I can't get pricing info for the train from Venice to Munich. I know it's a lil over 7 hrs and that there is an all night train. I'm inclined to do this to save on a hotel bill for a day (and because I can sleep like a baby)

Should I be worried about my luggage on an overnight train (my bro and sis in law had their wallets and passports stolen on a train in Italy)

Is it cheaper to fly these days?

Flying is dirt cheap compared to the train. www.tuifly.de have very frequent 19.99€ specials.

two Italian students i was in a couchette on recently Munich to Italy paid 29 euros p.p. for a berth in a 4-berth couchette - vs 19 euros for a flight i'd take the 29 euros and save probably 100euros or much more on a hotel.

And the 19 euros no doubt does not include the cost of getting to the airport and in and perhaps the notorious baggage and panoply of extra charges many discount airlines seem to make many of the profits from.

Plus the train is much greener and even a German resident like logos must endorse that, especially since Germany has been targeted as one of Europe's over polluters.

was security not a concern, sleeping with 2 other strangers in the same section?

Yes, the train is "greener"! But the flight time is only 40min.

kaka

by the way you're name in French does not translate very nice

but i've taken literally hundreds of couchettes in my life in Europe and many Europeans do it routinely without worrying about other passengers assaulting or robbing them

like on this train there was me - OK i may be suspicious but the others were an Austrian veternarian going to a cow conference in Florence and a young Italian couple about 23 yrs old each and engineering students in Florence.

And this is typical of folks you may meet in couchettes IME

we had a great conversation, they all spoke English - the Austrian rather excellent and the Italians quite little but enough - talked about soccer, veterinarian stuff - how the students from Florence only one of the had ever been to Rome or Venice and only once and the other never - surprised me and a lot of other things - conversations you won't get in the typical airplane ride - being 'cooped' up in a couchette tends to make friends.

But i understand how someone who's never done something could be apprehensive and there are single and double private compartments but cost much much more.

This spring I had bought cheap tickets from TUIfly for the Venice to Munich trip. Thought I was all set. Then they shifted the flight time from something like 9:30 a.m. (which I wanted) to 10:30 p.m. (which I didn't want). I had to cancel -- which they allowed but it took a heck of a time to figure out how to do it from the states (all the suggested numbers were from other European countries) and then I had to find a train. Normally the train would have been much more expensive, but I got a Sparpreise which was roughly the same as the cheap flight would have been. The train trip was long, but picturesque, so I guess it was OK in the end. Just a warning that those cheap flights (probably any flights) can be changed to something that doesn't end up working for your itinerary!

This again..train vs. plane and I'll chime in with my own "this again" suggestions:

ADD IN the time and expense of getting to and from the airport on both ends. In Venice I suspect it is somewhat more elaborate than it is in Munich

ADD IN the time it takes to check in, check bags, get through Security, wait for boarding; exiting the plane, claiming luggage

That "flight" is now more than 40 minutes.

ADD IN the fact that you have to meet checked luggage restrictions...if you can then its a non-issue.

The night train obviously has some drawbacks...are they worth it? How much are you really saving by taking the train? Is THAT worth it?

For the night train for typical Fodorites probably 150 euros on a hotel - not chump change even to Fodorites.

Yes, I know. Kaka isn't nice in Greek either (which is my nationality) ...or in English for that matter. what's worse is, Kaka is the beginning of my name...can you imagine the teasing I got as a child
:-S)

You make an excellent point Palen about meeting new people and conversing with strangers from other countries. Thank you for reminding me of the wonderful aspects of that and to not always be such a worried Canadian.

Everyone makes excellent points. No wonder there is no correct answer to this.

I'm shocked that the train from Munich to Italy (which city?) was only 29 Euros. Excellent to know.

>>That "flight" is now more than 40 minutes.

Actually, TUIfly says the flight time is 1:15 NOT 40 min. By the time you add getting to the airport, pre-board, flight time, post-board, and getting to Venice, downtown to downtown is at least 4-3/4 hours, and that is IF the flight lands on time and IF you can be on ground trans within 30 min of landing. That must include picking up checked luggage because the carry-on weight limit for TUIfly is 5kg (11#)!

As for the price, if you can find the €19,99 fare you might want to consider it (it does include all taxes and fees), but I did not find it at all for the entire month of August. For one week in mid August, the average fare for MWFSa was €69,34 pP. The fare for Sunday was only €51,34, but that flight gets you into Venice at 11:20 PM, if there are no delays. TUIfly does not fly to Venice on Tu or Th. For days on which the €19,99 promotional fare is not offered, just the T&F (€32,55) and transit to and from airports is €44.35 pP.

On the other hand, the daytime EuroCity train (EC87) goes from Munich Hbf (11:30) to Venice S.L. (18:31) in 7 hours, and, if you book early (15 Aug was early enough), you can get a fare of €32,50 in 2nd class including the seat reservation.

I also found on Nachtzugreise a SparNight fare on 15 Aug of €178 for two people in a double compartment. That's only €40 more than flying and you save the cost of a hotel room and gain sightseeing time.

German Rail has a special they call Europa-Spezial. It has fares from German cities to cities outside Germany for as low as €29 (plus €1,50 for optional seat reservations). It was valid for travel on five ECs from Munich to Venice, Milan, Rome, and Florence, including connecting legs from Verona. However, sometime around the first of the year, they dropped Italy from this fare. It was replaced by the Italien SparPreis. This new fare starts at €32,50 including a mandatory reservation. I think there is one direct connection per day to each of Venice, Milan, Florence, or Rome at this fare. You can, however, use that fare to Verona and make your own connection from there.

You can find these fares on the German Rail website, http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de. If you put in Muenchen and Venedig for a date 3 days in advance, and about 11:00 the fare should come up on the far right.

Night train accommodations can be booked on http://buchung.nachtzugreise.de.

>Actually, TUIfly says the flight time is 1:15 NOT 40 min.
Well, out of experience, flight time is actually 40 min, the rest is boarding etc. There's some buffer in their calculation.

LarryinColorado--- I tried looking for the discounted fare for a Munich-Venice daytime train... but I am only getting fares of 95,10. Can you help me figure out what I am doing wrong? We won't be traveling until December 30th but I want to learn how to do it before we leave.
Thanks so much!

I am sorry- I did find the fare-- right where Larry described it!

Thank you for this post. I would have overspent by 5*(92-32)= 300 Euros!

How early should we book our ticket for December 30th? I do not want to miss the special fare!

Liz

LarryinColorado-

We want to book the Sparpreis fare for 5 adults, Munich-Venice on December 30th. I cannot find the discounted fare-- would you mind checking it and making sure it really isn't there? Is it still to early to book?
Thanks again!
Liz

DB changes their schedule starting in early December. It appears that they have eliminated the direct EC to Venice. There used to be 5 EC a day to various cities in Italy; all they seem to be running now is one direct EC (9:30 dep time) to Rome. You can still book that Rome train as far as Verona for €32,50 each, and take another EC from Verona to Venice for about €11,50 (maybe less for a regional train).

THANK YOU!

I cannot thank you enough. I really appreciate your assistance! I have booked the trains to Verona and will book the connection to Venice when we get to Verona.

Liz