Milan to Arles on a France-Italy Eurail Pass with a train change in Geneva

Hi Barry. There are several options that go thru only Italy and France in about the same time. See www.bahn.de. Enjoy your trip!

Will I have a problem by going through Switzerland Yup. If your pass doesn't include a country you can't travel through it, even if you don't get off the train. (Exception the corridor through Germany between Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria where the train is considered to always be in Austria). Do as suggested below and miss Switzerland. Unless you want to visit Switzerland in which case use your pass from Milan to Domodosola and again from Geneva. Another case where the railpass doesn't meet the needs of the traveler unfortunately. Sorry.

You could go Milan> Genova(Genoa in American)> Ventimiglia> Menton> Nice> Avignon> Arles.

Interestingly, the fastest way by train to get from Milan Centrale to Arles is via Geneva (9hrs10min). But, you have 3 train/bus changes on the run that I see. But, if you are willing to spend another 13 minutes, have only 1 train change and avoid going through Switzerland, simply go to the Milano Porta Garibaldi train station and board the TGV there (yes it comes into Milan). You then have a train change in Lyon to a TGV going to Arles. Here's a link to show you what the run looks like. http://gyazo.com/7dde07c694fc85eee024dd25b676f188

I like the route Larry has suggested which avoids Switzerland. Depart at 06:00 and arrive at 15:23. Or depart at 08:50 and arrive at 18:01 (with two changes). Or you could travel Milano-Ventimiglia-Nice-Marseille-Arles, departing at 09:10 and arriving at 18:12. However, for the record, you can travel through Switzerland with your Italy-France pass if you are willing to pay point-to-point fares for the section from the Italy-Swiss border to Geneva and for the section from Geneva to the Swiss-France border.

Thank you so much for all of your great advice! I found it interesting that the only soultions that came up on the Eurail site had me going either through Geneva or the southern route through Ventimiglia. I think I will look into the solution of leaving from the Milan Girabaldi Station and take the TGV to Lyon.

Stop using the Eurail site for information. As you've discovered, they don't list all routes. Use the German rail site to find schedules, using this tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/db_tips.htm