Train Questions/Confusion - Paris - Venice - Florence - Rome

The pass supplement, per person, for taking the train Paris-Venice, should only be around 15 Euro, but you'd have to call the French railway network 90 days before your trip to make those arrangements and ensure yourself of a spot...or pay more thru RailEurope. But, yes, a pass is probably more than you need. The Trenitalia site is actually selling first-class ""smart price" tickets for 80 Euro pp. Some have had problems booking on Trenitalia, so register ASAP and try a few practice bookings once you recieve your password by e-mail. Then book these tickets as soon as the window opens...I forget whether it's 60 or 90 days. But there are no changes or refunds for the ticket. As for Italy, it's probably the least economically efficient country in which to use a pass. Venice-Florence can be as low as 26 Euro (2nd class...no real need for 1st on a 2.5 hr journey), and Florence-Rome for only 29 Euro, both under their Amica fares....again, restrictions will apply. 135 Euro pp, or $200 US.

To give yourself more time in Paris or Venice, you might want to consider flying this leg. Discount airlines easyjet and Vueling both fly from CDG to Venice. Myair, an Italian discount airline, flies Orly-Venice. All offer good deals if booked early enough.

The best of the train journeys leaves at 7:42am in the morning from Paris Gare-de-Lyon. This is a 10.5hr journey. Other runs will take up to 14.0 hours. www.trenitalia shows the fare for two at 214Euro.

Norm is correct that an EasyJet flight is much less expensive and much faster. They actually don't begin flying to Venice Marco Polo from Paris-CDG until February 15 so if you are going later, fares begin at 38.40 per person. It's a no-frills airline so expect some extra charges for checked baggage and/or other items.

Since you're leaving from France and travelling to Italy, you'll probably have to book this on the French railway website, since I don't think Trenitalia offers mail delivery to North America. If they don't then you can book your trip at http://www.voyages-sncf.com. You'll have to book Paris-Milan Central there (low-cost PREMs ticket at 25 Euro pp, 50 Euro in 1st), but you'll have to have an address in France to have them mailed..there's no print at home feature on these ones. You can alert your hotel and have them mailed there. Then use Trenitalia to book the connecting ticket Milan-Venice for about 24 Euro. It will come as a "ticketless" ticket, a confirmation e-mail that you show to the conductor..he/she will print out a receipt on a little printer for you.

The morning train Larry describes requires a change in Milan. If you book the Paris-Milan leg up to 90 days in advance at www.voyages-sncf.com, you can get a PREM'S fare of 25€. Leave France as the default country and do NOT choose cancellation insurance. Since this is an international route, you can't print your own ticket. You'll have to have it sent to your hotel in Paris.

On the next train leaving Milan for Venice, the standard fare is 22€ and the Amica fare is 17.80€. For domestic routes you can book up to 60 days in advance on the Trenitalia site.

IF you act quickly enough to get all the discounts, the total for your Paris-Milan-Venice day route can be as low as 42.80€.

Tim, Norm, Larry...Thank you all so much for your help and advice! I'm working on booking things now. We like the idea of traveling by day to see the countryside so I'm doing the Paris to Milan etc. Thank you again for so much information!! I feel I can breathe much easier now! :)

Quick question though....I'm a bit nervouse about the tickets purchased on voyages-sncf.com being delivered to the hotel. (I just tried to call them to speak to someone about it, but there are no English speakers working there right now, so Id have to call back in the morning). Should I take that Insurance in case something happens with the tickets at the hotel?

Sure, why not....I would think the insurance would be minimal compared to the value of the ticket. But any big hotel dealing with tourists should be able to hold mail for you, as long as they know when it's coming, from whom, and when you'll be arriving.

Angela, thanks for asking my question about the same route - but I have a twist. I have a family of five and want to take the night train from Paris to Venice. I found the train and reviewed the fare classes on www.artesia.eu. We'd like to take couchette for 6. The Artesia site does not offer bookings. I could book on Trenitalia.com but can't seem to get the tickets except in the country. On www.voyages-sncf.com I can get the right train and through the booking, but I am not confident in the seating being together (get same couch, but seats varying from 61 to 74). Also, I have to choose "France" for delivery to get it to go through. There is no Canada delivery, but there is a USA. If I choose USA, I get dumped to the RailEurope site. I can book the trip through RailEurope, but only the full fare tickets. Full fare for 5 = 590E on RailEurope but the advance fare on SNCF is 375E.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! I'm a bit reluctant to have them sent to a hotel, but may.

I just did a dummy booking for the Paris-Venice night train on the SNCF site and was given sequential couchette numbers for five people. Booked well in advance (up to 90 days allowed), you can get PREM'S fares for a total of only 275€.

It's very common for people to have tickets mailed to their hotel. Just be sure you contact the hotel first before booking the tickets.

Point-to-point tickets in Italy are relatively inexpensive so a railpass is rarely cost effective. Go to the station a day or two before each trip. If the seats alloted for Amica fares (20% discount) are still available, you can get that fare up to 24 hours before departure.

Thanks Tim for looking into it. I should have noted my dates. We are trying to travel on March 16 evening from Paris. This morning (Jan 13) when I tried the SNCF site, the cheap fares were gone - all I got was the fully refundable fare option. Lesson for me - book 90 days in advance.... As the full fare on SNCF is almost the same as the RailEurope price for the same thing, I'll probably just do the RailEurope as the tickets get delivered. How did you get a 275 E fare, though? The cheapest I can get for 5 (2 adult, 2 youth, 1 child) is 350E? Is there a category of price I missed (PREM)?
Thanks!

Okay, got it now. There are three classes of fare, and the PREM's are the fully non-refundable fares. When I stretched out to 90 days, they show up. Great deal - wish I'd been smart enough to book sooner! I've got 190E for five from Paris to Venice (Mestre) on April 1.

Thanks everyone! Great advice...so helpful!! I was able to book Paris to Milan for the 2 of us on www.voyages-sncf.com for 100 euro and then did all point to point on trenitalia for the Amica rates. Milan to Venice, Venice to Florence, Florence to Rome - 2 travelers, about 150 euros total. It all came out to much less than I would have spent without the help of this board! Thank you everyone!!! :)

Tim mentioned that it's possible to get discounted tickets for the Paris-Milan-Venice day route as low as 42.80€. Is there any way to get this kind of price by purchasing the tickets while in Paris? Our plan is to arrive in Paris on a Saturday and depart the following Saturday for Venice. What kind of deals (if any) can you get in person within a week of departure for an adult and a youth (20 year old)?