Travel by Rail Budapest-Rome-Paris-London?
 

I am planning ~4 weeks in Europe, begining June 19 in Budapest. We will spend ~ week in Hungary and Croatia (have transporation while there) then continue by rail to Rome for a week of site seeing. Is it easy to get from Budapest to Rome by Rail? Sleeper options? Following Rome, we would like to travel by rail up Italy, stopping along the way, (perhaps Florence, Sienna, Cinque Terre) then to Paris (sleeper train departing from where? Milan?) for a quick couple days in Paris then to London. We are traveling with 2 kids (9 &16). If we book air travel into Budapest and out of London back to USA, will we be able to get around easily by rail? Advice on trains, stops, locations/activities good for kids welcome. Many thanks in advance.

mmmm - i'm wondering why you want to get the train from budapest to rome?

you are already planning quite a lot of train travel, and the journey from Budapest to rome is going to take at least 17 hours, possibly as many as 20, according to bahn.de, with changes at Salzburg and Venezia Mestre. [i looked at evening trains, and found none that could be called a sleeper - they all required a change at Salzburg in the middle of the night!]

whereas if you fly, you'll be there in half a day or so.

you could have a look at the man in seat 61 [www.seat61.com] for further ideas.

I have to disagree... taking the most efficient rail route from Budapest to Rome includes and overnight sleeper train. You can take an afternoon train to Meidling, in Vienna, and then from there catch the Euronight sleeper at 19.29hrs in the evening and it gets you into Florence at 6.15am in the morning. It's then 1hr 45mins on a Eurostar Italia service that takes you into Rome central.

However seeing as you plan to visit Florence anyway, you could stop in Florence before Rome and do it in reverse instead. Siena you could see potentially on a day trip from Florence (there are lots of threads about it in this forum).

If you want to see Milan, then yes there is also an overnight sleeper from Milan to Paris, it departs 23.38hrs in the evening and reaches Paris (Lyon station) at 8.15am the following morning.

So yes I would get an open jaw air ticket and then use rail through Europe. It's fast, efficient and you get to experience more of a country imho!

in Vienna, and then from there catch the Euronight sleeper at 19.29hrs in the evening and it gets you into Florence at 6.15am in the morning.>>


mmm - not sure that i would relish getting into florence at 6.15am with 2 kids, after having been on the go since the previous morning. depending on flight times of course, i still think that I'd prefer to fly, especially as there is a much more attractive sleeper from Milan to Paris that you could fit into your trip.

Thanks annhig and Loco2, you gave me a lot to consider. The flights from Budapest to Rome seem pretty limited. The kids are good travelers and they should be adjusted to local time after a week in Hungary. But 6:15am arrival in Florence could be tough if they dont sleep well on train. If we decide to fly into Rome, we would take trains North. Is tehre anothere good overnight train to Paris besides the one from Milan? I've taken that train myself years ago (without kids) and it is efficient I don't know that Milan offers much of interest for the kids.

Yes i'd agree that Milan for families acts more as a transit town than anything. That same train I mentioned that calls at Milan at 23.38 previously calls at Venice at 19:57, Padua at 20:33, Vicenza at 20:52, Verona at 21:24, Brescia at 22:06. My money is on Venice - I went as a teenager and thought it truly magical.

Loco2, you need to be careful of over-reliance on journey planners!

Don't get off the Vienna-Rome sleeper at Florence at 06:15, even if the relentlessly logical computer DOES think you can save 20 minutes by switching onto a high-speed train (and paying a lot extra!)- stay on board till Rome arriving 09:08!

So just to recap, Budpapest depart 15:10 by swish modern Railjet train (see the virtual tour at www.railjet.at, just buy a ticket at the station from around 20 euros) arrive Vienna Meidling 17:46.

Depart Vienna Meidling at 19:29 on the direct Vienna-Rome EuroNight 'Allegro Tosca' with sleepers and couchettes arriving Rome Termini in the very heart of the Eternal City at 09:08.

Sounds very comfortable and time-effective to me!

Book the Vienna-Rome train at the Austrian Railways website www.oebb.at from 39 euros with couchette, 69 euros with a bed in a 2-bed sleeper.

So pretty good value as well, especially when you realise it saves a hote bill and the cost of the trek by taxi to the airport, too!