Paris to Venice Overnight Train?

[Summertimescallingme]

Has anyone done the Paris to Venice overnight train? I have seen many threads of those who planned to take travel this route, but no actual reviews after the trip. My children and I are considering taking the overnight train prior to our cruise and would appreciate any advice.

[sddsddean]

Info at http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm . Just scroll down to 'London to Venice' and ignore the London-Paris bit.

 

Simon

[Aussie One]

If you decide to fly check out www.myair.com they fly from Paris Orly airport to Venice takes about one hour ten minutes I flew with them if you keep an eye on the booking charges they can be cheep. i was on board my Celbrity ship by1pm. its a budget a/line but i reckomend it. let me know what you or other cruise critics think good luck. grumphy

[RHefley228]

My children and I are considering taking the overnight train prior to our cruise and would appreciate any advice.

 

I love overnight rains in Europe, but as a previous poster noted, you should check out Seat 61. How many children, and what are their ages? If it's 4 (or 6) of you in total, you could book an entire couchette compartment, which is pretty cheap and which the kids might find great fun. Below that number, you will have to share it with strangers, but that can also be very pleasant--or not. There are more expensive alternatives if you don't want to do that.

[wripro]

There is nothing like walking out of the Venice train station for the first time and seeing the canal in front of you. It's an experience you'll never forget.

[Go-Bucks!]

There is nothing like walking out of the Venice train station for the first time and seeing the canal in front of you. It's an experience you'll never forget.

 

 

AMEN!!!!! Breathtaking! I kept pinching myself. It was at night and everything was lit up.

[Go-Bucks!]

Has anyone done the Paris to Venice overnight train? I have seen many threads of those who planned to take travel this route, but no actual reviews after the trip. My children and I are considering taking the overnight train prior to our cruise and would appreciate any advice.

 

My friend and I just did the overnight train from Paris to Rome a few weeks ago. We did 3 overnight trains total during our European vacation. I've read many negative things about them, but we both loved them! We slept like babies, BUT we had a double sleeper car each time. We didn't have to worry about sharing a room with strangers (as in a couchette). The door locked and we even had a peep hole. If you reserve the entire couchette, though, you'd feel just as safe.

 

The only negative we found were: the bathrooms (shared, down the hall) were very dirty and some without toilet paper on the Paris-Rome train. The rest of the train was clean, but the bathroom was gross. Luckily, we had taken toilet paper with us on the trip (came in handy MANY times!) so we had some. We did not have this problem on the other overnighters. Also, the rooms were hot (even in March) and we couldn't regulate the heat. So we opened up the window and that helped alot. But with the window open, you can't shut the shade. :rolleyes: So everytime you pull into a station - all through the night - the bright lights would shine in and we would wake up hearing the station master over the loud speaker announcing the departure. The solution was to wear ear plugs and eye shades. We had them with us and they worked like a charm.

 

We really liked getting into another city ready to sightsee and not wasting a day traveling. The cheap flights are also a good idea, but you need to consider the time spent getting to the (usually) smaller airports outside of town, go through security, wait for the flight, fly, then get transportation to get into the heart of the next city. I think the overnight trains gave us more time to see what we went to see.

[Summertimescallingme]

Thanks for your thoughts. We are taking the overnight train and are excited about the experience.