Train from London to Venice?

Old Mar 1st, 2007, 08:25 PM
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Train from London to Venice?

We have 2 weeks for London and Venice and would love to do some travel by train. Is the trip from london to venice nice? Are there various departures during the day....I'd love to see the countryside.
We have the time but i never see anyone talk about this trip....is there some reason it would be better to fly?
Can anyone tell me how much it would cost, and are there discounts for teens? Also, should I book it now or wait?
Thanks for the help.
Cactusue is offline  
Old Mar 1st, 2007, 09:40 PM
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First of all, what airport are you flying to and flying out of....

Please realize the distances involved.

In looking at my large Michelin map pinned to my wall....

My guess, based on my experience, is that it's a 2 1/2+ day trip by train, if you're lucky. We're taling about many transfers. Want to live on a train for 3 days?

Are there intermediate places you want to stay at?

If not, why not?

If not, check out the discount airlines flying out of Stansted. Most of the discount airlines are flying out of this airport.

Spend some time doing your own research before you throw out such a general request.

It will help you get more focused and also help others give you better responses than somethig like, "the tulips are pretty in Holland this time of year, if you're going in this direction".

From Lodon to Venice has nothing to do with Holland, so why do people bring it up? You weren't focued enough at the beginning to keep from having lots of irrelivant comments.

It's not a personal attack. I just want people to think out what they're doing before they throw out a generic question,.


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Old Mar 1st, 2007, 10:19 PM
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www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#Venice

It would take 19-20 hours
alanRow is offline  
Old Mar 1st, 2007, 11:37 PM
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The nicest bit (almost the only really nice bit) is the Alps, and most routings take you through them in the dark.

London to the tunnel is pretty once you're out of the London maw (ie about an hour after departure), the tunnel's just a tunnel, and the Calais-Paris bit is wide, slighty undulating, empty, untreed, (bluntly: really boring, but it's only a bit over an hour) near-prairie.

Most routes require you to change stations in Paris so you may as well extend that to lunch or whatever.

Paris to the Alp foothills is really a French version of the English bit, though Paris is smaller than London and the train's a lot faster (at leasat till mid-November) so the boring bit takes only 10 mins.

Once you're out of the Alps foothills on the Italian side (and there's always something quite exhilarating about going through the Italian statons as you're coming down from the mountains), the slog across Northern Italy from Milan to Venice is pretty flat and iffy. There's something astonishingly atmospheric about the train's crawl across the lagoon at the end into the main station - and the shock of getting off the train ans walking to the boat stop into town always hits you (well me) more than the clinical walk at Venice airport.

Organising this so you see the nice bits and sleep through the boring bits is tricky, and I've never managed it. So take interesting reading matter and don't expect too much.
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Old Mar 2nd, 2007, 12:33 AM
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If you wanted the max scenery your best bet would be to route yourself through Switzerland by changing in Paris and taking a TGV from there to either Geneva or Lausanne; changing again there for a Cisalpino service which runs (direct, no changes) along the shore of LacLeman to Brig, through the Simplon Tunnel and on to Milan and finally to Venice.
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Old Mar 2nd, 2007, 12:35 AM
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Or, take a budget flight to Geneva and pick up the Cisalpino there...eliminates some of the more mundane scenery.
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Old Mar 2nd, 2007, 12:36 AM
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The journey is just possible in one day: www.bahn.de shows you can get a Eurostar from London Waterloo at 0534 and by changing in Paris, Genève and Milano, you arrive in Venezia Santa Lucia at 2309.
More practically, the easiest is to take a Eurostar to Paris then the overnight train to Venezia - you could leave London in the afternoon and be in Venezia the next morning.
To see more scenery, you should break the journey somewhere. For instance, take a morning Eurostar to Paris for lunch, a TGV to Lausanne, then travel through Switzerland the next day. Another route is to go through Germany and either use the overnight train from München to Venezia or stop a night in southern Germany.
There are countless other options - it's just a matter of working out which places you can visit en-route.
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Old Mar 2nd, 2007, 05:33 AM
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Hi C,

You can get schedules and see the routes at www.bahn.de.

You are looking at 20 hr or more on the train.

The cheapest fare (about $100 pp) on the Eurostar is the one-day RT.

See www.eurostar.com

If you go via Paris you have to change stations, so you might want to take the night train.

You can get a 4 person sleeper for about 550E. (2 adult, 2 youth)

See www.trenitalia.com

It would be much faster and cheaper to fly to Venice VCE or Venice TSF from London.

See www.whichbudget.com

>should I book it now or wait?

When are you going?

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Old Mar 2nd, 2007, 06:45 AM
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FWIW, let me throw out another idea. A few years ago my DW and I decided to make the trip between London and Venice an integral part of our vacation. We love traveling Europe by train and have never appreciated the views from 35,000 ft. We ended up taking the Venice Simplon Orient Express. (In our case, we took it from Venice to London). Left at 11 am and got to London the next afternoon at 4. Yes, a large part of the trip was at night, but we got to Innsbruck before dark, so we did see a lot of beautiful mountain scenery.

The trip remains one of our highlights of our many trips to Europe. The restored Pullmans are extraordinary; the food was excellent and the service was impeccable. Met a lot of wonderful people. The ferry crossing of the channel was a wonderful change of pace. There's not enough space to fully describe the experience, but it was one of the most romantic trips we've taken. It wasn't cheap, but we thought it was worth every penny. Still remember the smells of the fresh baked pastries and breads being loaded on the train during our stop in Paris while we had breakfast of eggs and smoked salmon in the dining car...

BTW, you can take this trip in various segments. Any portion would be an extraordinary experience.
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Old Mar 2nd, 2007, 07:41 AM
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Personally, I would go for a window seat on a plane.
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Old May 31st, 2007, 11:53 PM
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Look at this website for lots of info! http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm

You can do it in a day 1/2 not 2 1/2 days. Train to Paris and then the Venice train.

Best Al
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