Hi

Through the RailEurope website I can book a train journey from Paris to Milan. There are about 3 daytime trains a day to choose from. The one I am looking at is the 07:42 departure. I will be travelling in September and so I am just doing a "Dummy Run" to see how the journey pans out. I can book this train (07:42) up to and including 30 June 09. But if I put in a date of 01 July 09 or later the day time journeys are not displayed. Does anyone know the earliest date you can book this route?

Many Thanks

If you do a search here on sncf or www.voyages-sncf.com you will find lots of threads on buying train tickets for trains in/originating in France. I would also recommend spending some time on seat61.com.

If you use the RailEurope site you will almost certainly pay more than you need to. I believe the cutoff for booking in France is 90 days. Have you considered the night train?

You'll need to be able to handle French to book on the SNCF site. To book in English and get the same discount fares offered on the SNCF site, go to www.tgv-europe.com. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site, choose Great Britain as both your country of residence and the country in which you will retrieve your tickets. You will be able to pick up your tickets at any SNCF station or boutique (ticket shop) in France, even though you originally chose Great Britain. Discount fares can be as low as €45 for the departure time you have in mind. You can book three full months in advance (for example, book on 2 May for travel on 2 August).

Re: Paris to Milan by train

Many Thanks for the replies although I,m still confused.

I have tried what you said about the TGV Europe website. I still have the same problem. On 30 June I can travel on direct daytime trains at 07.42 13.50 15.24. When I try from 1 July onwards all the above services are not there.
Thats only around 59 days in advance.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

There is one other factor I didn't mention in my original post. New timetables will go into effect throughout Europe in the middle of June. Trenitalia (Italian National Rail) is usually slow in loading theirs which affects how soon routes that either begin or end in Italy will appear on the tgv-europe site. It can as late as toward the end of May before they are all loaded. Keep checking the tgv-europe site about once a week until your travel date shows complete timetables. The new ones are likely to be virtually identical to the current ones.

One more thing. Since the new timetables will go into effect in mid-June, the ones you see for 30 June are the new ones--and they'll be the same in September. Just keep checking.

Thanks TimS for taking the time to reply.
I was worried in case the route had been amended or withdrawn.
I don't like flying so rely on the European Trains. Once again, Many Thanks

You're most welcome, paulg1.

I had a similar problem trying to book the night train from Paris to Rome on July 10th. It turned out that that train was sold out so you might want to call RailEurope directly. Also, I was told that the online sites were not always up to date on availabilty.