sleepers on paris-italy route

Since all beds in sleepers and bunks in couchettes are for one person which means you and your boyfriend won't be able to sleep together, how much are you willing to pay for privacy?

Booked well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at www.tgv-europe.com, you can get excellent discount fares for bunks in 6-person couchettes and 4-person couchettes; but you'll have to share the space with strangers. You can also get discount fares for 2-bed sleepers, but the savings aren't as good. The allotted number of discount tickets in each category sell out fast so you need to book as soon as the 90-day window opens. Unless you spring for a 2-bed sleeper, I recommend going with the 4-bunk couchette. For only a few euros more than a 6-bunk couchette you get a lot more elbow room and luggage storage space.

For example, you can get a bunk in a 6-person couchette for as little as €35 and a bunk in a 4-person couchette for as little as €45. The cheapest discount fare for a bed in a 2-person sleeper is €140. These fares are the same for both the Paris-Florence night train and the Venice-Paris night train.

The Trenitalia site doesn't accept US credit cards for online booking. However, since you will start your trip in Paris, you can book both Paris-Florence and Venice-Paris at www.tgv-europe.com and pick up your tickets in Paris. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as your country of residence.

Buy your Florence-Venice tickets when you get to Florence.

You might want to consider flying from Venice to Paris on a budget airline. I recommend flying easyJet from Marco Polo to either Orly or CDG. Book ASAP to get the lowest fare.

At the risk of being crass... (okay, just being crass...)

I don't understand the people who say to share your boyfriend in a group space. My wife and I have done it out of necessity, but even in a compact sleeping berth, with beds too small to share for sleeping, there is plenty of space for activities that require privacy...

Mile high club? Phhht... 100 mph club, on a train, from Paris to Italy? Really? You gonna give up
THAT memory?

Me? I'd pay the extra for privacy, even if the 'sleeping' part is in separate bunks.

Hmmm... suddenly wonder what the moderators will think of that little line of logic....

Jim,

I think your logic is just fine! In my previous post I was only comparing costs. I figured that Ilene and her boyfriend can decide for themselves if they want a 2-bed sleeper so they can use one of the beds for some kind of overnight "activity."

Thanks for advice for booking. very helpful. I would only consider sleeping in same berth if i had a private car. So i was looking into a sleeper car for 2 and wondered if there was a "bed" for 2 or just 2 beds.

Ilene, have you considered some of the lo-cost inter EU airlines for your travels? Go to Whichbudget.com and check these out for each leg of your trip.

Make sure you understand EXACTLY which airport each airline flys from/to; some go to obscure airports that may require transportation hassles.

We use these in combination with train travel, with excellent results. Mnay times they are much cheaper than the train.

we wanted to take a train honestly. haven't looked into airfare.

If I can get 2 people double sleeper for 280euro paris to florence, and 280 euro venice to paris, and whatever the rate is for florence to venice, is it worth it to buy point to point or get a rail pass and book a sleeper reservation with rail pass(though i have no idea how to get a rail pass + sleeper, i can only figure out how to do the point to point reservations)

4-day, 1st class France-Italy Saver Pass (2 or more people traveling together): $319/person

Passholder supplement (includes reservation) for 2-bed sleeper: $107/person for each night train

You can buy your passes and reservations from Rail Europe. There is a shipping fee.

Passholder reservation fee on EuroStar Alta Velocita
trains from Florence to Venice: €10/person if bought in Italy. More if bought from Rail Europe.

p2p tickets for Florence-Venice: €42 in 2nd class and €59 in 1st class.

If you book the discount fares for Paris-Florence and Venice-Paris online and buy 2nd class p2p tickets for Florence-Venice when you get to Italy, your total will be €322 ($438)/person.

Your total cost with railpasses will be around $553/person + the shipping fee.

While the cost of a pass might compare well to the cost of full fare tickets on the night train, a pass is no bargain if you can get discount fares.