Euro trip by train

This site works best when you ask specific questions. I am not sure what you mean or want by advice for traveling via train.

In general use the bahn.de site for overall train schedules and buy specific tickets from the national train site. On the bahn site you can only buy tickets for trains starting or ending in Germany. For the most part the earlier you buy the train ticket the cheaper they will be. Most tickets will be available approximately 90 to 120 days out. But those discount ticket will come with restrictions -- generally non-refundable and no change. And, of course, the same for the discount airlines. Now, specifically what do you want to know?

The website Man in Seat 61 will tell you almost everything you need to know about train travel in Europe. It is the place to start and then you will refer to it often.

Sometimes it is cheaper and quicker to fly than go by train. For example Vueling flies non stop Barcelona to Marseille in 1 hour for as little as 50 euros versus the train which takes 4-6 hours.

The trouble with that example is that it does not take into consideration the additional time associated with that one hour flight. Our bench mark is roughly five maybe six hours for train travel. More than that it is maybe quicker to fly, less than that is not. AND there is always value associated with the less hassle and comfort of a train.

I hope you'll have more than 1-2 days in Barcelona. And Nice is a worthwhile stop (with particularly good small, single-artist museums and a fun Old Town), but most travelers also want to see a few of the picturesque small towns on the Riviera coast or up in the hills. You don't say how long you have for covering the territory between Barcelona and Milan, but I suspect I'd prefer to stop in fewer places and not be so rushed. It gets old, checking in and out of new hotels so frequently, at least for me.

The trains are easy to use, but do be mindful of the possibility of pickpockets on the TERs along the Riviera. I was targeted there and was lucky to come away with my purse intact.

You'll find ticket-vending machines in all the rail stations you mention. They're easy to use after you switch the language to English. There are fare differences between "white" and "blue" periods on the TER and Intercity trains in France, which you'll need to be aware of. There should be a small graphic posted on each vending machine, but those graphics are tiny and often hard to read. I highly recommend that you print out the chart shown on the webpage to which I've linked. As you can see, it hasn't been updated to show dates with special blue/white times for 2018, but that chart will be a good start.

I encountered line-ups to use the machines on several occasions at the main Nice station, so don't cut your time too close if you're buying tickets as you go. But if you're not making a stop between Nice and Genoa, you may save substantially by buying that ticket in advance. The fast-train fares are cheaper early on if you're prepared to lock in your travel date and time; those tickets are usually non-changeable and non-refundable).

Thank you for posting websites. My itinerary isn't set in stone and I'm open other then my starting point and my end. Genoa is where my maternal family came from so I wanted to see the town. The other stops are places I've wanted to visit and are in there due to the route I was taking by train. I thought the train would be exciting, and would give me down time between for relaxing and having a conversation with my husband. Everyone has great advice and I appreciate your time.

Yes, the train can be relaxing, but if you're making 1-day stops that's a LOT of getting on and off trains, probably ones with 2-3 minutes to get yourself and bags on/off. And that part is NOT relaxing! (If you get on at the initial point of the train, however, you can board ahead of departure time and get settled.)

Also check the rome2rio website as all different types of transportation options are listed there, including travel times, costs, and the names of the companies providing the transportation.

In my experience Rome2Rio.com is pretty reliable about the existence of a specific type of transportation (if there's no train station in town, you'll see only bus options), but the travel times and the fares can be massively off-base, so much so that I ignore them completely. I do appreciate that if you keep drilling down, you'll usually find a link to the appropriate rail or bus company's website, sometimes to the specific schedule you're looking for. However, often it can be about as fast just to Google "Bus Marseille to Nice" once you determine you may need to take a bus. For trains, it's easier for me just to use the Deutsche Bahn website (if you're only looking for schedules, not fares) or the appropriate country's rail website.

We have traveled extensively in Spain, South of France, Italy and Croatia.

In 2012, we had a river cruise on the Rhone river that ended in Barcelona. We took a bus from Arles to Barcelona. I had researched taking the train to avoid paying for the more expensive tour transport, but found the rain connections to be poor.

I know that you can now go from Barcelona to Paris on a high speed train, but I am not sure about making your way to Nice by train.

Renting a car in one country in Europe and dropping it in another can add a very high drop fee.

You are wise to fly into Split, I would not drive down to Split, the terrain in Croatia is mountainous. Not sure about rail connections.

