Paris to Italy by train

There is a night train that goes from Paris to Rome or to Venice.

Take the night train from Paris to Rome so you don't miss a whole day sitting on a train when you can be sightseeing. You will be able to lay down and sleep. It's a great time saver.

Traveling by train during the day certainly would be relaxing, but it will be a long trip. Your first leg on the best daytime route would be Paris to Milan, leaving Paris at 07:42. Connect in Milan to a train that arrives in Rome at 18:45, Naples at 20:10, and Salerno at 20:59. To see this for yourself, use the detailed timetables on the German Rail site, www.bahn.de. After you get summary timetables for Paris to the city of your choice, click on the arrow to the left of the departure time(s) of your choice to see the connecting points. As others have said, the direct Paris-Rome night train would be a good choice. It saves you the cost of a night in a hotel and gives you more daylight hours for sightseeing. Leave Paris at 18:52 and arrive in Rome at 10:12. Another time-saving option would be to fly easyJet from Paris Orly to Naples. Leave at 13:35 and arrive at 15:45. EasyJet is a budget airline. Booked weill in advance, fares can be quite cheap.

Thank you so much for the advise. I personally did not want to spend that much time on the train. My husband wants to see the countryside a bit more. Appreciate your thoughts! Caio.

See the countryside a bit more,, take a simple daytrip out of cities,, one hour on train instead of a whole very long day. Or, rent a car at a destination and drive out of city.

Judy, given the distance from Paris to the Amalfi coast (your first stop after Paris) and especially the VERY SHORT time frame, my suggestion would be to use a budget airline from Paris to Naples. While I can appreciate the desire to "see the countryside", that's a long trip with multiple changes, and if you use a night train you won't be seeing much "countryside" anyway. It will also use a lot of your short and valuable travel time. Where exactly are you planning to go on the Amalfi Coast? You could (for example) use EASYJET or AIR BERLIN from ORY to NAP (via DUS I believe?) or MERIDIANA (or others) from CDG to NAP. From Naples you would connect with the Circumvesuviana (commuter train) to Sorrento. With only 3-days you won't have a lot of time for touring, but Sorrento is a very convenient base for that area. On the return to Rome, use the Circumvesuviana to Naples and then the ES/AV trains to Roma Termini (very fast!). As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend pre-reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door (if you haven't already), paying special attention to the "Rail Skills" chapter. If/when you're travelling on the Circumvesuviana, watch your luggage and be sure you're wearing a Money Belt. I've never had a problem, but it has a bit of a "reputation" (as does the #64 Bus in Rome). Buona Fortuna e Buon Viaggio!

Judy, another suggestion that might be a good "compromise" to allow your husband to see some of the country, would be to use a budget airline from Paris / ORY to Pisa/PSA or Milan/MXP, again with EASYJET. It would mean more rail transfers but from there it's a reasonable trip to Naples. Pisa would probably be a better choice as it's a smaller airport and the rail trip is also a bit shorter than from Milan (about 4H:38M from Pisa Centrale, with one change in Firenze/Florence). It also avoids transiting Milano Centrale which is chaotic and not one of my favourite places. Travel from MXP to Milano Centrale would also add at least an hour to the trip. From Florence the trip is a very reasonable 3-hours via EuroStar Italia/Alta Velocita to Naples through some of the most incredible scenery of Tuscany and Umbria. You can check the schedules on the Trenitalia web site. Cheers!