Train help needed--Rome to ????

[CathyCruises]

So we are now looking at Plan B: instead of Amalfi Coast, taking the train into France. I prefer to book directly with the train company, i.e. Trenitalia, SNCF, etc., but it finds 'no solutions' and takes me to RailEurope, which I assume is a 3rd party and is going to cost me more.

 

Basically we are trying to take a train into southeast France so we can rent a car there and not have to pay horrific drop fees. The pricing I get is totally bizarre--I won't go into details but it's completely illogical.

 

Right now, the best I have seen is the fast train to Milano Centrale, which I can get for 78 euros for the two of us, booked on Trenitalia. Then looking on RailEurope, I can get a train to Geneva for $110 each and arrive at 4 PM. If I try to do the whole thing on RailEurope, it only gives me one option, arriving at 9:18PM!

 

What am I missing and where should I be looking? (BTW I found a train all the way to Paris for $156 each, but we really want to car-tour and don't want to go to Paris until we are ready to fly home.) Any suggestions appreciated!!

 

Cathy

[-Lew-]

Cathy...

 

Try the TGV Europe site to get an idea of what is available. Where is asks for country, don't enter USA or Canada or it will send you to the RailEurope site. I entered Ireland.

 

Tickets purchased on TGV Europe are delivered by email, so it really makes no difference which country you enter. In 2010, I purchased tickets on this site for a trip from Avignon to Paris and had no issues at all.

 

Another great site for rail travel in Europe is The Man in Seat Sixty-One.

 

Lew

[Twickenham]

So we are now looking at Plan B: instead of Amalfi Coast, taking the train into France. I prefer to book directly with the train company, i.e. Trenitalia, SNCF, etc., but it finds 'no solutions' and takes me to RailEurope, which I assume is a 3rd party and is going to cost me more.

 

Basically we are trying to take a train into southeast France so we can rent a car there and not have to pay horrific drop fees. The pricing I get is totally bizarre--I won't go into details but it's completely illogical.

 

Right now, the best I have seen is the fast train to Milano Centrale, which I can get for 78 euros for the two of us, booked on Trenitalia. Then looking on RailEurope, I can get a train to Geneva for $110 each and arrive at 4 PM. If I try to do the whole thing on RailEurope, it only gives me one option, arriving at 9:18PM!

 

What am I missing and where should I be looking? (BTW I found a train all the way to Paris for $156 each, but we really want to car-tour and don't want to go to Paris until we are ready to fly home.) Any suggestions appreciated!!

 

Cathy

 

Agree with previous poster, use the TGV site. You should be able to find better pricing than what you posted. For instance, you can get a TGV from Milan to Paris for as little as 35 euros/person some days.

 

If you want to go to Nice, my searching shows that most trains seem to go thru Ventimiglia, so try searching for trains to there and from there to Nice.

 

Interestingly, when searching schedules and routing for multi-country itineraries, I usually use, believe it or not, Germany's rail site: bahn.com. It won't let you purchase tickets that don't involve going thru Germany, but it will give you the itinerary and indicate which company/train it's on, so you can go to the individual company's websites for purchase.

[CathyCruises]

Thanks for the suggestions! I think the idea about not putting USA on the TGV site will help--that was frustrating me!!

 

We have been through Ventimiglia before when we were headed to Nice. We are thinking this time that we'd like to go to eastern France, like Lyon, since it's a part of the country we haven't been to yet. But it seemed easier to get to Geneva for starters, at least via the websites I was checking. Back to the drawing board!

[Twickenham]

Thanks for the suggestions! I think the idea about not putting USA on the TGV site will help--that was frustrating me!!

 

We have been through Ventimiglia before when we were headed to Nice. We are thinking this time that we'd like to go to eastern France, like Lyon, since it's a part of the country we haven't been to yet. But it seemed easier to get to Geneva for starters, at least via the websites I was checking. Back to the drawing board!

 

You can get the TGV from Milan direct to Lyon-Saint Exupery. Should be able to find the cheaper tickets in the 30-40 euro range.

 

And if you want to see the complete TGV journey from Paris to Milan, be sure to check out this video:

 

ETA: One thing to note: the TGV leaves from Milan Porta Garibaldi, not Milan Centrale, so make sure you get a train to that station, or allow time for the transfer.

