My husband and I are planning a Normandy, France to Tuscany trip. Itinerary is as follows: leave Philly on April 28, arrive in Paris on 29th, take train to Bayeux where we stay for 4 nights. Then we need to get to Venice on Sunday, May 3rd. Venice is 2 nights, then Cinque Terre 2 nights, Florence 4 nights, Siena 2 nights, somewhere in a Tuscan Hill town for 4, Rome for 3, then fly home on May 20th. My problem is how to get train tickets for all of this. I have looked at the France Italy Eurail Pass. I think everything is doable, but am concerned about travel on May 3. How can we get from Bayeux to Venice? Or should we fly on that leg of the journey?
Kerry
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Bayeux to Venice is a ,long way No way can it be done by daylight. But, the nearest airport to Bayeux is Paris.
Option 1), train to Paris, then train to airport, and fly Paris to Venice.
Option2), train to Paris, then overnight sleeper train. Depart Paris Gare de Lyon 19:59, arrive Venezia Santa Lucia 09:35
Your choice.
As said many times on this site, a Eurail Pass is not necessarily the cheapest option. You need to price up the sum of each individual rail trip, and compare it to the price of a pass.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7328 posts
While we've also still used rental cars, buses, and trains, we're using budget airlines like easyJet and Vueling more and more to get within Europe, as that can be fast and relatively cheap. That does involve getting to the airport within the check-in time requirements and meeting all the baggage restrictions and requirements (read the fine print carefully when booking) that some budget airlines impose, but sometimes that's the best way to go.
Traveling from Bayeux to Venice, of course, would mean first getting to Paris by some means, but there's no sight more spectacular from the air than Venice, as you approach.
Posted by
Green Bay
20017 posts
Unless, of course you were on the side of the plane I was on. Then it looks like New Jersey.
By all means, fly from Paris to Venice. Then use advance purchase nonrefundable tickets for most of the Italian high-speed trains. Florence to Cinque Terra and back can be done with cheap Regionale trains you buy at the station. No Rail Pass.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
The Paris-Milan daytime TGV (departing at 10:40 and 14:40 daily) is covered by the pass plus seat reservation fee (about $26 in 2nd or $41 in 1st); book this pass holder reservation at the same time that you buy the pass, since places are limited and often sell out.
It would be possible to depart Bayeux at 8:30 on May 3, arrive Paris St. Lazare at 10:46, then cross Paris by taxi to catch the 14:40 train at Gare de Lyon, which gets you as far as Milan (not Venice) by 22:00.
The Paris-Venice night train is not covered by rail passes. If you miss out on a TGV reservation, or choose a night train or a flight, then the pass is no longer a good value.