Overnight or day train from Paris to Venice?
 

Our family of four (2 older teenagers) will be taking the train from Paris to Venice in December. I had intended to take the overnight train (4 berth couchette) to save a night's accomodation and a day's sightseeing. A friend has suggested that it would be a very scenic train trip through the mountains and that we consider a day trip. I think I wouldn't sleep well anyway on the train and am leaning towards going in daylight. Does anyone have any experience of this or advice?

I'm very grateful for all the terrific advice I've has so far - have recommended this site to several travelling friends.

Forgive me, because you didn't ask about flying. But www.myair.com is offering fares as low as 1 cent plus tax (yes really) in December, for the Paris-Venice route.

But if you want to take the train, and you're pretty sure you won't sleep well, I'd consider the day train for sure. You'll lose some time for sure, but if you're half-asleep when you arrive in Venice, that won't be much good either.

you are looking into a very long train ride (10 hours). I would also suggest myair, which I think will also be significantly cheaper. there used to be an easyjet flight from Paris Orly too, but I'm not sure it still exists.

that said, the train ride from Paris to Milan goes through some great french countyside, and gorgeous lakes and mountains when ou cross the alps (the Lausanne route). The 4 hour ride from Milan to Venice is pretty dull. arriving to Venice by train is a great experience. Personally I see no value in overnight train since flying is so convenient.

The overnight train will still be quicker than flying. If you add the time taken to get to and from the airports, the journey will take half a day. By day, the train journey takes about ten hours. I'd prefer the overnight train, or I'd stop overnight somewhere to break the journey and see somewhere different: for instance, take a TGV from Paris to Lausanne, then get a train from Lausanne in the morning to Venezia.

Hi J,

www.myair.com flies from Paris Orly to Venice Marco Polo.

It is not only cheaper, but you save 7 hrs being crammed into a closet for 4 on the night train.

((I))

It depends on what you want to see and how much time you have. The day train does take 10-11 hours, but it does include the TGV in France, a change of trains in Switzerland and Milan, going through the Alps as Matt said. If I had a day to kill and never been that way before, I'd do it.
I've never had a decent sleep on a night train. For me, it would be out of the question.

I like night trains. I can never sleep on planes, in busses or cars, but a train in a bed is OK for me. That said, I've always booked a 2-person private cabin not the shared couchette (beds are much better). I don't care what the scenery is, an 11 hour train ride is simply too long for me to enjoy.

I would: take the overnight train, fly instead, or book the day train ride into 2 parts with a stopover somewhere along the way.

Thanks all of you who replied. I've decided to tale the TGV to Lausanne, stay overnight there and then train it to Venice the next day. Do all trains from Paris to Venice go via Lausanne and allow a stopover, or do I need to be researching a particular site/ train company? Any suggestions for dinner or hotel in Lausanne?

I hope I may be able to help with tips for travel in Australia someday.

Thanks again,
Judy

The only train from Paris to Venezia is the overnight train, so by day, you always have to change at least once. For schedules, it's easiest to use www.bahn.de. Try Paris-Venezia, Paris-Lausanne, Lausanne-Venezia and other combinations till you find timings that suit you, then see what reservations might be needed.

Judy - The only DIRECT daytime train from Lausanne to Venice leaves Lausanne at 09.27 (- arrives Venezia S.L 15.38).

Here's the link:

http://www.cisalpino.com/reiseinfo/p...=9&nach=40


Other journey times would usually involve a change of train at Milan Centrale.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Hi J,

You will have to buy tickets from Paris to Lausanne, and another ticket from Lausanne to Venice.

The first requires a change of trains in Geneva.

The second is the Cisalpino, a direct train, leaving at 09:27.

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

((I))

There are TGVs from Paris to Lausanne: you do not need to change in Genève. The morning train to Venezia goes from Genève via Lausanne, so another option would be to get a Paris-Genève TGV, stop the night there, then continue in the morning from Genève to Venezia.

I'm pretty sure you need two separate train tickets. One Paris to Geneva or Lausanne. And another from Geneva or Lausanne on to Venice. The day train I took Venice back to Vevey (next town to Lausanne) had one transfer at Sion.

Hotel Elite is a 3-star in Lausanne:
elite_lausanne.ch

I didn't stay there because my plans changed last summer, but I thought it looked nice on the website. It is a "5-min walk" from the train station.

>There are TGVs from Paris to Lausanne..

Thanks, Geoff. I was looking at the wrong times.

They are at 07:44, 13:04 and 16:34.

((I))

Since you are taking two trains (and one that originates in Switzerland, not a cheap country), this is likely to cost you a lot, I would guess twice as much at least than Myair. But that's just my two cents...

Train fares are calculated from the distance, so it doesn't matter significantly whether you break your journey once or twenty times. A standard international ticket is valid two months and allows unlimited breaks along the specified route (though if the trains are TGVs or similar, you have to pay supplements on top of the basic fare).
If you always opt for the cheapest, you'd never go in restaurant: every meal would be a take-away burger, and life would be very boring.

I vote for breaking the trip in Switzerland, too. I try to always take the last train in the evening that arrives before midnight. That way, you'll have a last full day in Paris, and a full day in Switzerland.

For example, there's a through train from Paris to Lausanne at 18:04 arriving 21:58, or a one-change at 19:10 to 23:40.

The only disadvantage to this scheme is that in December it gets dark pretty early, so you wouldn't see much in the way of scenery.

Hi GH,

>A standard international ticket is valid two months and allows unlimited breaks along the specified route ...<

A break of more than 12 hr?

((I))

GH, I was just pointing at the fact that, IMHO, the cost AND the annoyance factor were lower with the plane. Call me a European jaded train rider, but I have long since forgotten about the "charm" of sitting 10+ hours on a train, when you could be flying for 1 1/2 hours at half the cost. To take your metaphor, taking the train in this case would be like going to McDonald's and paying Taillevent prices.