Paris to Italy Train or Plane
Jan 13th, 2001, 02:42 PM
#1
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Paris to Italy Train or Plane
Help!! Very confused Mom tries to plan 3 week Europe trip for family of 5 Next summer
Start in in London (for 7 days) flying home from Milan. Wanted kids to get a glimpse of Paris Am I crazy?
1. Eurostar to Paris then Paris to Milan Have had difficult time finding so called Bargain flights Maybe the night train ?
Would greatly appreciate your valued opinions.
Right now I am planning 7 days in London 3-4 days in Paris then will find a farm or apartment outside Florence before heading up to Milan for our return home.
Karen
Start in in London (for 7 days) flying home from Milan. Wanted kids to get a glimpse of Paris Am I crazy?
1. Eurostar to Paris then Paris to Milan Have had difficult time finding so called Bargain flights Maybe the night train ?
Would greatly appreciate your valued opinions.
Right now I am planning 7 days in London 3-4 days in Paris then will find a farm or apartment outside Florence before heading up to Milan for our return home.
Karen
Jan 13th, 2001, 04:03 PM
#3
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Fodors
If I may disagree, the night raiun from Paris to Milan, the Stendhal Express, is particularly good. It has "Excelsior" coaches, brought into service six months ago. These have air conditioning, a reception area with corridor TV, and in compartments they have seats, a private bathroom with shower, toilet, washbasin, drinking water, a welcome drink, and a light breakfast. Passengers have use of Club Eurostar lounges in Italian stations. The train has a restaurant car.
A double compartment costs 274 dollars for two adults, 233 dollars for two seniors or young people aged 16 to 24, and 206 dollars for two children. The price for one adult in a private compartment is about 200 dollars. These fares were set in France for December 2000, and may vary a few percent with exchange rate changes. You can book two months ahead of travel with a credit card by phoning or e-mailing Rail Choice, South East London, website http://www.railchoice.com, e-mail [email protected], and phone ++44 20 7939 9915. Your party would need two doubles and a single. The train leaves Paris Gare de Lyon at 2216, runs from 0058 to 0645 without a stop at a station,
and reaches Milan at 0845. You'd need something to do in Paris your last evening -- a circus or ballet, perhaps ?
Eurostar standards are high, but seven hours is still long in a day train.
Please write if I can help further.
Ben Haines, London
If I may disagree, the night raiun from Paris to Milan, the Stendhal Express, is particularly good. It has "Excelsior" coaches, brought into service six months ago. These have air conditioning, a reception area with corridor TV, and in compartments they have seats, a private bathroom with shower, toilet, washbasin, drinking water, a welcome drink, and a light breakfast. Passengers have use of Club Eurostar lounges in Italian stations. The train has a restaurant car.
A double compartment costs 274 dollars for two adults, 233 dollars for two seniors or young people aged 16 to 24, and 206 dollars for two children. The price for one adult in a private compartment is about 200 dollars. These fares were set in France for December 2000, and may vary a few percent with exchange rate changes. You can book two months ahead of travel with a credit card by phoning or e-mailing Rail Choice, South East London, website http://www.railchoice.com, e-mail [email protected], and phone ++44 20 7939 9915. Your party would need two doubles and a single. The train leaves Paris Gare de Lyon at 2216, runs from 0058 to 0645 without a stop at a station,
and reaches Milan at 0845. You'd need something to do in Paris your last evening -- a circus or ballet, perhaps ?
Eurostar standards are high, but seven hours is still long in a day train.
Please write if I can help further.
Ben Haines, London
Jan 15th, 2001, 02:46 PM
#4
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To answer your question, yes you are crazy, but in the best kind of way.
If the kids are old enough to not get too restless, why not take a morning train from Paris, go through Switzerland, and finish up in Milan late afternoon? Ben recommended the reverse trip for me, and it was a beautiful trip - stunning scenery. I had about an hour layover in Lausanne, which gave me a chance to get fresh (Swiss) air, stretch my legs and sit in the sun for a bit.
