Trains in Europe

This website, rome2rio.com, can help you. Type in your starting point and your destination and it will tell you all of the possible ways to get there, how long each will take, and approximate prices.
For train advice try The Man in Seat 61. Very detailed, informative information about everything train-related.

Lisa

By "best", am I right that you want easiest even though it may cost a bit more?

Or does "best" to you mean cheapest, regardless of comfort and scenery?

Will you be in London for some time or will you land from some distant part, maybe LAX, in London and then go immediately to Paris?

If I had some time to make the train journeys, if I wanted to be in each place for some time, and if the scenery in the Alps was very important to me, I would:-

Take Eurostar train from London St Pancras International to Paris Gare du Nord - reserve as far ahead as possible for best price. By "next Spring" do you mean a year from now, 2016? Or the Spring which starts next month? If 2015, you need to get on it if you want cheap tickets as they sell out fast.

Take Thalys train from Paris Gare du Nord to Bruxelles Midi (Brussel Zuid) and make the easy connection to Brugge (Bruges).

They need to be bought well ahead too, for best price.

Brugge - Brussel - Koeln - Basel - Zurich - (Gotthard Pass) - Milano - Venezia Santa Lucia.

That is one L-O-N-G train ride, and you will changing trains at least in Koeln, Zurich, and Milano. The ride through the Alps between Zuerich and Milano is very scenic, and you will step off the train in Venezia Santa Lucia to the top of a flight of stairs leading right down to the Grand Canal.

Or do you want to stop in Switzerland for a few days on the way to break the journey and see the Alps up close, or perhaps want to take a narrow gauge train right up into or through the mountains?

A little more help from your end please....

Thank you Anita. I will look those two sites up

Hi Nigel. I appreciate your help. The plan is for Spring 2016. I am very much looking for scenery and comfort doesn't hurt. I do plan to stay 3 days in London, 4 days in Paris. May be 2 in Brugge and 3 in Venice. I've been to London and Paris but this time I'm going with my sister who hasn't been. With my sister I was in Venice last year and we loved so much we want to go back. If we were to make a stop in the middle of the long train ride from Brugge to Venezia, do I need to buy separate train tickets or would it be considered a stop over? Again, thanks a lot for your help

One more thing: individual train tickets or a pass? I haven't heard of the narrow gauge train. Is it more scenic than the regular train from Zurich to Milan?

Lisa,
For what you have listed, individual tickets. If you plan any more train journeys then re-calculate.
I would recommend changing the order: London - Brugge - Paris - Venice. That is less of a zig-zag and shortens the long leg to Venice. Tickets are usually bookable 90 or 120 days in advance. You can look up prices for this spring to get an idea. It is best to book with the company running the trains. For your trips that would be:

• London - Brussels - Brugge: www.eurostar.com
• Brugge - Brussels - Paris: https://www.b-europe.com/Travel (Belgian Railways)
• Paris - Geneva - Milan - Venice: http://voyages-sncf.com/ The last leg is a long trip (10-11 hours). If you have time, I would recommend 2 nights in the Alps. Possibly Zermatt (not far off route), or Luzern, in which case your route would be: Day 1: Paris - Basel - Luzern. Day 3: Luzern - Gotthard pass - Milan - Venice. I am deliberately not recommending places further into the Alps as you only have a flying visit. Luzern is a taste of the Alps.

Hi Chris F: I really appreciate your help with the sites and the suggestion about changing the order of the cities. If I go with your suggestion of spending time in Luzern, do I use scnf as well? Thank you very much.

Lisa,
On international multi-company journeys, it is usually best to book with the company that runs the first train, that is why I suggested Belgian Railways for the Brugge - Brussels - Paris leg.
For Paris - Basel - Luzern (or Paris - Geneva - Zermatt) yes, that would be SNCF. I would also suggest checking http://capitainetrain.com/ which is a French based site offering the same prices as SNCF, but easier to use.
For Luzern - Milan - Venice (or Zermatt - Milan - Venice) I would suggest using www.sbb.ch (Swiss Federal Railways).

Thank you Chris F. Very useful info. I will follow your advice.

The faster routes to Venice will include a couple of hours of mountain scenery as you cross the Alps, but staying a couple of nights at Luzerne would very worthwhile, to get a full mountain experience. There are many different web sites offering train information. The sites that sell tickets tend to be specific to each country (operated by that country), as listed above. But for easy-to-print, one-stop train schedules, which is all you need for planning a year in advance, we prefer the DB German web page.

Thank you Laura. I'll check that out.