Help planning rail journeys btw Italy and Paris

Cindy , have you considered flying from Rome to Paris? It can be cheap, and its only 1.5 hours.

You cannot book the Venice-Paris Thello night train on tgv-europe.com. Thello is a joint venture with Trenitalia and Veolia and tgv-europe is a SNCF (French national rail) site. The best discount fares for Venice-Paris are long gone for July. You could stick to your original plan to take the train from Munich to Venice and from Venice to Rome. Then fly on either easyJet or Vueling from Rome to Paris. If you book Paris-Amsterdam now at thalys.com, you may still be able to get a discount fare. Choose "paper ticket" and print the tickets yourself.

Cindy, I agree with Tim that it would be faster and more efficient to use a budget flight from Rome to Paris. I tend to use EasyJet whenever possible, as I've always enjoyed good service with them. Your proposed route of Munich > Venice > Rome > Paris > Amsterdam should work well. In the same situation, this is the method I'd use for tickets: > Munich to Venice - buy when you arrive in Munich. Visit the EurAide office in the Munich station, as their English-speaking staff will help you sort that out. > Venice to Rome - either pre-book on the Trenitalia website (although not always user friendly, and of course that will lock you into a specific train and departure time) OR buy the ticket at Venezia Santa Lucia when you arrive in Venice. You could also purchase at the Travel Agency near Piazza San Marco (details in the Guidebook). Since the trip will be via "Freccia" train, you'll still be locked into a particular train as soon as you buy the ticket, but buying a few days before travel may be better. > Rome to Paris - book the flight on the airline website. Be sure to read the "Terms & Conditions" carefully, especially regarding baggage limits. If you think your checked luggage will be over the allowable limit, pay the overweight charges at the time of booking as it's much more expensive to pay at check-in. Also note that many airlines only allow ONE carry-on item of the approved size (and they WILL check). > Paris to Amsterdam - buy the ticket at any SNCF Boutique or larger rail station (Gare du Nord?) when you arrive in Paris. Happy travels!

Cindy, Ditto the suggestion on booking a flight from Rome to Paris. I made that decision for myself - flying from Naples to Paris to meet up with some friends for the last part of my trip. I booked an Easyjet flight a while ago and paid the extra money for checked bag. The cost was 87 Euro. Your trip sounds amazing - and what a nice way to spend time with your son. Happy travels. Linda

If you want to take the direct CNL night train from Munich to Venice, tickets may already be gone for your travel date (whatever it is). That's true, at least, for the arbitrary mid-July date I tried. Check the German Rail site immediately. If you want to travel during the day, there is one direct EC train that departs at 11:31 and arrives at 18:10. Book it on the German Rail site. For other routes that require a connection in Verona, book the first leg on the German Rail site and the second one on the Trenitalia site. Book Venice-Rome now on the Trenitalia site to get the best MINI fare still available. If you wait until you get to Paris to buy your Paris-Amsterdam Thalys tickets, you'll pay top price. And 2nd class seats have been know to sell out on that route, particularly during the summer.

We took the Thello night train from Paris to Venice three weeks ago. Bought our tickets from Rail Europe. I loved the night train! Got to Venice in the morning refreshed and ready to explore. While flying can be more efficient, I hate the hassle and much prefer the trains.

Unfortunately, Tim, you are absolutely right......the CNL overnight from Munich to Venice is sold-out (except just seats and most expensive deluxe cabin) for the day I needed to travel and the days before and after. Not I am really in trouble.

Dear Tim, Thanks for the add'l advices about the locking/security, another reason (besides the probable lack of any restful sleep) that I am so sad about the couchettes/sleepers being sold out. I am kind of btw a rock and a hard place: lack of sleep leading to a wasted day of cranky sightseeing or wasting the best part of a day sitting on the train. Of course, I bet my 16 yp could sleep like a log even in a seat on the nighttrain lol.

Cindy, If you decide to spend your night trying to sleep in a reclining seat on the CNL train, it would be wise to put small locks on the zippers on your bags and to use a retractable cable lock to secure your bags to either the overhead rack or the shelves at the end of the car. If you do that, you can remind yourself that at least it will be better than what I will be doing in about three weeks: spending two full nights and a total of 32 hours in a coach seat on an Amtrak train traveling between Wenatchee, Washington, and St. Paul, Minnesota. (It's a good thing I like trains!) I will fly from Minneapolis to Portland, Oregon, at the beginning of this trip. Or book a daytime route. If you book on the German Rail site, you can get a discount fare as low as €49 for the direct EC train that leaves Muenchen at 11:31 and arrives at Venezia Santa Lucia at 18:10.