Train Information to Paris

Karen, by night train, it's about 15+ hours from Rome to Paris. Two companies make this run. www.thello.com departs at 19:20 and arrive Paris at 10:18. No train changes. The German City Night Line also makes this run via Munich and Stuttgard. Travel time is 21+ hours. The TGV trains do not come into Italy very far. Torino is a good TGV stop but that's in northern Italy. If you want the daytime trains, you may have to take the high-speed trains from Rome-Termini to Torino Porta Susa to catch the TGV. Have you considered flying? Lots of budget flights from Rome-FCO to Paris. www.easyjet.com makes the trip in 2hrs5min to Paris-Orly. I see fares in mid-April of 42.99Euro. This is a budget airline so be sure to carefully read their travel conditions. Extra fees for over-size and over-weight luggage.

I have flown on both Easyjet and Vueling they are fine, do read about luggage restrictions and prepay for checked bag. At this late date you may not get the cheapest flights, but its only 1.5 hours( flight) from Rome to Paris.

Karen, Using a budget airline like EasyJet (ORY / FCO) will be the quickest option, but realistically it's still going to be about a six hour+ travel day. One of the quickest day trains I was able to find is a departure from Gare de Lyon at 07:49, arriving Roma Tiburtina at 18:39 (time 10H:50M, 1 change at Milano Porta Garibaldi, reservations compulsory on both legs). If you want to see the scenery, that's an option to consider. Given the distance on that route, that's a reasonably good travel time and it has a short transfer time in Milan (which is good). I dislike the usual airport hassles so much, I'd probably choose a 10 hour train ride over a budget flight, as it would be a relatively relaxing journey compared to a flight. That particular train arrives at Roma Tiburtina, but you can easily reach Termini on the Metro. Happy travels!

I have been looking at the different airlines but my concern is I am meeting my daughter in London who has been studying abroad and she has a large piece of luggage that weighed 50 pounds when she flew out plus a backpack and I am not sure if we can fly these airlines, and if we can how much they are going to chargge us.

Karen, on Easyjet, you are each allowed 20kg (44lbs) for checked luggage according to their website. For two, that's 40kg or 88lbs. Also according to the website, hers can weigh more if yours weighs less as long as the two checked bags don't weigh more than 40kg. Extra fee is 7 British Pounds per kilo. Also read their other fees. It's best to declare this luggage and pay for it as you book. It costs more to do it at the airport during checkin. Also, one carryon bag per passenger. Purse or computer is not permitted as the second item. There are size limits on the carryon luggage. Exceed it and its a 25British Pound charge to put it in the hold. Here's the link to the webpage. http://www.easyjet.com/en/planning/baggage Alternatively, you can fly on British Airways for a lot more money.

Alternatively, you can fly on British Airways for a lot more money. Don't assume that BA will cost more than Easyjet. Do the math before you buy a ticket. I often find that BA is very competitively priced, especially if you have a bag to check. BA doesn't charge you for checking 23kg of luggage. Easyjet charges. BA doesn't add a fee to pay with a credit card (Easyjet does). Do the math first and add in all the extras. The last 3 times I flew between London and Italy, BA was cheaper than Easyjet for me because I had a bag to check. I've also flown Easyjet (when they worked out to be cheaper), but they don't always beat BA.

According to the detailed timetables on the German Rail site, if you want to travel during the day, these are your best routes. 1. Rome-Milan-Zurich-Paris, departing at 08:00 and arriving at 19:37. 2. Rome-Milan-Geneva-Paris, departing at 09:00 and arriving at 19:49. 3. Rome-Torino-Paris, departing at 13:00 and arriving at 23:19. It's possible to get discount fares if you book each leg on the appropriate national rail site, but at this relatively late date the cheapest tickets may be gone. If you pick a route and give us a travel date, we can help you find the lowest fares still available.