Travelling from Paris to Florence to Rome and back to Paris
 

I would like to have an idea on the best travelling arrangement I need to make in going from Paris to Florence to Rome and back directly to Paris. I only have 10 maximum days in Europe and I have no idea which is the most reasonable fare I could buy. I am looking at Eurail Pass but I am not really sure of what it really entails and it is really pricey. If there is something cheaper, that I can go for instead that you could recommend that will be great. I will be travelling with my son and possibly nephew. I heard Student Discounts are widely avaiable in Europe, are they available for train ticket prices? I would appreciate your answer. Thank you.

Josephine

Train between Florence and Rome is fast and easy. There are two companies, Trenitalia and Italo, Trenitalia has more frequent service and often services more convenient stations. Both offer discounts on non-changeable tickets bought well in advance.

As for the Paris legs, do yourself a favor and fly. Trains are not easy, not cheap, not fast. You can have a look to Air France (not much more expensive if bought in advance and the best choice), or Easyjet or Ryanair or (my least favorite one) Vueling. Pisa is a good alternate airport for Florence, actually much more reliable in case of bad weather, one hour by bus shuttle from Florence.

Fly into Paris and out of Rome ... don't go back to Paris just for a flight. And fly from Paris to Florence - otherwise it is a long train ride!

Others know better than I about train tickets, but I would think direct one way tickets between cities is the way to go. This website is great: http://www.seat61.com.

I second the recommendation to fly from Paris to Florence and back from Rome. (is there a reason to go back to Paris? If you are flying home from there it would make more sense to fly home from Rome if you haven't already bought the tickets)

I have done the overnight train between Venice and Paris..long and was not great. My niece has just done that trip as well a couple of weeks ago and said it was awful. So for that reason and the convenience of getting there quickly especially with your short stay, fly.

Find one-way fares on Europe's budget airlines here: www.skyscanner.com

Have you already booked your flights round trip in/out of Paris? Maybe not because you are unsure of the nephew.

If not, then DON'T. Fly open jaw (also called multi-city) in to Paris and home from Rome. Then as the others say, fly a discount airline like easyJet from Paris to Italy, take a train between Florence and Rome.

This will be MUCH cheaper than any rail pass for sure and save you the hassle of returning to Paris and basically losing nearly 1.5 days of your vacation.

Agree to fly open jaws into Paris and out of Rome. Should not cost any more than RT Paris plus the price of flying from Rome back to Paris and avoids wasting a day - since your time in europe is already so short.

(If you are flying home from paris you will need to fly from Rome to Paris the day before - wasting a whole day - so that you can be sure of making your flight from Paris).

Thank you so much for the quick responses. I already booked my tickets to fly in/out of Paris. I will be meeting up my son and nephew in Paris and we'll go home together. I should have thought of coming home from Rome. I should have registered here before I decided to buy my tickets, Oh well. I will be smarter next time. Thank you again for taking the time.

See how much it costs to change your exit city to Rome. It may be worth a few hundred dollars to make the change.

What do you mean by 10 max days? How many nights do you have?
Does 10 days include your arrival and departure dates?
Agree on looking at changing your departure from Rome

Or don't go to Rome and Florence and instead concentrate on Paris/France. Even with a flight out of Rome, that's a lot of ground to cover in 10 or so days.

OK - you say >>I only have 10 maximum days in Europe << Yet you already booked your tickets. If that is the case, you should know <i>exactly</i> how much time you have.

What are your actual arrival and departure dates?