My family & I are planning to take a night train from Paris to Venice. Any advice on getting good deals on train tickets, which station to get off on at Venice, and the best way to transfer to the cruise ship terminal.
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Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
You want the 221 Stendhal train out of the Paris-Bercy train station. It departs at 20:33. It arrives at the Venezia Santa Lucia station at 09:34 the next morning. Venezia S.L. is the train station you want. The tracks end there. 200 feet more and the train is in the Grand Canal. The train station (Ferrovia stop) is one stop away from the Piazzale Roma vaporetto stop which is the one you want for the cruise terminal. When we were last there, you would have to take the vaporetto for this one stop. Or, you can cross the canal near the train station and take a long walk around to the Piazzale Roma. Now, there is a new bridge across the Grand Canal that is supposed permit walking directly from the train station to the Piazzale Roma. I haven't seen information yet on how well this works. Once at the Piazzale Roma, you have a 15-minute walk to the ship. There may be taxis or shuttles there. I haven't done this one.
The best prices on the night train tickets from Paris to Venice can be found on www.tgv-europe.com. You can buy tickets up to 90 days before travel. Buy early to get the best special fares. On the www.tgv-europe site, select Great Britain when you see the first page to keep the site in English. Then, on the second page, again select Great Britain as the country where you will receive your tickets. Once you book the tickets, you don't have to be in GB to pick them up. You can pick them up at any SNCF ticket office in France.