Train Travel
 

There is an old post about trains from Paris to Florence. Wondered if someone could give me current information. We will leave Paris Oct 5, 2105 to go to Florence. My son wants to travel by train to see the countryside and to relax. I looked at Rail Europe and they transfer in Milan - Garibaldi to Central stations, looks like a 22 minute or 52 minute layover between trains to transfer from station to station - if we choose this option is this enough time?
I also saw that there are other routes, through Turin with other rail companies. What are your suggestions? Appreciate all the input!

Yes I think you can change more easily at Turin - maybe at the same station - and you can put in more than 52 minutes before the next train to if you want and trains to Florence leave all the time.

For lots of great info on French and Italian trains check these IMO info-laden sites: www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets in both countries; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

You should book your own tickets online thru www.voyages-sncf.com or www.capitainetrain.com - same trains different booking engines with the latter said to be much easier to actually work for Americans; and www.trenitalia.com for Italy or its competitor ItaloTreno (name?).

There is also an overnight train to Milan - and though the scenery in France is neat it's not awesome.

You can do it one of three ways:

change at P. Garibaldi in Milan

change at Basel in Switzerland

change at Lausanne and at Brig in Switzerland

You're likely to get better information on railway timetables at bahn.de.

Centrale's only two stops on the Milan Metro from Garibaldi. But by the time you've got to the metro, bought tickets, got to the platform, waited for a train and then done it all in reverse at the other end your 22 mins will be well up - and I'd be uncomfortable with anything less than an hour to change between stations, even if I were 100% confident the trains would be on time.

With frequent high speed trains from both Milan's intercity stations (and from Turin) to Florence, I can't see the point of changing stations. You might save a few euros transferring from the government-run trains that will get you from France to the privately owned ItaloTreno, and on a simple Milan-Florence journey, Italo is frequently a better choice than FS.

But the difference is never worth changing stations for.

You can change at either Turin Porta Susa or Milan Porta Garibaldi.

I'd use www.loco2.com for this if you're doing the whole journey in one go because:

(a) it links to the French Railways SNCF system AND the Trenitalia system AND the competing Italia Italo system, so can book the whole trip in one place.

(b) it has an 'Add via station' feature so you can request a journey via Milan or via Turin and can add a few hours stopover if you like.

I'd want at least 45 minutes between trains just in case of delay but physically it only takes 3 minutes to step off one train and walk to another.

Consider breaking up the trip, and taking the 14:41 Paris-Turin TGV from €29 at www.capitainetrain.com , an overnight stop, and an onward train Turin to Florence from €29 at www.trenitalia.com next day.

How about lunch beforehand at the amazing Train Bleu restaurant inside the Gare de Lyon, see the photos and reserve a table at www.le-train-bleu.com

I've written a full 'how-to' account for Paris to Florence, Venice or Rome by train at http://www.seat61.com/international-...tm#Paris-Italy - see the photos & video of the journey at http://www.seat61.com/Paris-to-Milan-by-TGV-train.htm

"My son wants to travel by train to see the countryside and to relax."

Obviously, an important factor in the route decision would be exactly which scenery he wants to see the most.

Take an extra day or a few hours and go via Switzerland to Milan if scenery is key.