lisacohen

My husband and I have narrowed down our vacation plans to spend one week in Paris and one week in Italy's Tuscan hill towns and Cinque Terre. We're planning on flying from the Washington DC area to Paris and then were looking for advice on (1) how to get from Paris to Italy, whether by train or plane and to which Italian destination, which will no doubt factor in whether we should (2) start at the northernmost or southernmost point of interest in the Italy regions we're looking to visit, and lastly (3) which airport to fly out of to get back to the DC area, hoping to get a direct flight home.

Thank you for your help!
Lisa

adrienne

3. I think you mean a non-stop flight rather than a direct flight. I would check the airlines that fly from DC to Milan, Pisa, or Rome and see which airport gets you the non-stop flight or the best routing if a non-stop flight is not possible. Check flights to Paris and then home from Italy rather than 2 one-way fares.

1. I would fly from Paris to Italy. If you want to travel by train you can check train routing on bahn.de

Train fares from France give the best rates 90 days ahead of the travel date (PREM fares). You can check pricing using an arbitrary date if you're not within the 90 days.

You can use http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers for pricing on French trains.

lisacohen

Thank you for your quick reply, Adrienne... non-stop is what we are looking for (is this different from direct or am I using terminology from the 80s/90s... no matter). I have looked into Washington --> Paris and there is a non-stop flight so I'm not worries about getting to Europe. I am hoping to find which place to fly home from... if Rome made the most sense since there is a non-stop flight back, but having never done this I'd love to hear from those that have done this sort of thing before as to where to fly into from Paris so that it makes the most sense with what we want to see in Italy and where we should fly out of to get back to the US.

Thank you for suggesting we fly from Paris to Italy. It seems that a good option might be to fly from Paris to Pisa and then fly home from Rome (taking a train from Orvieto to Rome). EasyJet has an $81 flight for the Paris --> Pisa leg of things, but Air France has an $801(!!) dollar flight. I have never heard of EasyJet but couldn't help but notice a $720 difference - eek!. Anyone have any experience on the average cost of a flight from Paris to somewhere either near Cinque Terrre or the Tuscan hill towns (whether Pisa or somewhere else we might want to look into)?

And does starting north and moving our way to Rome make the most sense or would the other way around or flying from Paris into Florence or some other location make more sense?

Lisa

ellenem

"Direct" does not mean the same thing as "nonstop" when referring to airline flights. As an example, a "direct" flight between Miami and New York might stop in Washington DC enroute to New York. It would be direct because you would not have to deplane in Washington, but more passengers might board. I'm not sure how much this happens on major routes these days, but the terminology still exists. Years ago I used to fly from JFK to Rome on a flight that was actually a direct flight to Athens which stopped first in Rome.

From Paris to reach Tuscany and Cinque Terre, you might look at flights to Pisa as mentioned, as well as flights to Florence and perhaps even Bologna or Genoa.

Whichbudget.com will show options for smaller airlines connecting Paris with different cities in Italy.

For you return to Washington DC, check for nonstop flights from Rome, Milan, or Pisa. Milan might be a good option if you put Cinque Terre near the end of your trip.

kybourbon

You won't find many nonstop flights from Italy to DC. There are some Delta nonstop flights from Pisa to JFK (some are seasonal). Otherwise, the only cities in Italy with nonstop flights to the US will be from Milan, Rome or Venice.

The closest airports to CT/Tuscany are Pisa, Florence, Genoa. You would have to connect somewhere in Europe using most of these airports. Typically, flights departing that require a change in Europe are very early.

>>>Train fares from France give the best rates 90 days ahead of the travel date (PREM fares).<<<

I don't think PREM fares are for international travel. I've never seen these fares to Italy. The Thello overnight train from Paris does have some advance purchase discounts, but Easy Jet will be much cheaper.
https://www.thello.com/
http://www.seat61.com/thello-train-f...m#.UOkGKay5X6s

Vivi004

I am moving in the opposite direction of you and booked an EasyJet flight out of Pisa to Paris. We'll be coming from Cinque Terre. It's faster than a train and cheaper then other airlines. Just remember the weight restrictions for luggage on a discount airline. Good Luck!

adrienne

Since you can get a non-stop flight back home from Rome I would start in the north and work toward Rome. I'm not sure of the benefits of Genoa vs. Pisa airport but perhaps someone will know and respond. Does Easy Jet fly to Genoa?

ellenem, above, describes the difference between non-stop and direct. You are not using terminology from the 80s or 90s as direct has always meant stopping but not changing planes. The other type of flight would be connecting - when you stop and change planes to get to your destination. I think quite a few people make the mistake of calling non-stop flights direct flights.

TimS

United Airlines flies non-stop from IAD to CDG and non-stop from FCO to IAD.

Fly easyJet from Orly to Pisa and take the train to Florence. Or fly Vueling from Orly to Florence.

EasyJet does not have service to Genoa.

lisacohen

Thank you for all of your help, everyone!!! Right, right... great clarification on non-stop vs direct! I haven't travelled much lately so those two terms became intertwined in my mind somehow in the travel lapse.

I think an EasyJet flight from Paris to Pisa might make the most sense. I'm hoping to pack very minimally (though I'll have to remind my husband about the 20kg/44lb weight restriction of baggage). Now on to the fun stuff of figuring out the specifics of each country: which towns to visit, where to stay, what to do. I'm going to read some trip reports and other threads I can find on here.

Adrienne - Starting from the north and working our way down seems like the right thing to do, though I need to check the map to see where everything is situated to make the most of our week in Italy. I can't wait!

Kybourbon - Thank you for your geographic help on which airports to look from Paris into Italy!

TimS - Yep, the United flights are exactly what I have bookmarked! They look perfect.

Vivi004 - How great that we will be taking similar journeys! I hope you have a wonderful time and it would be fun to exchange details of our experiences along the way. We are planning to be there this summer. When will you be there?

Vivi004

I will be there this May I'm very excited! I'd love to talk about our trips! You'll have to write a trip report, I am going to! Happy travels.

HappyTrvlr

Look at Pisa, and Florence..Rome too. If those don't work, then Milan.