would you fly or take a train from Rome to Paris?

Hi Lorrie,

Personally, I would fly. We flew Ryanair a couple of months ago and it wasn't too bad.

The train trip is 13-14 hours--I'd rather spend my extra time in Paris and then return to Italy another time to see the scenic areas in Tuscany and northern Italy.

Thanks, Sharon. I didn't realize it was that long! I will fly. Ryanair planes hold 30 or more people? I can't go on the really small planes and don't see the numbers specificed on their site. Thanks again!

I'm not up on airplane-types but it's a "regular-sized" plane. If I remember correctly it's 3 seats across on each side.

Hi Lorrie,
If you use skyscanner.net you'll find other airlines from Rome's Ciampino Airport to Paris' Orly both of which are easier and more cost efficient than flying Ryanair into "Paris'" Beauvais. Beauvais is not in Paris and a longer bus ride away from Paris than Orly or CDG. I found Beauvais manageable but a hassle. Just something to consider!

Vueling flies from FCO to CDG and are very reasonable. Also, Easyjet flies out of CIA into Orly, which is very convenient to downtown. I agree with previous posters... I would not fly into the RyanAir "out-of-town" airport!

Thank you! You guys are so helpful! I will check all of this out. :)

The first time I went from Paris to Rome I took the train. Never again! It was the train trip from hell! Paris to Milan was good. At Milan no one could tell us what platform our train was on, once we found it no one could tell us where our compartment was and first class was a 6 person compartment with a bare lightbulb in the ceiling and open windows for air conditioning! It was a late night train and went thru the Parma district and every hog farm woke me up with the smell. In addition, it was the milk run and stopped at every crossroads. At one stop they put a person in a wheelchair on the train with a forklift! Really! Next time I'll take Ryanair or Vueling!!

Me? I would take (and have taken) a direct overnight train in a private compartment. But I LOVE trains.....

Looks like there's one that leaves Rome at 19:40 and arrives in Paris at 9:16

Great tips, thanks. Turns out I have a friend who lives in Mery-Sur-Oise and would meet me if I fly into Beauvais. I guess I'd still need to get to Paris from there.

This is certainly a learning experience for me. :)

Lorrie,

"Ryanair planes hold 30 or more people?"

As I recall, RyanAir uses fairly new 737's for their entire fleet. They can definitely hold more than 30 people (I'm amazed at how many RyanAir manages to fit in).

Given your short time frame, using budget air is certainly the best option. My suggestion in this case would be to use EasyJet from CIA to ORY, as Ron mentioned. Beauvais is a LONG way out of Paris, so wouldn't be my first choice.

Keep in mind that the budget airlines are usually quite "restrictive" in their baggage limits, so if you're travelling with lots of heavy gear, be prepared to pay an expensive supplement. RyanAir is about the worst of the budget's for tacking on extra charges.

Happy Travels!

I flew Vueling Paris to Rome 2 years ago. Was happy with that.

A lot depends on how much time you gave to spend travelling. BTW forget about the scenic train; that's never going to be worth your time. The options to consider are night train vs. flying. Flying is much quicker in terms of time spent, but the problem is the flights tend to be during the day and chew up most of the day; if you have to be at the airport 2 hours early and it takes an hour to get there, have a 2 hour flight, and then spend another 2 hours from the time the wheels touch the ground (which is how they measure flight time, not when you're off the plane in the terminal 30 minutes later) to your hotel --that's a grand total of 7 hours. Start at 9am and its 4pm before you can go out and do anything; that pretty much has taken the whole day for your "2 hour" flight.

The night train will cut your departure day short since it probably leaves around 8pm or so. But the departure and arrival train stations will be right in the heart of the city so you don't spend a lot of travel time getting to/from the train. And if you arrive at 9am you have a full day to do things. On the other hand the train isn't as relaxing as a nite in a hotel room (I always take sleeping pills on the train, which helps a lot).

So my personal decision guide, which may sound counter-intuitive, is that if I don't have a lot of time on the trip I'll take the night train but if I don't mind burning a day in travel I'll fly.

My experience with night trains ended in the 80s. Hot, stuffy and weird. Great in theory but my few experieces tell me to board that plane! Thanks for everyone's comments. I still have to book my flights.

A friend just recommended her tour guide for half-day (4 hour tour of Rome). He sounds wonderful but certainly not cheap (perhaps he's competitively priced. I've never had a personal tour guide) $200,000 for 4 hours.

It's probably really great when you split the price with friends.

No question to me ...fly.
book early online to get a good fare be aware cheap airlines may fly into Beauvais airport (altho sometrinmes noted as Paris) far North of Paris.