Train from Paris to Athens
 

We are intending to travel by train from Paris Bercy to Athens, via Bologna, Bari and Patras.

This journey takes 3 days/2 nights. We were thinking of stopping over at some interesting place for a few days in between.

Has anyone done this trip?
Can anyone make any suggestions ?

Since the route you've decided upon would normally bypass cities such as Florence and Rome (after you make your change in Milan if you were taking the trains straight through to Bari) I would ask you to clarify your notion of "a few days."

In stead of changing in Milan for the direct train to Bari you could easily take a train to Florence or even to Rome and stay in one of those two cities for your few days and then take a train on to Bari.

I'm not that fussed over going via Bologna, its just that I thought I needed to follow that particular route to get to Athens. Hey if there is mroe exciting ways then I'm in with bells on.

We have from the 8th of August to the 13th of August to get from Paris to Athens. I'm totally open to suggestions and appreciate your input

Since you apparently change from a train to a boat (unless they've recently built a reallllllly long bridge from Bari to Patras) I'd suggest taking a break there and spending some time in that area.

Once again I'll mention my favorite place in Italy, Polignano a Mare. Here is a link to a great place to stay and to dine:
http://www.grottapalazzese.it/intro.html

From there you can visit the trulli and a wonderful series of hill towns. Ostuni, Alberobella, and Matera with its caves are all major highlights.

I assume when you specified Bercy as the departure point you are considering taking one of the night trains to Italy (since that is the station they generally leave from).

There is a 7:00 PM departure which runs overnight directly to Rome (EuroNight #227). This same train stops at Florence on the way to Rome. The train takes about 14 hours Paris to Rome (you can also get a budget flight to Rome from Paris on an airline such as EasyJet but it arrives at the Ciampino airport..but takes a lot less time, obviously).

As an alternative, you can take a TGV service from Paris-Lyon to Milan which takes about 6-7 hours during the day and transfer there.

All kinds of possibilities.

You can check schedules using either the GermanRail website:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

or at www.trenitalia.com

I would also agree with the Neo-Neopolitan that the region around Bari has much to offer. Rome and Florence may be the epicenters of Fodorite attention but Italy has a great deal more to offer, depending on what your interests are.

Yes, Neo...Halliburton has not yet won the contract for the bridge from Bari to Corfu and on to Patra so it is still by wonderful ferry. Some things, thank God, never change.

Hi K,

>We have from the 8th of August to the 13th of August to get from Paris to Athens.<

Enter your current itinerary at www.viamichelin.com as if you were driving it.

See which interesting cities you are bypassing, eg, Florence.

The trains will take you there, too.

You can do this trip a number of ways, mostly under 48 hr.

See http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...n?L=profi&

I look forward to your trip report.

((I))

You could also stay in Corfu for a few days as I'm pretty sure your ferry will stop there. I was on the island in June and it was spectacular. Very diffrent from the cycladic islands very green and mountainous with beautiful beaches.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. I'll get researching