The trains have snack cars where you can buy sandwiches and drinks (gives the kids something to do), and/or you can bring your own lunch food with you. I'm sure there was a restaurant car on one of the trains, but I had my nosed smooshed against the window, looking at the scenery, and didn't want to leave.
I love trains, so an all-day train ride is enjoyable for me; I can sleep on overnight trains, no problem, but some people can't. I'd plan a very easy day after getting off an overnight train, in case not everyone got a good rest. Are you planning to drive from Milan? If so, I'd stay in Milan overnight, then pick up the car the next day.
The other plus of trains is that they leave from the city, and arrive in the city - no getting to/from airports, and no size/quantity limits on luggage (no waiting at the baggage carousel for the last suitcase).
If the kids are old enough to not get too restless, why not take a morning train from Paris, go through Switzerland, and finish up in Milan late afternoon? Ben recommended the reverse trip for me, and it was a beautiful trip - stunning scenery. I had about an hour layover in Lausanne, which gave me a chance to get fresh (Swiss) air, stretch my legs and sit in the sun for a bit.
The trains have snack cars where you can buy sandwiches and drinks (gives the kids something to do), and/or you can bring your own lunch food with you. I'm sure there was a restaurant car on one of the trains, but I had my nosed smooshed against the window, looking at the scenery, and didn't want to leave.
I love trains, so an all-day train ride is enjoyable for me; I can sleep on overnight trains, no problem, but some people can't. I'd plan a very easy day after getting off an overnight train, in case not everyone got a good rest. Are you planning to drive from Milan? If so, I'd stay in Milan overnight, then pick up the car the next day.
The other plus of trains is that they leave from the city, and arrive in the city - no getting to/from airports, and no size/quantity limits on luggage (no waiting at the baggage carousel for the last suitcase).
Jan 15th, 2001, 02:56 PM
#5
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Elvira, thanks for your input. We are researching the best way to travel from Paris to Milan in October. We love trains too and the trip through the Alps sounds great. Could you post the specific train number, departure/arrival times, and the station of departure in Paris?
Merci beaucoup
Merci beaucoup
Jan 15th, 2001, 05:16 PM
#6
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The train (TGV 21) leaves Paris Gare de Lyon at 7:41am, arrives Lausanne 11:46, leaves (train 323) 13:00 and arrives 16:50 Milan Centrale.
There's another route, through Basel and Lucerne, which takes longer; one journey has an hour in Basel, the other an hour in Lucerne. Ben recommended that route if I wanted to stay overnight - the scenery is supposed to be even more spectacular - but I wanted to get to Paris in one day (I did Venice>Milan>Paris). It's 12/13 hours if you do the Basel/Lucerne route vs 9 hrs through Lausanne, and you have to change trains twice.
There's another route, through Basel and Lucerne, which takes longer; one journey has an hour in Basel, the other an hour in Lucerne. Ben recommended that route if I wanted to stay overnight - the scenery is supposed to be even more spectacular - but I wanted to get to Paris in one day (I did Venice>Milan>Paris). It's 12/13 hours if you do the Basel/Lucerne route vs 9 hrs through Lausanne, and you have to change trains twice.
Jan 15th, 2001, 06:40 PM
#7
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The best transportation value for Paris to Italy is Thalys to Brussels and www.virgin-express.com to Italy.
Bar none.
There are also plenty of bargain flights between London and Italy. What have you tried?
VirginExpress is currently showing a fare of $63 (USD) between Rome and LHR.
Ryanair is showing fares (probably not in summer, but maybe) ranging as low as 8 GBP ($12 USD) to Rimini - - then 10 GBP to Genoa, 18-19 for Venice (Treviso), Turin or Pisa. The taxes, as you might suppose, are extra (and can be more than the flights themselves, at 9 GBP or higher). Even at the higher summer fares, several routes are still very affordable (for example, London-Rimini, currently 17 GBP including taxes in January, 57 GBP in July).
