Getting from Paris to Florance

I just looked at Expedia.com and if you book a round trip ticket with Lufthansa it will cost 244 USD. If you try to book one way it will be over 600 US. There is one plane change in Munich. Munich is a great airport, though, it is easy to get around and not all that busy. If you want direct it would be on Alitalia and will cost 365 USD.

If you go to the airline websites they are sometimes alittle cheaper but only by a few dollars.

If you book well in advance, you can make this trip easily and cheaply by train.

For a day route book Paris-Milano well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at www.voyages-sncf.com and get a Prem's fare of 25€. Book Milano-Firenze well in advance (up to 60 days allowed) at www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html and get an Amica fare of less than 30€.

Or book the direct Paris-Firenze night train at www.voyages-sncf.com up to 90 days in advance to get a Prem's fare of 45€ for a bunk in a six-person couchette or a Prem's fare of 55€ for a bunk in a four-person couchette. (Spend a little more for the extra space and comfort.)

For complete timetables for the entire route go to www.bahn.de. After you get summary timetables, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points.

Search engines for budget airlines: www.whichbudget.com and www.skyscanner.net. There are no budget airlines that fly Paris-Firenze. You would have to fly to Milano and take the train from there. Meridiana flies CDG-Linate. easyJet flies CDG-Malpensa. Volareweb and easyJet fly Orly-Linate. Volareweb flies Orly-Malpensa.

www.whichbudget.com shows that no cheap flights from France fly into Florence (FLR). Seems weird. The closest they get is Milan or Bologna. www.myair.com has a flight into Bologna from Paris-CDG for as low as 19.99euro (2hr flight). It's just under an hour by train to Florence from Bologna.

For the train, schedules are not yet available for October but current schedules are very close with possible minor changes when they are updated on the websites.

There is a train that leaves Paris-Gare de Lyon station at 7:42am for Florence that requires only one train change in Milan. It's an 11hr. journey. You won't get much faster on the train. As Tim mentions above, you do have a choice of a night train. There is one leaving at 18:59 from Paris-Bercy train station that requires NO TRAIN CHANGES. It's a 12hr. journey.

As Tim mentions above, you do have a choice of a night train. There is one leaving at 18:59 from Paris-Bercy train station that requires NO TRAIN CHANGES. It's a 12hr. journey arriving at 7:16am. This train terminates at Florence-Campo di Marte train station which is not Florence's main train station. However, it is 1-2 stops away and you just catch a quick commuter train for about 3Euro into Florence-Santa Maria Novella train station.

CLICK HERE to see a more current www.trenitalia.com train schedule for the two trains I have mentioned in my two posts.

I just thought of one more option. You could fly from Orly to Pisa on easyJet and then take a train to Firenze.

Thanks to you all for your help