Fly into Pisa or Rome from London to tour Rome, Florence, Venice by train

Thanks so far. The night train does seem to be about half the cost (plus a place to stay for the night). Does anyone know if I can make reservations via the trenitalia site?

I think option 2 makes more sense because it's in a straight line. The overnight train (Rome to Venice) is not at all what you think, according to others who have posted here. You won't be able to sleep and you'll end up arriving in such bad shape that you won't be able to enjoy Venice.

I agree with Michael.

I agree with Michael on the night train from Rome to Venice. If you think that you avoiding a night in a hotel, you will be getting the bad end of the bargain. You won't get the sleep you think you will. One of these night trains is really a run from Naples to Udine. It's a 12.0hr run of which the Rome/Venice part takes about 7.0hrs. Lots of stops. Plus, this train stops in Rome but not at the Termini station. It stops at Rome Tiburtina.

Karyn,

It's easy to get tunnel-vision when trying to research a trip; make sure you're comparing apples to apples, so to speak, whether you're looking at trains, hotels, museum passes, whatever. When you say the night train would be about 1/2 price of a day train, remember that the day train is a Very Nice Train! No need to go 1st class on that one LOL! Therefore, now you're comparing a night train costing 58 Euros to a day train costing 73 Euros 2nd class, not 99 Euros for 1st class (using a made-up date). Hopefully, I've successfully included a link to a fantastic internet resource, Seat61.com: click on the link, scroll down a bit to the heading "What Are Italian Trains Like?", and look at the first set of photos. That's what your Rome to Venice train should look like...

http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

Now, having said all of that, I'm with the Plan B camp!

Venice quickly loses its charms after a night train. Been there.

Be very careful where you 'go cheap' when planning your trip. Hey, I bargain shop with the best of them, but I've learned some bargains were not worth the savings. Eat a couple of extra store-bought bread-and-cheese lunches and skip that 2nd (or 6th!) beer to feel better about the 'splurges', if you need to.

Have a great time planning!

The Trenitalia site rejects 99% of all US credit card transactions so you won't be able to book the Rome-Venice night train on that site. However, your card will work in station ticket machines and the machines have an English option.

Seats = open reclining seats. Couchette = a compartment with four bunks and a door that locks from the inside. (Many night trains also have couchettes with six bunks, but this one doesn't.) The base 2nd class fare is 37.50 EUR for a reclining seat and 60.90 EUR for a bunk in a four-person couchette. IMO, paying less for a reclining seat is false economy. You'll sleep better and your luggage will be more secure in a couchette.

I'm with the others who recommend the most direct route: Rome-Florence-Venice. It's only an hour and a half from Rome to Florence on high-speed EuroStar Italia trains. And it's only two hours from Florence to Venice on those same trains.

Karyn -

No where did I see any mention of how many days you are talking about spending in Italy. You say the "bulk" of your trip, implying more then a few days, so why the hurry to get from Rome to Venice?

To all comments against taking a night train in Italy without a sleeping compartment, the answer is a resounding DON'T!! For various reasons, including those mentioned here, it definitely can be difficult on you.

Also, unless you want to see the sights of Pisa (a very dull town other then the Leaning Tower area), I would opt to fly into Malpensa (Milan). Very cool airport and easier from which to start a trip like the one you describe. I found the Rome airport problematic in comparison.

OK, thats a lot of advice so far. To answer a question we a spending 11 - 11.5 days in Italy, arriving on a Tuesday (either early in the morning on an early flight or mid-day) and leaving on a Saturday in the late afternoon. We will be staying in either dorm hostels or simple rooms. We may stop for 2 nights at the cinque terre or just focus on Rome, Venice and Florence. The choices between Rome and Pisa are solely based on cost, and we have no desire to actually see Pisa, we would just use it as our airport for Florence (or connection to the Cinque Terre. We took several trains in Spain last year (including 2 overnight) and have successfully slept on Amtrak. Nonetheless, it sounds like you all still recommend the more direct route of Rome to Florence to Venice. I'm going to do some math to see what the financial cost is, and I'll try to post my data for future folks.