We will be traveling by train in June from Paris to Venice. We are interested in visiting along the way one of the Italian Lake areas for several days. What village or area would be most assessible by train. Would it be better to take an overnight train or travel by day. How many hours is it to the area you are suggesting from Paris?
Any ideas for hotels or small B and B's for around 100E. Thank you.

I would personally think that flying volareweb.com is far preferable to taking the train - - faster and cheaper. And then Garda is the closest lake; it can be argued that the other lakes are "better", but I guess that's like saying cheesecake is better than apple pie; both are very good.

Best wishes,

Rex

Thank you Rex. Where would we fly into from Paris to reach Garda? What do you think the difference in time would be from flying to taking a train? We were just thinking that a train would be nice so to see the scenery since this is my first trip. Again, many thanks for responding.

Hi ginn,

If you go the the Grman railway site (the best for schedules throughout Europe) http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

you will see the day train schedules from Paris to Venezia. It ain't convenient.

The best way is the night train leaving at 20:01.

Into Venice - - without looking up specifics, I am thinking 90 minutes flying versus 10-12 hrs by train.

90 minutes+ from Venice to the _town_ of Garda; another 30-45 to either end of the lake (Sirmione or Riva del Garda, for example).

Oh... those are _driving_ times from Venice (not counting the process of actually getting a car rental picked up). Train will take a bit longer; change in Verona (I think); destination Desenzano.

The only through train from Paris to Venezia is the overnight train which is a very civilised way of doing the journey. This train stops at the southern end of Lake Garda on the way. The other lakes are most easily reached via Milano which has daytime high-speed trains and an overnight train from Paris. It's easy to reach Lake Como or Lake Maggiore from Milano, and there are good train services on from Milano to Venezia. Check European train schedules on www.bahn.de or, for Italy, www.trenitalia.com.