Rail Pass Days and Overnight Trains

Gary,
I am running into a similar problem in that i will be in the ct and have to take a night train from milan to paris. From what i was able to find out, unless the night train is non stop starting after 7pm, it wont qualify as only one day. for example, we are going from la spezia to milan on the 31st and then taking the night train to paris which will arrive on the 1st. even if we go after 7pm, because it is not a nonstop night train, we would have to use the 31st and the 1st. Look into the prices because you may be able to buy an extra point to point ticket for the first train instead of using a pass day, or just pay for the cheapest travel day point to point. I hope this makes sense. Again, i havent done it yet, we leave next week, so if anyone knows differently let me know!

Your Avignon-Paris TGV ride is one day. Since your night train departs after 19:00, the day you enter on the pass for that train is the next day. So yes, you will use two pass days.

If you haven't paid your sleeping accommodations supplement for the Paris-Venice night train yet, do it ASAP through Rail Europe. Popular night trains can sell out weeks in advance.

Can anyone else confirm if a non-stop overnight train only counts as one day - the day of the departure? As far as I can tell, our sleeper car reservations are on a direct train: #221 from Paris Bercy to Venezia Santa Lucia. Some of the overnight trains listed on Rail Europe show transfers through Milan, but not the one I selected. The ticket also does not show a transfer. It would be a tremendous waste of a rail day, and probably more economical to return the rail pass and fly instead.

I guess that my post wasn't clear. A direct night train that departs after 19:00 counts as one day on a railpass, but that day is the one that begins AFTER MIDNIGHT, not the day of departure. If you weren't traveling from Avignon to Paris, then you would only use one pass day rather than two.

Not that it is in your favor in your case, but you could ride all day after you get to Venice on the "pass day" that you used for the night train which you boarded the previous evening.

You rely too much on Raileurope. The #221 Stendhal is a direct train from Paris Bercy to Venice. It does stop at Milan but there is no train change. No train changes on this run whatsoever. You can see all of this, including every stop that the train makes, on www.trenitalia.com

Gary....Train #221 is, indeed, the EuroNight overnight sleeper from Paris Bercy to Venice. But I see that it departing at 6:55 p.m.....and they'll probably nail you for those five extra minutes. If you're travelling in from Avignon that same day, it won't make any difference, since you're already using that day....and the overnight train will cost you a second day. That train also travels thru Switzerland, altho I recall some saying you didn't need to purchase an additional fare to make it across to Italy on the night train (if it's not already on your pass.) PREM's fares with a spot in a three-person berth can be had for 125 Euro pp, second class (depending on when you plan to travel.)

For the record, I read somewhere recently that the five minutes before 19:00 don't count against you and you still use only one pass day--again the one beginning after midnight.

Regarding Christy's comment, a night train only needs to be direct (no changes) to qualify for the "after 19:00 rule." It doesn't have to be non-stop. The night train Christy will take from Milan to Paris originates in Venice and it makes two stops in France before it arrives in Paris.