You may find good fares on other airlines as well. And depending on your choice of transatlantic carrier, you might want to ask about "Discover Europe" coupon options. And these are available on British Midland (which only recently announced that they will start flying transatlantic later this year), regardless of who is your transatlantic carrier. they make it surprisingly difficult to find on their website - - www.britishmidland.com/Leisure/Dea/Dea.asp - - and remember this can ONLY be purchased BEFORE you leave the US.
Best wishes,
Rex
Bar none.
There are also plenty of bargain flights between London and Italy. What have you tried?
VirginExpress is currently showing a fare of $63 (USD) between Rome and LHR.
Ryanair is showing fares (probably not in summer, but maybe) ranging as low as 8 GBP ($12 USD) to Rimini - - then 10 GBP to Genoa, 18-19 for Venice (Treviso), Turin or Pisa. The taxes, as you might suppose, are extra (and can be more than the flights themselves, at 9 GBP or higher). Even at the higher summer fares, several routes are still very affordable (for example, London-Rimini, currently 17 GBP including taxes in January, 57 GBP in July).
You may find good fares on other airlines as well. And depending on your choice of transatlantic carrier, you might want to ask about "Discover Europe" coupon options. And these are available on British Midland (which only recently announced that they will start flying transatlantic later this year), regardless of who is your transatlantic carrier. they make it surprisingly difficult to find on their website - - www.britishmidland.com/Leisure/Dea/Dea.asp - - and remember this can ONLY be purchased BEFORE you leave the US.
Best wishes,
Rex
Jan 28th, 2001, 04:13 PM
#8
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You have just described the exact train ride my husband and I have been looking for.The TGV 21 to Lausanne then the 323 to Milan. Now I need to decide on a rail pass. Other then this leg of our trip we will be in Italy. Our trip length is three weeks and we are looking at about eight train rides total from Milan-Venice-Cinque Terre, San Gimignano, Rome, Positano and back to Rome. You're saying OK and your question....What rail pass do you think we should get?
Thank you so much for this board. It has made planning this trip so much fun and saved me living at Barnes and Noble Book store.
Thank you so much for this board. It has made planning this trip so much fun and saved me living at Barnes and Noble Book store.
Jan 29th, 2001, 12:21 PM
#9
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Chris: Eurail Selectpass (10 days out of 2 months, 1st class, $406) is good in 3 conjoining countries. Since 1st class train Paris>Milan is $183, Milan>Venice 1st class is about $95, and you've got another 5 or 6 equally costly trips, the Selectpass is the most economical (I am assuming you won't be traveling more than 10 days out of 3 weeks). There are Italy Passes, and they would work if you buy Paris>Milan as a separate ticket, then a SECOND CLASS pass for either 12 days out of a month ($286) or 21 consecutive days ($289); the First Class passes are $429 and $433 respectively.
Feb 11th, 2001, 09:51 PM
#10
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Thank-you to Ben And Elvira. We leave for Paris March 13th. I plan to take your exact train recomendation, TGV from Paris-Lausanne-Milan. From the board I now understand I need to reserve seats in Italy for train travel with a eurail pass. Do I need to do this before we leave or can I do it from Paris. We plan to leave Paris on the 17th for Milan. Thank you so much for all of your advice. I have my 21 inch carry on eagle creek rolling bag and I am excited beyond words.
Feb 19th, 2001, 08:37 AM
#12
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Thankyou Elvira,I read all your posts and have gotten tons of great info. Although I now know how to use the Italy train web site, if I have a select pass, how do I reserve tickets from the US. Can you tell I've never done this before. We have always rented cars.
Thanks again
Thanks again
Feb 19th, 2001, 05:26 PM
#13
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Having lived in Europe for a total of 13 years, I've driven, flown, and taken a bus between countries more times than I can count. The one I will travel leg I will always remember as my favorite was my overnight train from Rome to Paris. It was the best way to travel. Saw a bit of the countryside(s) and arrived in Paris refreshied, ready to start the day. One point, though--make sure your train has a dining car. If it doesn't, you can always take a picnic dinner type of thing or snacks to fill you up.