[CathyCruises]

You can get the TGV from Milan direct to Lyon-Saint Exupery. Should be able to find the cheaper tickets in the 30-40 euro range.

 

And if you want to see the complete TGV journey from Paris to Milan, be sure to check out this video:

 

ETA: One thing to note: the TGV leaves from Milan Porta Garibaldi, not Milan Centrale, so make sure you get a train to that station, or allow time for the transfer.

 

So on TGV Milan to Lyon was 195E for two unless we wanted to travel in the middle of the night. Pus 78E to go from Rome to Milan. Can't find anything as low as you quoted :o. And thanks for the additional note!! I will have to be careful about that! Would we take a taxi to transfer stations?

 

I am also going to check going via Torino Okay, MUCH cheaper to go through Torino; fewer trains and worse times, but cheaper. This is quite an exercise!

[Twickenham]

So on TGV Milan to Lyon was 195E for two unless we wanted to travel in the middle of the night. Pus 78E to go from Rome to Milan. Can't find anything as low as you quoted :o. And thanks for the additional note!! I will have to be careful about that! Would we take a taxi to transfer stations?

 

I am also going to check going via Torino.

 

What are your exact dates? From your post history, I'm assuming this is coming off your Silhouette TA... On April 29, I'm finding prices from Rome-Milan for 49 euros/person (and if you can make the 10:05 train, it goes straight to Garibaldi), and I'm getting 35 euros for the TGV leaving Milan at 4:10, arriving in Lyon at 9:25 pm. Next day is a bit more expensive for the TGV at 47 euros, but 1st class is only 55 euros, so would be tempted to upgrade.

 

Torino is a good option - was there last fall, so can give more specific info.

[Hlitner]

Cathy, It is all a conspiracy to get us North Americans to book on the pricier RailEurope site. We have heard of several solutions but not sure what really works. Personally, we just wait until we are in Europe to book trains and seldom have a problem getting on the train of our choice. And we totally understand your rental car problem. We have also run into this multiple times and actually have done the opposite of your strategy. We rented a car in Italy and wanted to drop it in France but the price was ridiculous. In the end we decided to just drive back into Italy and drop the car in Milan. But we could certainly see ourselves in the same situation as you and take the train to France to rent a car in Menton or Nice.

 

Hank

[CathyCruises]

Well, we do want to spend a few days in Rome, so I have been looking at 5/2 for departure. Interestingly, the TGV site would not give me Ireland as a choice but it gave me "Switzerland" as an English choice; I put country of pickup as Antarctica based on a tip I got here once! I looked at traveling on May 1, the holiday, but there was no difference price-wise.

 

Hank, this is what we had to do one time: we had a friend's house in San Gimignano for a month, but it was very last-minute, we wanted to also travel in France, and we were going to be gone for two months. Some wonderful CC soul gave me a tip about leasing a car from Renault, which was a great idea. BUT. we already had plane tickets into Pisa, and could only pick the car up in Nice 5 days later.

 

So we stayed in Pisa for a day or two, then went to Florence for three days, then went to Milan overnight, THEN took the train to Nice, got the car, spent the night, and drove back to Pisa, where we had left our baggage and just traveled with backpacks, THEN went to San Gimignano!!! Crazy--but we had such a great time.

 

We finally turned the car back in in Paris with almost 8000 km on it! I have such great memories of our road trips--that's why I am thinking we should do it again. The really crazy part is that we leave for our TA two weeks from Wednesday and are just now trying to figure out when and how to come home. Thank goodness for Choice Air!

[Twickenham]

Well, we do want to spend a few days in Rome, so I have been looking at 5/2 for departure. Interestingly, the TGV site would not give me Ireland as a choice but it gave me "Switzerland" as an English choice; I put country of pickup as Antarctica based on a tip I got here once! I looked at traveling on May 1, the holiday, but there was no difference price-wise.

 

I've been using France, but really you should be putting in Italy, as that will be the country where you pick up the tickets. It won't change the language of the site.

 

For May 2nd I'm finding 49 euros for Rome - Milan or Torino (my preference), and 40 euros for TGV to Lyon.

 

Some wonderful CC soul gave me a tip about leasing a car from Renault, which was a great idea.

 

Did the same type of thing years ago with family, but was a Citroen. Drove all around Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Brilliant trip!

