We are doing a trip to Paris and Rome in July. Wrong time of year I know, but one of our group is a teacher and one a student. We are spending 4 days in Paris and 5 days in Rome. The trip between is still being planned and we are considering the train by day. Is it worth the time it takes? There is a layover in Milan. Will we have time to see anything there? Or would we be better to spend a little more time in Paris and fly? Thanks. Reading the answers to questions on this forum has already helped our planning.

Going to the SNCF site, it looks like a 15 hour trip, pretty grueling I think. I would opt for the flight and the extra time in Paris.

Definitely FLY. <BR>There's so much to see/do in both Paris & Rome that you'd best be served by not spending an entire day on the train traveling from one to the other. And from some other posts on this forum, it appears you can get an inexpensive airfare that would be competitive to the rail costs.

Here's an opposing thought. To fly you will need to allow an hour and a half to get to the airport in Paris. You will need to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight which I believe is about an hour and a half. Once in Rome, retrieving your luggage, getting to transportation, getting into Rome and then taking a taxi to your hotel is about another 2 hours. So you are looking at 7 hours or so door to door, so to speak. You have lost a day anyway you look at it. I say take the train, because it is beautiful countryside and if you have not traveled a lot in Europe, you really might enjoy it. I take a good map and follow where we are and find the train travel very interesting. And when you compare prices of flying and taking the train, don't forget to add in the costs of getting you all to and from the airports. Transportation from hotel to train station is pretty minimal.

Patrick is right about one thing - - you do have to look at total travel time and cost - - and he makes assumptions about where you are starting and finsihing your trip. A lot depends on where youu are in relationship to the train station or airport you need in the originating and in the destination city. For Paris-London, for example, this can be strikingly true. <BR> <BR>But for Paris-Rome both the train and non-syop flights are a bad use of money and time. Take the train to Brussels and fly www.virgin-express.com - - if you time it right, this will be CHEAPER than the 15 hr train ride, and the total travel time estimate of about 7 hrs door to door is probably pretty accurate. Depending on where those doors are, of course! <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex

Virgin Express is the best! Good information Rex gave! Hey, Rex, come help us out in the cheap flight forum- we need you!