Train from Florence to Paris

Trains will be running on the 25th; to get an idea of the schedule (since it's too early to check this year's schedule) use the year '2009'.

Now, the general answer to your question about train sites is - click on the "Favorite Links" tab at the top of this page. Scroll down to the heading "Transportation" and you'll see Deutsche Bahn and below that other sites listed under "Rail". (warning - some of these may not be in English - there's usually a US/GB flag or the word 'English' to change the site into English)

I suggest the D-Bahn site as the best all-around site for all of Europe's timetables. You can only buy tickets that have a leg in Germany from them, though. Sometimes they want you to choose a particular train station; often, you can just click on plain ol' 'Paris' again (for example) and it will simply show you which station the train goes to. This is usually only a problem in large cities that have more than one station; otherwise, the answer is usually 'gare' or 'hauptbahnhof' - Colmar gare, Rothenburg odT Hbf, etc.

If you might want to stop along the way - on a long train ride - use the 'via' feature. Ex: Florence to Paris VIA Strasbourg. If you simply want to travel from Florence to Paris (for example), and want to spend a night or two in Strasbourg (for example) then look at each leg separately, ie two tickets.

Since you'll be in France, the site for France is tgv-europe.com/en for English-language timetables. When it ask you to "Select Your Country" choose 'Great Britain' or 'Canada'. DON'T choose 'USA'; otherwise, it will send you to the website for 'RailEurope'. You don't want that - they don't show all available trains, and they charge more for tickets. They're useful in rare instances.

So, having said all of that (!), no one can give you the exact timetables that you're looking for this early in the year, but hopefully this info will get you started. Come back if you have more questions, &/or this info was clear as mud LOL!

The Italian train website (Trenitalia) updates their schedules twice a year - mid-June and mid-December. Until they fully update, you may not see accurate schedules. I just tried and I was skunked. However, I put in a slightly earlier date and I could see the runs. You won't see them on www.bahn.de either. I can't get past 12/11.

The train you could be looking for is the Artesia train that runs from Florence to Paris. Some these are night trains but they do run day trains. CLICK HERE to see the Artesia website. You'll need to book within 90 days of the train run.

Does one have to buy tickets from Florence to Paris 90 days in advance? Can you go to the station a day or two ahead and get tickts? Can you buy tickets in Rome when you purchase tickets from Rome to Florence, buy your ticket from Florence to Paris then? Don't have a visa. See visa is required to travel thru Germany? Is there a way around that?
Guess don't travel on a train that travels thru Germany.....

Went to website suggested....are there no day trains between Florence and Dijon?....wanting to see
some of the countryside on the train trip....
I guess I am a little early in the year trying to get some sort of concrete schedule on train travel between Italy and France?

The German rail website (bahn.de) is the best, overall, for schedules. It shows 2 daytime trains from Florence to Dijon in early December, before the schedule changeover due December 11th. Both trips take a shade over 10 hours, and each will require at least a couple of changes.

Thanks for your suggestions. Don't know....long time on a train. We are four ladies over 50 so we are not as energetic as some younger folks. Might consider flying from Florence to Paris then taking some day trips out of Paris to Dijon and other areas. Thanks for your impute though, appreciate it.