[CathyCruises]

For May 2nd I'm finding 49 euros for Rome - Milan or Torino (my preference), and 40 euros for TGV to Lyon.

 

 

 

Did the same type of thing years ago with family, but was a Citroen. Drove all around Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Brilliant trip!

 

I found 78 euros for two to either Milan or Torino using Trenitalia! But not seeing the 40 euros to Lyon! And only a 10 AM, which we can't make, or a 5PM, which would put us into Lyon on the late side but would work.

 

I have been to Germany briefly, and I spent a summer in Switzerland at 16, but really need to plan a trip based there. It's just that these danged cruises are so cheap--we can't resist!!! Then that blows our vacation budget--but we have so much fun!

[CathyCruises]

For May 2nd I'm finding 49 euros for Rome - Milan or Torino (my preference), and 40 euros for TGV to Lyon.

 

 

 

quote]

 

So I just checked the TGV website again--the cheapest I can find from Milan is 115 to 208 euros for two--where are you seeing 40?? The 115E gets us in at 22:41. . .

[Twickenham]

I found 78 euros for two to either Milan or Torino using Trenitalia! But not seeing the 40 euros to Lyon! And only a 10 AM, which we can't make, or a 5PM, which would put us into Lyon on the late side but would work.

 

I have been to Germany briefly, and I spent a summer in Switzerland at 16, but really need to plan a trip based there. It's just that these danged cruises are so cheap--we can't resist!!! Then that blows our vacation budget--but we have so much fun!

 

Make sure you're selecting Lyon Saint Exupery Airport - TGV station as your destination.

This is what I'm getting:

Am planning a European trip for next summer, and hoping to be able to go back to the Alps - it's been waay too long. That little taste we got far off in the distance in Torino really wet my appetite...

[CathyCruises]

That was it! How weird--I was just putting in Lyon (all stations)! But thanks a million!!! You have been a huge help!

 

So how does this work if I buy online? Will they send me a voucher?

 

Also, would the station in Lyon be the place to rent a car? I would guess arriving at 22:41 that we would just get a hotel near the station for the night and get a car in the morning or even the next morning, since the idea is to actually see some of Lyon!

 

Again, thanks!

[Twickenham]

That was it! How weird--I was just putting in Lyon (all stations)! But thanks a million!!! You have been a huge help!

 

So how does this work if I buy online? Will they send me a voucher?

 

Also, would the station in Lyon be the place to rent a car? I would guess arriving at 22:41 that we would just get a hotel near the station for the night and get a car in the morning or even the next morning, since the idea is to actually see some of Lyon!

 

Again, thanks!

 

Glad you were finally able to get it!

 

I have no personal experience with this station, but it appears to be at the airport, so I would assume there would be car rental desks there. I'd probably stay near there for the night and pick up the car the next day, or alternatively stay overnight in Torino and travel on the morning train, so you go thru the Alps in the daylight.

[CathyCruises]

Glad you were finally able to get it!

 

I have no personal experience with this station, but it appears to be at the airport, so I would assume there would be car rental desks there. I'd probably stay near there for the night and pick up the car the next day, or alternatively stay overnight in Torino and travel on the morning train, so you go thru the Alps in the daylight.

 

Ooh, that's a thought! A few years ago we went from Venice to Zurich on the train, which was a beautiful ride. I wanted to show DH the little village where I was an au pair back in the day. So we stayed in Zurich overnight, then rented a car at the airport there and motored down to the French side. The village was as beautiful as I remembered it 40+ years ago--and unchanged!

[CathyCruises]

Picture didn't post!

[CathyCruises]

Okay so we finally made the decision to go to Lyon; bought our tickets from Rome to Torino, my card was rejected but Eric's was accepted. Then went to the TGV website, both cards were rejected. Any hints???

[CathyCruises]

Well, after hours of frustration, I finally figured out the problem. I put my country as Switzerland on the TGV site so it wouldn't take me to RailEurope, but would still let me read the site in English as opposed to muddling through in French. After trying every one of our cards and even my son's Amex, it suddenly dawned on me that could be the issue.

 

So I identified myself as American and went to the RailEurope site and let it charge me the $7.95 service fee and got the tickets. It said there were only 8 tickets left at the discounted price, so I'm sure it would have cost a lot more than $7.95 to go to the next price tier.

 

I don't like using 3rd parties but in this case I had to and it saved me any more frustration!