any recommendation between Venice and Nice?

fly

That said, I don't know where you are getting more than 10 hours.

Most train combinations will have you arriving in just under or just over 8 hours.

Genua (Genova). Some 4,5 to 5 hours from Venice; another 3,5 to 4 hours further to Nice. (I checked on trenitalia.com for advance bought tickets from Venice to Genua. They're available from EUR 28.) Anything but a ghost town. Right across the Brignole station there are some good and reasonably priced hotels.

If you haven't been to Florence, that's where you might want to spend a day or two or 2 weeks.....It is a wonderful city! Only 2:05 from Venice.

Hi Jen,

I just did this trip in reverse last month (Nice-Venice). The easiest overnight stop on this route would be Milan - there are 2 trains daily which take about 8 hours, with a swtich in Milan. One departs Venice at 07:50 the other at 11:50. Advance purchase, non-refundable tickets as low as 24 euros. Schedules are not currently loaded past early December, but they should be within the next few weeks. See www.trenitalia.com for details.

As you already mentioned, flying can be a good option. EasyJet has flights in Dec. for as low as $34, but they don't fly that route everyday. Prices vary by day and how far in advance you buy them. See www.skyscanner.com for details.

Hi All,

thanks so much for the responses. this is my dilemma at the moment. we plan to leave Venice on 27th of Dec evening to Nice. checking the cheapest and direct route flight is easyjet but they only have morning flight on that day which is too early for us as we'd like to hang around the islands for the day still. then onto the next day the 28th, there's only evening flight which is a waste of time for our travel itinerary as we plan to spend that day already at Nice >_<

Rich
thanks so much for the info. i just know that the best train route is via Milan as it's a bit of a detour. i couldn't believe trenitalia still doesn't have the schedule up to now (i think i checked it there previously, it shows routes more than 9hrs but then i got back yesterday and you're right there's no schedules to be shown up to now, i thought there's a glitch on their system). i checked DB Bahn and it all shows crazy results up to 25hrs

Nigel
Hi Nigel, previously I roughly checked trenitalia and gmaps calculation , they all showed more than 9hrs travel time?? but yesterday i checked trenitalia and up to now it doesn't show any schedule. db bahn results are worse. is there any other direct flight route option aside from easyjet (which has similar fare)?

You are welcome! The Italians are notoriously late in loading train schedules, keep checking back and they should be loaded in the next week or two. The route going through Milan is the quickest, most direct train route from Venice to Nice. A word of advice if you do decide to do this in one day rather than spend the night in Milan - Trenitalia shows there is a 45 min. connection time between trains in Milan, which should be fine. When I did this route last month (in reverse), my connection was only 30 min. and for some reason the train arrived in Milan 30 min. late (not sure why, as it left Nice on time). At any rate, I had to literally run across the station to catch my train to Venice. I made it, but just barely. The current connetion time of 45 min. should be plenty, but if you want to play it safe, you can take an earlier train from Venice to give yourself extra time. For instance, instead of leaving Venice at 11:50, you could leave at 10:50. This gives you an hour and 45 min. in Milan, which should be more than enough. You can always grab a snack and coffee in the station to kill time. There are trains hourly from Venice to Milan, it's the direct Milan-Venice Thello train which only runs twice a day.

I don't know of any other airlines flying that route that cheaply. Most others are not direct flights and involve a change somewhere else. Skyscanner.com is the best site I know of for showing most flight options, so check with them.

Jen,

Making an intermediate stop is a good way to break up a long rail journey, and on the Venice-Nice route there are several possibilities. In December a larger city (such as Milan) will offer more choices for things to do, although in reality you won't have a lot of time in whatever location you choose. You'll arrive in the afternoon and be on your way again early the next morning, so that will only provide enough time for a brief look and a nice dinner. One other possibility is Verona, as it's an easy stop between Venice and Milan.

If you decide to stop in Milan, a direct departure from Venezia S.L. at 10:50 will get you there at 13:25, which is still reasonably early. If you decide to stop in Verona, you'll use the same train but arrive at 12:00. For the ongoing trip to Nice, there's a direct EC departure from Milano Centrale at 11:10, arriving Nice Ville at 16:00. That would be the easiest one to take as there are no changes. If you decide to travel from Verona, the trip will be somewhat longer (about an hour if you also connect with the 11:10 departure from Milan), so Milan makes the most sense in terms of "ease of travel."

You should consider flying on EasyJet from Venice and Nice. The flight will save you time and money.
Just go for it.

Hi Rich, Ken and David

thank You kindly for the info. I really appreciate it. after weighing in the very limited time we have , we decide to fly. Initially my husband thinks of driving since we plan to drive in France but we couldn't find a car to be picked up in Venice on Sunday 27th December?? I don't know if we look things wrongly or does all car rentals office close on Sunday in Venice? Anyone ever pick up rental car from Venice could share?

the problem with the flying is the schedule. if we could get out from Venice on 27th Dec evening or 28th Dec morning that'd be best but Easyjet (the cheapest and offers direct route) doesn't have those flying options. My queries for flying:
1. Do we need to check in 2 hours before boarding as for normal international flights?
2. Are they really strict with the big luggages weight? There are 3 of us for example if we choose to pay extra luggage 29kgs per person and if one person's luggage weighs more than 29kgs but total of the 3 luggages is still less than 87kgs. Would that person still got extra charged?

TIA

Check Easyjets flexi fare. Includes luggage and seat selection plus early boarding. It's not an international flight, considered domestic. 1 1/2 hrs should be plenty. Read carry on restrictions carefully. 1 piece. Only one. I usually put my purse inside a day bag.

I agree that flying is going to be your quickest, easiest and probably cheapest option. To answer your other questions, I usually have a fairly heavy bag and have never been charged extra, but this would depend on just how heavy your bags are. I'd check the EasyJet website for specifics. I would definitely not drive, especially with your time constraints. Most car rentals are typically closed on Sundays, the exception are airport locations. It's a long drive - 6.5-8 hours, depending on traffic and you would spend over €120 in gas and tolls, not to mention the international drop fee for picking up a car in Italy and dropping it in France, which can be anywhere from €200-900!

Verona is nice in the winter. And I went there primarily because it had the most options between train and planes. I trained there from Rome and flew to Paris. Its a short distance from Venice. Perhaps you could take a train there and catch a flight that works better with your schedule.

Freccia Bianca services leave Venice SL for Milano Centrale throughout the day, taking 2hr 35min.
EC 143 Dep 11:10 MILANO CENTRALE (Italy) Arr 16:00 NICE VILLE (France)

Hi All,

Thanks for the kind responses :)

we decide to fly out from Venice to Nice as Rich mentioned it's really costly especially with the international drop off charges. there's a flight by HOP that works better with our schedule. it's just a bit more expensive and involves one time transit in Lyon with 3hrs total flight (Easyjet 1,5hrs direct flight). But since we could save time and fit our schedule with the flight, i think it's a better choice. Also I've checked with the airline, we could do online check-in 30hrs before the flight and at least 1 hour arrival in the airport before boarding.

Hi Julie,
I check on Verona, it's really nice indeed. plan to save it for the next trip to be visited with the Lake Como area :)

Cheers All