Paris - Venice - Overnight Train - Compartments for 3
 

Hello,

I'm thinking about taking an overnight train from Paris to Venice. I will be with my husband and 11 year-old daughter. What are the best accommodations for a party of 3? Had it been just 2 of us, I would have gone for the Excelsior class, but the cabins only sleep 2. The other accommodations seem to be T-4 berths. How does this work? I don't want a stranger in the room with us. Is my only option booking 2 Excelsior cabins, and leaving my husband in the second cabin? (BTW -We will have 1st class Eurorail passes.) Any rail suggestion appreciated! (Please do not suggest flying - this method of travel is suitable for a variety of reasons.)

Thanks in advance,
Chels

Don't bother with the Excelsior class. It's smaller than the regular first class compartments, UNLESS you book the matrimonial suite. There are some t-3 first class compartments on these trains, but unless your 11 year old is very short and skinny, this will not work. What we do in these instances is book a double and a single, then have one parent enjoy a room to himself/herself while the other parent sleeps in the room with the child. Because the compartments are small, you'll all feel more comfortable than cramming all three into a room. This will be especially so if you're taking the Rialto Artesia train, which has none of the older compartments, only the excelsior which is compact, and the other, which is just as compact.

go to www.seat61.com
Click on "Italy" on the left-hand sidebar
scroll down to overnight accommodations which describes the possibilities and includes pictures

Yes, the man in seat 61 is a great website and shows very accurate pictures. There is also the Artesia website (I forget how I got to that) that describes the compartment and I think also shows pictures. You can also email the man in seat 61, who responds quickly.

Hi chels,

Have you

checked www.railsaver.com to be sure that you need a railpass

looked into cheap flights at www.whichbudget.com?

A T3 compartment, with three identical bunks one above other, would be ideal, but I don't think they have these on the Paris-Venezia train. You'd either need to book a two-berth (T2) and a single (which would be a T2 at a higher fare for exclusive use), or risk sharing (perhaps having a T2 for mother and daughter, and a shared T2 for father). I believe the Paris-Milano night train has T3 compartments, so another option would be to use this, then change to a Eurostar at Milano in the morning; this train leaves Paris later in the evening, so gives time for dinner in Paris, whereas the Venezia train leaves too early for dinner in Paris.

Thank you for the replies. I also checked with RailEurope, and our only option to avoid sharing cabins with strangers is to book a double and a single. Unfortunately, the singles are in different railway cars from the doubles - sort of defeats the purpose of family travel. I am rethinking my itinerary to circumvent this.

Thanks for the suggestions! As always, the advice is invaluable.