Travel From Paris to Venice?

The best way would be: -Fly from US to Paris - visit Paris for a few days -Fly from Paris to Venice (no need to go to Milan, unless you want to see Milan) -After visiting Venice take high speed train from Venice to Florence (~2 hrs) -From Florence visit rest of Tuscany (Pisa, Siena, etc) and Cinque Terre (Cinque Terre is not in Tuscany, but close, about 90 min. north of Pisa). -Take high speed train from Florence to Rome (90 minutes) -Visit Rome for a few days, then fly back to the US from Rome. From Paris to Venice you have the following airline options: Paris Orly (ORY) to Venice (VCE) - Easy Jet (2 daily) Paris (CDG) to Venice (VCE) - Easy Jet (2 daily) and Air France (6 daily)
Paris Beauvais (BVA) to Venice Treviso (TSF) - RyanAir (1 daily) The night train from Paris to Venice is another option but it's 13 hours instead of one hour flight and probably more expensive than flying. You obviously can also do the exact opposite of the above. Basically starting from Rome and ending the trip in Paris. Your choice. If you go early spring it's better to do like migratory birds: Start from the farthest south, then work your way up north where spring weather arrives a few weeks later.

Roberto is right on the money. You could also pickup a Hertz car in Florence and visit the Tuscany Hill Towns on day trips. Then, turn it in (no extra charge) at the Orvieto train station and take a 45 minute train into Rome. The roads south of Florence are very easy to negotiate. We especially enjoyed Volterra and San Gim. Orvieto is another fantastic hill town and a great place to stay before a quick train ride into The City.

Allie, First of all, congratulations on your (upcoming?) wedding! What is the time frame for your trip and when will it take place? I agree with Roberto that a budget flight from Paris to Venice would be absolutely the best idea. My choice would be EasyJet. While RyanAir may offer really cheap prices, you'll have to consider that they use "out-of-the-way" airports, so you'd have to budget both time and money getting to and from the airports. With that list of destinations, this is the route that I'd use.... > Paris > Flight to Venice > Train to Florence (you could visit Siena on a day trip via Bus which might be better if time is limited) > Train to Pisa (if you're only going to see La famosa torre, you could do that for a few hours on the way to the Cinque Terre - I'd prefer to skip the Tower and spend more time in the C.T.) > Cinque Terre - which of the five towns are you planning to stay in? I'd suggest pre-booking accommodations WELL in advance! > Train to Rome - there are a few direct (no changes) trains from La Spezia Centrale to Roma Termini every day with a travel time of ~3-4 hours. That's the method I'd use. If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. Also, there are few potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when travelling by train in Italy, so you'll need to be aware of those. If you need more info, post another note. The trip to FCO airport in Rome is easy via the Leonardo Express. Fare is €14 PP and the trip is about 35 minutes with no worries about traffic (DON'T forget to validate!). Happy travels!

This is so helpful! Thanks! We are planning on approx 1 month so we have time. So would it be better to purchase individual train tickets or get a Eurorail pass?