Rail europe or bus?

So your only option is Rail Europe or bus? Sounds like you might need to do a bit more investigation especially if you're doing this on you own.

Hard to say ("far nce"?) but probably best not to buy train tickets through a 3rd party like Rail Europe. The mark-up can be murder. Trains can be a lot faster than buses, or not, depending on the route.

First off, rail Europe is a travel agency or reseller of train tickets to North Americans. It is not a train company. Second, if trying to go cheap, the regional trains are best and probably faster than most buses especially in Italy. The great advantage to the regional train is that there are no reservations. Just get on and go - with a validated ticket, of course.

Robyn, Could you clarify "far nce". I'm assuming you mean France? It would help to know which cities you're travelling from and to. As the others have said, travel by train is usually the easiest and quickest option. Buying Point-to-Point tickets is usually better than using a Railpass. If you could provide more detailed information, it would be much easier to provide more detailed replies. Cheers!

If far nce could possibly be decyphered as Nice - who knows??? - yes, there is a bus that will get you to the Italian border for a single Euro. You don't need a railpass for that short less than 10 mile journey.

Sorry for the type o yeas it is France. We would be starting in Paris and just heading into Italy on the way to Rome and various city's in-between. Were thinking of renting a car now.

If you plan to rent a car in France and return it in Italy, be prepared for a big fee for returning it in another country. If you really want to drive, return the French car in France somewhere near the Italian border, train or bus into Italy and pick up another car there.

It might help if you posted your schedule in a little greater detail. A lot depends on where you want to go if a car, train, or bus is better. Cars are very expensive in Europe and only make sense for the country side and a group of at least three or four.

Robyn. First remember, car rentals can add up, highway tolls and gas can really make a difference, gas there is EXPENSIVE nothing like States..
Secondly if bought in advance point to point tickets can be pretty cheap. I booked tickets from Paris to Nice on the TGV through idTGV and am paying 40 euros for a first class ticket.. thats for a 5 hour train ride, that will take me city center to city center. From Nice we are going to Barcelona, when I looked at trians ,, I realized I could fly just as cheap, so got tickets on Vueling for a total of 97 euros for two people, and that includes all extra fees and luggage checked in! I would look at idtgv or tgv and Vueling and Easyjet. If you are looking to travel far enough in future you can get some great deals.

Thanks for the great advice!