My wife and I will be in Paris the latter part of Sept. We want to get to Northern/Central Italy and rent a car for 2 weeks. We don't want to waste too much time traveling from Paris to Italy. Should we fly or should we take a train? I was unable to find a direct train to Milan or Rome from Paris so it seems like it would be best to fly. We also need to return to Paris for our return trip to USA. Any suggestions?
If it's not too late to change your flight, consider flying into Paris and out of Rome. Backtracking wastes precious time. And the train or flight cost to return to Paris may approximately equal any penalty you would incur to make a change to your existing flights. You can use the 'Multi-city' feature on any air travel search engine to design an open jaws itinerary. In other words, you wouldn't be trying to purchase 2 separate tickets. I hope this is clear.
Look at Easyjet and Vueling , fly from Paris to Rome. Its 1.5 hours. Of course you have to be at airports 1.5 hours in advance. Avoid using Ryanair as they use very remote airport for Paris, Beauvais , which is 1.5 hours away from Paris and will require bus and train to arrive in city. Vueling and Easyjet use Orly or Charles De Gaulle , better choices. Also check Air France I found it expensive but some people have found deals.
Hi Gary. There are 3 direct trains per day from Paris to Milan - city center to city center, but takes 7 hours. see tgv-europe.com. For flights, try EasyJet, they fly to both Milan and Pisa. Enjoy your trip!