Hi

I posted a few weeks ago

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?

As of today (23 May) this is stil the same. I phoned Rail Europe and was told that the Italian system is still not updated for 1 July onwards. ( Thats only just over 5 weeks away). It makes it extremelyy awkward as I,m looking to book in September with the UK train being 3 months in advance and the Eurostar 4 months in advance.
Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.
Many Thanks

Why are you looking to book your trains so far in advance? It's really not necessary.

And you should be aware the RailEurope has very high markups. You'd be much better off booking once you arrive, either at the train station or a travel agent in Paris, or directly thru' the Trenitalia website once it's updated. I think you can only book a month or so in advance on Trenitalia.

Thanks for the reply panecott.

I usually like to book my train tickets as early as possible as the best prices are likely to be found. For instance it is possible to book Paris to Milan through Rail Europe for £19 single, but only if I book early enough. Same with UK trains and Eurostar etc.

Hi Paul - This doesn't answer your Q, but ... have you considered flying instead? It can be much cheaper on this route with one of the budget airlines, e.g. Easyjet.

Steve

RailEurope is a reseller and any price you find from them can be bought from the actual train companies without the hidden extra fees.

Trenitalia is the Italian train company and they only allow booking 60 days in advance so I would assume you need to wait until you are in the 60 day window. You could then buy the tickets from the French train company (Trenitalia requires international tickets sold on their website be picked up in Italy).

Trenitalia is always slow in updating its timetables. However, new timetables will go into effect throughout Europe on 13 June so Trenitalia will have to have its act together by then. After that date you will see complete timetables up to 60 days in advance for domestic routes and up to 90 days in advance for international routes.

Be aware, however, that booking Paris-Milan on the Trenitalia site won't work for you. Tickets booked on that site must either be picked up at a station in Italy or mailed to an Italian address. That doesn't help you since you will be in France.

Unless you can handle French on the SNCF site, the best site to book your Paris-Milan tickets is www.tgv-europe.com. To keep the site in English and to prevent 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. You will be able to book 90 days ahead of your September departure date.

Thanks Tim for the info. I'll go ahead and book my eurostar to Paris for September and sit tight until the website is updated for the Paris to Milan route. I'd be better off taking "fear of flying lessons" I reckon.