If you go to the South of France, I recommend visiting a town called St. Paul de Vence. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187240-Activities-St_Paul_de_Vence_French_Riviera_Cote_d_Azur_Provence_Alpes_Cote_d_Azur.html

Also, Monaco is interesting.

Near Split, there is an old town that I recommend (Trogir).

George

When is the trip? Do you want more small towns and beaches in the mix? Slowing down would help, or flying a longer leg and reallocating some of the time you do have from cities like Marseille and Milan to more charming destinations. You could fly from Barcelona to any stop on your list, or to Pisa airport. There is a direct train from Barcelona to Marseille, but I mainly wonder if Marseille is really where you want to visit.

For flights, I'd start with www.skyscanner.com and for train schedules the Deutsche Bahn link at Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online.

We want to stay 1-2 days per stop traveling from Barcelona to
Marseille, Nice, Genoa, Milan and fly into Split, Croatia. On our way
back to the states stop in London.

This looks like "bucket list" travel. If you're going to take the time and expense to travel to Europe, spend TIME where you visit to get a feel of the area. If what you seek is quantity, the quality of time spent visiting will suffer because 1-2 days is being rushed.

Thank you! I have been using Rometorio its very helpful. I was able to get few ideas from researching on-line, but its doesn't have advice on personal experience. I really appreciate everyone's help. I'm not going with an open pocket book, but I'd rather spend more money for peace and efficiency. I have much more to review now and I'll enjoy planning this trip! I may ad a day or 2 in Barcelona, many people have wonderful things to say about it.

Ten nights in Barcelona wasn't enough for me, so I think you'll be glad to have more time there. I wasn't entranced by Marseille (some others here definitely liked it more) and much preferred my time in Nice, from which I took easy day-trips to a lot of places in the area. For me, a lot of the Riviera's charm is in the small towns, whether along the coast (usually frequent train service) or up in the hills (with bus service whose frequency varies, so not as easy to visit). I believe you'll find hotels less expensive in Nice than in the most popular little towns nearby, but I confess that I haven't researched lodgings elsewhere along the Riviera.

Genoa and Milan aren't generally thought to be particularly great tourist destinations, either. As big cities, they may cost you more time than you expect, just getting to the sights you want to see. I have never spent the night in Milan, but I imagine it will not be cheap since it is Italy's business capital.

Frankly I don't find your list of cities particularly attractive and you are, in my opinion, missing out on an amazing experience.

Barcelona can be fun, I much prefer Andalusia (Seville, Granada, Cordoba), but it is worth seeing.

Marseille, is an industrial port with not a lot of charm. Try Les Calanques in Cassis instead. It is very close to Marseille.

Nice. My sister seems to like it. I don't particularly care for it. The beach is dirty. Last time we swam, a condom stuck to my then 1.5 years old.

Genoa. If you read more about it in the guidebooks or people from this forum, you will realize it is not the most scenic destination of the Italian Liguria. Maybe see it briefly before settling into a much more charming location nearby?

Milan, sight. It is the business capital of Italy. Of all the cities in Italy that I visited, it is the one that reminds the most like an American city. Not far from it you have the wonderful area of lake Como. Varenna is my favorite.

Split: I have never been, but I have read excellent reports. If you go and feel so incline, please report back.

I hope the info helps you. Have a good trip!

Traveling by train is fun if you like scenery, going very fast or slow and relaxing along the way. It's a much more pleasant experience if you travel light. Easier train changes, less to manage both on and off the train, less to wash in the room or in a laundry or to have done for you.

Keep in mind that you need 2 nights in a place to have a whole day in between to see stuff. 3 nights gives you 2 days, and so on. You have lots of destinations. Some of them may require more than a day or 2 to see and experience them the way you'd like to after you research them.

Your arrival day in Barcelona will be almost useless due to jet-lag. Your last day in London will be travel only. And any day you move from one place to the next will be primarily devoted to checking out, traveling and checking in.

I've found trip planning to be an enjoyable iterative process with lots of choices to make about what's most important. Having alternatives for the inevitable glitches is always a good idea.

The Man in Seat 61 is a great resource for both general and specific train travel info.

Although you can't buy tickets for any of the places you want to go from them, DB BAHN is my favorite source for train schedules. I love how you can see all the intermediate stops and a map of the train route.

Then you can go to the actual service provider to check prices for the schedules of interest. You can buy tickets in advance to save money if you're committed to a definite trip. And you can see how much more a lack of commitment and greater flexibility could cost.