Train or Plane - Paris to Florence

Fly. My personal advice is avoid flying on Vueling that has recurrent problems flying to/from Florence. Air France is way better and not much more expensive if reserved well in advance. Or look also for flights to Pisa.

That is a quick flight - and by train it would take you all day. Fly.

Well, let's scratch the head and think it through.

Flying:=
Pluses - less time traveling - maybe cheaper -

Minuses - have to go through the whole security theatre thing, shoes off etc., - have to get out of town to the airport and back into town from the other - have to wait about at the airport and then do the whole cattle car thing - have to comply with 3-1-1 and/or pay for luggage

Train:=
Pluses - scenic travel in France, Switzerland and Italy or France and Italy - hop on the train just before departure - in the centre of Paris - hop off the train on arrival - in the centre of Florence - possibility to meet people and have conversations on the train because you can actually hear yourself think - and no seatbelts and raising tray tables stuff - plenty of toilets on trains without queueing up at the front or back, and the cubicles are much bigger, especially the disabled (anybody can use) ones - you can easily bring all the food and drink you want for a journey on with you - no 3-1-1 bag - no reasonable limit on luggage as long as you can hump it - huge legroom without having to pay for it

Minuses - may cost a bit more - may take a few hours more, which we will examine in a moment

So now for the relative time.

Flying -

at least an hour from your place in Paris to either CDG or Orly. At least 2 hours check in and, especially at CDG, finding your gate. But we don't want to rush, and we don't want to miss our flight, so let's call the pre-flight 3 and a half or 4 hours. Now you could get the 7:20 am but that means getting to the airport very early in the morning and getting out of bed even earlier. It is the cheapest on the random date in late September I checked (skyscanner) but not much more money could have you on the 13:10 (Air France/Alitalia operated by Air France) (€200 pp, the Vueling which is cheaper gets in at bedtime) which arrives FLR at 14:55, so by 4pm or so you could be in your hotel. Leave the Paris place by 9 am. Sounds like pretty much all day to me would have to be given over to this flight and settling in. Door to door, around 7 hours.

Train -

Train leaves Paris Gare de Lyon (which has several hotels on or adjacent to the station including one of my favorites the Holiday Inn Bastille 5 minutes walk away) at 10:41. After a leisurely breakfast and gentle stroll (or even bus from much of Paris) you could start heading to the station around 10:00. Walk right onto your waiting TGV and away you go. Your big picture windows will be showing Lyon in less than 2 hours, and then through along and nearby the Alps until you reach Torino - Turin. You have 15 minutes to change trains which should be much more than you need. Now on a Frecciarossa (the fastest Italian high speed train) for a ride through Milan, along the Po river to Reggio d'Emilia and Bologna, and then a fast trip through the Apennine Mountains (only some scenery between Bologna and Firenze because the super fast train uses a lot of tunnels to keep its speed up and the tracks straight and level). Roll gently into Firenze Santa Maria Novella station right in the middle of Florence at 19:15 (7:15 pm). So 9 and a quarterish hours, end to end. A couple of hours more but so much easier. Price €65 to right around €100 pp with strict conditions similar to flying, or a bit more for looser conditions.

So the train is actually cheaper.

I hope that the facts help you to make your mind up.

If you are an early bird there is also a train at 6:28, same route, arrives Florence at 16:25 which frequently has tickets for €65.50pp.

You can also take an hour or so more and route Paris - Geneva - Swiss Alps - Milan - Florence, change Geneva and Milan, or Paris Basel - Zurich - through another part of the Swiss Alps - Milan - Florence.

You pays your money and takes your choice, as the fairground worker said to the customer.

Thanks for the input. Nigel - I'm having trouble booking tickets through http://en.voyages-sncf.com - We're trying to book the 10h42-20h40 with a stop in Milan. Is that the best site to book?

Colin,

I always use this SNCF link when booking train ticket for France: http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers

You may also find this website helpful: http://www.seat61.com/websites/voyages-sncf.htm#.V8UX54Vf_J8

colin,

For booking rail tickets in France, Germany, Italy and a few other countries, you might try www.captaintrain.com as they have a very user friendly website and sell at the same prices as the rail networks.

Nigel,

That's a fantastic breakdown of the options - well done!

Nigel you may give yourself away as a train fanatic. This post should be a clip-and-save for every time this question or one similar comes up. Well done!

I am never sorry to take a train; I always regret having to fly and will go out of my way to not do so. We do Rome to Paris next week, and yes it is all day, but it is a marvelous and relaxing day of reading, chatting, looking out windows at delightful scenery, and napping, followed by dinner in Paris. Sounds like a vacation to me. Who says that about a flight? :-)

Via Milan, or via Turin, with one stop.

TGV 9241
Dep 06:11 PARIS GARE DE LYON (France)
Arr 13:50 MILANO P.GARIBALDI (Italy)
FR 9569
Dep 14:18 MILANO P.GARIBALDI (Italy)
Arr 16:15 FIRENZE S.M.N. (Italy)

TGV 9245
Dep 09:41 PARIS GARE DE LYON (France)
Arr 16:15 TORINO PORTA SUSA (Italy)
FR 9575
Dep 16:30 TORINO PORTA SUSA (Italy)
Arr 19:15 FIRENZE S.M.N. (Italy)

I agree 100% with Nigel. Taking a plane forces you to leave your vacation while you fly over what you really should be seeing, etc. The train is part of the vacation.

Pulling into a train station is more invigorating than landing at an airport. It always makes me feel I'm really there in the middle of the destination.

My rule of thumb is four hours. I try to keep travel days down to four hours of travel, whether by plane, train, bus or rental car. When you add all the other things that have to be done on travel days (check in, check out, pack, unpack, get to and from stations, make connections, find meals, etc.), four hours of travel works out to be a very full day.

When a train leg gets longer than four hours, I'd look for a flight. Alternatively, I'd break up the trip and plan a few stops along the way to keep the travel legs shorter. That's not always a viable option, it depends how much time you have available.

I always prefer train travel, it's so much more relaxing, entertaining and has beautiful scenery. Plus you can bring your own picnic and stretch your legs easier.

Breakfast at the station
Catch up on the morning news online
Mid morning coffee and pastry from the cart
Read a book
Enjoy a cat nap
Lunch and a glass of wine from the buffet
Catch up on emails
... all the while having the world to watch at your window