Taking a train from paris to venice. Would like to stop somewhere on the way to make train ride less long. pls recommend a city in between that would be worth it-thanks!
Looking to stay there just overnight.

Have you considered an overnight train? I have done this route several times (well actually Venice to Paris) in a private sleeping compartment and enjoyed it very much.

yes it was a possibility- but we really do want to stop somewhere in between.
Do you recommend anything?>
thx!

Geneva might be a good halfway point

Hi dom,

Have you considered taking a budget flight from Paris Orly to Milan and then a train to Venice, or do you just want a long train ride?

Interlaken. (Paris to Basel to Interlaken then Interlaken to Milan to Venice)

Yes, though most direct Paris-Venice route goes via Milan via Artesia day trains, go via Lausanne, Switzerland and end up in Interlaken (about 6 hrs from Paris), then go on another day to Venice. This way you see, in the Interlaken area the best of the Swiss Alps rather than flying over them! Air is quicker and probably cheaper but arn't we going to Europe to see Europe and not just airports?

Hi its dom agaim,
Couple of questions
whats interlaken?

And what we are trying to do is find a midway point between paris and venice to stop and enjoy a new city.

We thought of the following: lyon, strasbourg, or dijon..however is there something on the italian border that we can do -thus avoiding switzerland?

Hi dom,

Interlaken is a lake in Switzerland. You can Google it.

If you go to http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
and coose a train, you will see all of the intermediate stops.

Avoid Switzerland!? I go out of my way to include a stop in Switzerland in all my Western Europe trips.

The B.O. area is one of the most beautiful places on earth, no exageration.

Why do you want to avoid Switzerland? The route from Basel to Milan is one of the most beautiful train rides I've ever taken. I'm assuming you want something midpoint? Lyon is about 15 - 20% of your way... too soon. Going south in France and then East to Milan is the LONG way. Switzerland is really beautiful and Interlaken is a great one night stopping place. http://p.vtourist.com/1171398-Interlaken-Interlaken.jpg

Sorry. I should have said Interlaken is a town in the Bernese Oberland area. That area includes the Jungfrau, Wengen, Murren, Grindlewald and Gimmelwald, Lauterbrunen, Brienz, etc. Just gorgeous places.

from checking out Ira's site, I gather that the most common/convenient stops between Paris and Venice are Geneva, Milan, and Lausanne. Unless you want to go out of your way, probably one of those would be best.

Wow I've got some great travelers helping me here!
So what I need to know is this- where should I go( france, switzerland or Italy) to visit for a Day & Nights so that my train ride to venice would end up being about 4 hours. I am open to suggestions- but remeber its only one night.

I think Interlaken to Milan is about 2 hours, Milan to Venice another 2. Laussane would be my second choice but I think it's more than 4 hours to Venice.

Milan is probably a good time frame for what you want, but it's a very metropolitan city. If you want something more picturesque, go with Interlaken, like the others have suggested.

How about on the Italian side- are there any special places? Or even before Luasanne in france?
Just checking

I went to seveal train sites and entered random dates. The trips all appear to be about 11 hours long.

For example, one train stops in Torino at about half way through the trip (5-1/2 hours). Another train stops in Geneva about 4 hours into the trip.

I'm sure there are other trains that stop in other cities, but the travel times of those may be several hours longer.

OK, I'm getting the idea you don't want to stay in Switzerland. How about Stresa? On Lago Maggiore?

There aren't very many Italian cities on that route that are big enough for a connection - basically Torino or Milan.
On the France side, you're not really going to get anything 4 horus or less away from Venice.