North America.

If you use them or any other agency you'll end up paying shipping and handling charges and higher prices for the reservations, at least, than you would if you bought them in Europe or on-line. If you can at all get the tickets on line and then have them sent to you you'd be saving money

ira

Hi jenl,

>I am only interested to book a two-bed cabin for my husband and me. How can I make sure that I booked the proper one?<

You want to purchase two tickets at the same time. After you pick your train, click on "seat options". Choose "double with shower".

The price goes from 199E to 459E. Are you sure you don't want to fly? Fares are as low as 65E.

>Can I use my friend's address in France and ask her to forward the tickets to me upon receipt?

Of course.

You can also have them sent to your hotel in Venice.

Christina

Do you think Amtrak would mail tickets to someone living in Italy? I think that is unreasonable to expect that. These state railways are not rolling in money to send tickets all over the world to tourists who want to save a little money.

ira

Well they do send tickets to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Guam, Kazhakstan, Mongolia, Russia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

jjester

Re Ira's comment of booking first class "double with shower" - this is the Grande Classe in the Excelsior car. It is very comfortable and the ensuite bathrooms are relatively spacious for a train. But it is expensive.

If you just book first class double (ie without the shower) you get a similar compartment to the "with shower" option but without the ensuite - the facilities (toilets at least, not sure about showers) are separate within the carriage.

We went Paris to Rome on the night train and had a lovely trip.

ira

Hi jj,

I rechecked the Venice/Paris route. The night portion is on the Artesia Train out of Milan.

They seem to only offer "double with shower", singles or 4-person couchettes.

GeoffHamer

There is still a direct overnight train from Venezia to Paris - there is no need to change trains in Milano. These trains do not have first or second class: the fare (or tariff) depends entirely on the type of accommodation - the cheapest is a couchette and the most expensive is a compartment with a double bed and bathroom.

Mingkee

I have purchased from sncf website on 6/9 a mimi C tariff on the Artesia train from Venice to Paris direct on 26/9. (Artesia 222) The system first reverted that there were last few seats available but the procedures were suddenly terminated as the system reported that those last seats had also been reserved during submission. I've tried many times in 2-3 days. Eventually I got the ticket available for me to buy until some 50 tries. I selected the ticket to be mailed to Hong Kong and it have arrived on 15/9.

The sncf system sometimes may not be able to show all trains available to you. (may be due to overflow of data!) Therefore please select "direct" in your query to make sure the system can narrow down the options and give the alternatives you want.