Train ride from Paris to Venice

[jt426]

Hi Everyone!

I am considering taking the overnight train from Paris to Venice. I see that it is roughly a 12.5 hour train ride.

I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on train ride vs. flight. I am traveling alone, and on a budget. Any advice could help - things like what the seats are like, what the food (if any) is like, is it smooth, scenery, people, etc.

Thank you all!

Jane

p.s. I DID do a search for this topic, but came up with nothing. I did "train, paris, venice" and I did "train, paris". Thanks again!

[Jules80]

hmmm well it is a long train ride. flying is not very expensive and you save so much time! after having done 8 hour trains, i wouldn't do a 12.5 hour one unless it was a direct night train. but even at that, while i had a good night train experience they seem to be quite variable. food you have to purchase but it isn't absurdly expensive if i remember correctly. we ususally hit a grocery store first.

that said, i'd go budget if there is one from CDG... orly is quite far as i understand it.

Jules

[rchua]

if i were you, i'd go via plane. flights aren't expensive in europe and it does save you time. spending 12.5 hrs is very long. the longest train ride i've been on was about 8-9 hrs from interlaken to rome. and if you're on the budget i'd recommend that you buy food from the groceries and bring it on the ride. the food on the train isn't too expensive but you'll have better choices. also, about the train seats, you have the option of getting regular seats or couchettes/sleepers (almost like bunk beds on train). they're pretty good and is worth it during overnight rides. and the sceneries, once you get out in the country, is totally beautiful. if you have the money and time take the train. but if you're budget can't afford it or time is short take the flight.

[jt426]

I'd of course like to keep costs down if at all possible. Time is not that critical. I figure with an hour at each airport, and maybe 2 hours in the sky and 1 hour transportation to/from each airport... i figure that's just a little more than 1/2 a train ride anyhow. I have been researching train prices with the Eurorail Student pass for 4 days, and it looks like $205 with travel from Paris to Venice, then Venice to Florence, then Florence to Rome.

If I did just an Italy train pass, then added on the cost of a flight (roughly $70) I wonder if it would be cheaper?

Thoughts?

[rchua]

is the $200 for a pass that only works in italy or is this for each segment of ride? if you're spending that much money you might as well buy a France-Italy eurorail (regional) for about the same price. you can buy the 4 or 5 days within 2 months pass for around $200. this can save you the cost of the flight. hope this helps...

[madamtrashheap]

Good point made by rchua about the train pass.

I've done the journey between Venice and Switzerland and it was very pretty, but will be that much longer to Paris. If you enjoy the idea of journeying by train and aren't too pushed for time then go for it, otherwise the flying option will give you more time in Venice (and Paris for that matter). I guess it comes down to price comparison and preferred travel method.

Oh, and take your own food/snacks if you can - train food isn't that crash-hot and costs more too; not great for a budget

[jt426]

The $200 that I had mentioned was for the 4/5 days in 2 months rail pass. (which I'm still a little bit confused about, dodes 4/5 days mean you have 4/5 days of travel time? or does it mean you have to complete all travel within 4-5 days? I assume it means I have 4-5 days of travel w/in a 2 month time frame?)

I think I'll plan on doing the train thing.... why not experience it all I will be flying from Dublin to Paris, so then I'll just train-it from Paris to Venice. And if it is an awful experience, then so be it... it will lead for funny stories down the road and an exaple of what NOT to do next time I go

Thank you all for your help!!

Jane

[rchua]

it means that you will have 4 or 5 days (depending on which pass you buy) that you can travel on the train. make sure you pick the nonconsecutive days pass. this will allow you to take a train to town A spend three days there then go to town B w/ the same pass and only cost you 2 days (each train ride). you have to write the date of the day you are taking the train. remember: write the date ON THE DAY OF TRAVEL!! let say you arrive in europe on june 10 and plan on leaving june 14, there is a space on the pass for dates and put it "june 14" on the first day on the 14th of june. hope that makes sense.

[jt426]

Alright RCHUA, you've officially confused this newbie... ha ha ha.

"there is a space on the pass for dates and put it "june 14" on the first day on the 14th of june"

I don't think I understand what you mean.

[rchua]

let say you buy a 4 day eurorail pass. on the pass there will be 4 slots where you put the 4 dates that you will be traveling. say you leave on june 14th, you write the date on the slot on the pass (1st day slot). then on your next leg of trip (say june 20th), you write that date on the 2nd-day slot. and so on and so forth. if you had a picture of the pass you'd see what i'm talking about. make sure you buy a pass (4 or 5 days) that can be used anytime within 2 months. if you buy the consecutive days (4-5 days) you have to use the pass within 4-5 days. hope this is more understandable for you. i was confused when i first got the pass myself.

[Eagle]

jt426 & the group, I have a few comments to add regarding the Rail Passes. First of all, I believe you stated that you would be flying from Dublin. Are you an E.U. resident (I couldn't tell your home location, as it wasn't listed on your profile?). If so, will you be buying an Interrail pass rather than the version that North Americans buy?

You might find it a good exercise to enter your Itinerary into www.railsaver.com and let it "suggest" the most appropriate pass for you. I suspect you might be best with a Flex Pass which allows you "x" number of days of travel within two months, in 2/3/4/5 countries (you pick which countries - they have to be adjoining usually).

To provide an example, you could buy a 2-country, 10 day Flex Pass. This will allow you to travel on whichever days you prefer within that 2-month period in the countries covered by the Pass. The pass will state which dates it is valid for, and will have small "boxes" at the bottom. When you board a train (and BEFORE the ticket is inspected by the Conductor!) you will write that day's date into one of the boxes. When you've used all 10 boxes (or however many days/boxes are included in your Pass), the Pass is finished. One minor point - if you're from Norh America, be sure to observe the date convention used in Europe when you write on the pass, which I believe is dd/mm/yyyy (someone correct me if I'm mistaken).

One very important point!!!! The Pass MUST be validated before you use this for the first time, at the first station you use. At the ticket window, they will likely ask for your Passport as well. You only need to do this once; once it's validated, it will have a stamp that indicates this.

One other thing, rail passes are usually valid ONLY for six months from date of purchase, and Rail Passes don't include the reservation fee or couchette fee, if these are required on a particular route (ie: TGV or whatever).

If you're just going to be making just a few trips, you might find that using point-to-point tickets is the most cost effective option. You'll have a better idea on this once you enter your trip data into Railsaver.

I hope this has eliminated some of the confusion you spoke about earlier? Good luck and happy travels!!!

[jt426]

Eagle and RCHUA - thank you very much for your useful advice. This has helped a LOT!!

I am from Boston, MA in the USA. Looks like the 2nd Class Youth Ticket (whatever that is) is the "best fit for me". I have some more HW and digging to do

[rchua]

don't worry too much. european travel isn't that difficult. last may was my first time over there and it was pretty easy and was definately AWESOME!! you'll totally have a blast over there. i bought travel books for the places coz i wanted to be prepared and know what to so. but once you get there you'll be having fun and forget that you lugged around those books around.

[me]

someplace i read that a rail pass just isn't worth it in Italy. point-to-point tix are pretty cheap there. when i went in 2004, RailSaver.com suggested p2p for my whole trip. that's what i did.

>flew to Portugal, used bus there. train in Spain.

>flew Spain to Italy. <the plane from Spain is cheaper than the train>

>train in Italy, Hungary, Austria, Germany & Switzerland. flew home from Zürich.

btw, i'm too old for a youthpass.