Darlington - Rome

[dickdarlington]

Now then.

I am thinking of taking my partner to Rome for the Rugby and a bit of romance in 2012. Obviously we could fly, and the fact is we probably will. But I'm interested in a) how long it would take to get to Rome (no sleepers - I'm no longer an eager 20 year old) and b) how much is it likely to cost (cheap is good - I've got Scottish blood) .

I am thinking or Darlington - London - Paris on Day 1.
Paris - Milan/Turin - Rome on Day 2.

Your thoughts please.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Paris-Rome looks doable in one day, but you'll probably be knackered when you arrive, 12 or so hours

 

[First class]

All single rail journeys Darlington-Rome seem to take over 20 hours and all require EuroNight (Sleeper) services.

Easiest involves change at London Kgx and Paris Nord.

Darlington	 We, 27.10.10	 dep	 09:58	  	---	 Zug
Please reserve, SnackPoint/Snacks on board the train
London Kings Cross	 We, 27.10.10	 arr	 12:42	  
London Kings Cross	 We, 27.10.10	 dep	 12:42	  	transfer	 40 min. walking distance and check-in-time
London St. Pancras International	 We, 27.10.10	 arr	 13:22	  
London St. Pancras International	 We, 27.10.10	 dep	 14:04	  	EST 9030	 EUROSTAR
Subject to compulsory reservation, Special ticket or supplement required, Please observe check-in times, Non-smoker train, Bistro Cafe
Paris Nord Eurostar	 We, 27.10.10	 arr	 17:26	  
Paris Nord Eurostar	 We, 27.10.10	 dep	 17:26	  	transfer	 65 min. Continue by public transport
Paris-Bercy	 We, 27.10.10	 arr	 18:31	  
Paris-Bercy	 We, 27.10.10	 dep	 18:52	  	EN 227	 EuroNight
Sleeper and couchette train, Subject to compulsory reservation, Global price, Bordrestaurant, Part of journey with sleeping-car, Part of journey with couchette coach

 

[dickdarlington]

Definately don't want to do sleepers. She's fond of me but there is no way I'll get away with this as a viable option unless we have a stop off in some 'romantic' places en route.

What about. D'ton - London - Paris. Paris - Nice (Monte Carlo maybe). Nice - Rome?

 

[LexyBoy]

Sleeper from Paris to Rome will probably be the cheapest option - if you book a 2-berth sleeper it should be quite pleasant, and there's a nice (if slightly manic, it's run by Italians after all) restaurant car.

Possibly nice alternative:

Day 1: Darlington - London - Paris
Day 2: Paris - Geneva (could possibly be done on day 1, there are direct trains)
Day 3: Geneva - Milan - Rome (great Swiss scenery on the first leg, second part on Italian high-speed Eurostar Italia service).

 

[dickdarlington]

Has potential Lexyboy. Although, hugging the med coast around ventigmilia is also very tempting. What are the prices around it? What about a rail pass. Can people in their 30's still get them? Or would it not be worth it?

 

[A60K]

All single rail journeys Darlington-Rome seem to take over 20 hours and all require EuroNight (Sleeper) services.

You don't have to travel on the sleepers - that's just the timetable system giving you the quickest journey by sleeper. A bit of fiddling around using the two-day window allowed for the journey will give alternative options by day trains. Rome is a long journey though from Darlington, so you would need to be a real fan of rail travel to enjoy it!

The Man in Seat 61 strongly recommends avoiding the Paris to Italy sleepers because of Trenitalia's general incompetence with them.

Darlington - London - Monte Carlo or Nice would be perfectly possible in one day, leaving the short trip to the border and the journey through Italy for the next.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
it?[/QUOTE]
You can get InterRail for over-26s now, but bearing in mind the limited allocation on TGV and some other services you would probably find it easier (and cheaper anyway) to use either Eurostar through fares to Nice, or split in Lille or Paris and use the advance purchase TGV fares (I think they're called Prems) to get to Nice. Italian domestic fares I think are generally more reasonably priced than many European countries so that shouldn't be too bad.

 

[LexyBoy]

I don't think a rail pass wouldn't be worth it for a 'there and back' trip, though I'm sure others are much more knowledgeable than me. You can certainly get one, but it's more expensive than for a youth.

A few years back my ticket was about €80 for a single Florence-Geneva, so I'd guess at around €100 to Rome. This was just the normal fare though, I expect cheaper advance fares are available. Trains within Italy are incredibly cheap (especially the non-high speed services).

Check www.sncf.com for TGV prices from Paris to Nice, Geneva, Milan/Turin etc.

I guess it would also depend on the prices of hotels wherever you stop off. Somewhere like Geneva will have cheap deals in business hotels at the weekend, whilst coastal resort type places would be cheaper in the week.

For train times in general, the DB website is good for international journey planning:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
(use the ">" icon at the left of the journey details to see full itinerary)

 

[shinkansen1966]

How about breaking your journey in Torino (Turin) for the night ?

Day one
06:30 Darlington -> Kings Cross, arr 08:59
10:25 St Pancras -> Paris Nord , arr 13:47
15:25 Paris Lyon -> Torino, arr 20:55

You only need 20 mins to check in at St Pancras. Even if train from Darlington is 40 mins late, you'll be fine.

Only need 25 mins to cross Paris. RER between Nord and Lyon.

Day two
Hourly service by connection or through service between Torino and Roma. Journey time 4h40 to 6 h00 approx.

source www.bahn.de

 

[philjo]

You might want to get the TGV from Paris (Gare de Lyon) to Milan. I think it took about 6-7 hours?
The section of line through the Alps is very pretty (if you can do it in daylight)
you can then get a high speed Italian train from Milan to Rome so either stay overnight in Paris or in Milan depending on the best connections ?

 

[A60K]

Actually, just noticed you're not planning to do this until 2012 - by which time the new Italian operator NTV should be running high speed trains from Turin and Milan to Rome, giving you another option.

It's also quite possible that something else will happen to international routes to Italy to add to the various issues experienced over the last year or two, so best check again nearer the time!

 

[wellhouse]

DB offer very good international fares to/from Germany, both to the UK and elsewhere in Europe. They also have a very friendly and helpful UK office that you can reach by phone or email. I have booked with them to Italy several times, travelling through all the principal Alpine rail routes from France, Switzerland and Austria.

Look at going to Rome via Cologne; a leisurely 1105 departure from Darlington gets you to Cologne at 2015. (You'll get a better fare with the ICE connection from Brussels rather than Thalys, but if you pay more you can get there earlier).

Maybe spend 2 nights in Cologne (hotels to suit all budgets near the station, which is also right on the Rhine), then you can do Cologne-Rome in a day.

Your routeing options from Cologne to Frankfurt are either via the high-speed line or on the traditional line through Koblenz and the spectacularly scenic Rhine Gorge. Either way you then travel through glorious Alpine scenery in Switzerland, with the opportunity to enjoy lunch and dinner (and even breakfast with an early start) in fine restaurant cars. (Romance all the way!) No Restaurants on the TGVs via France.

Via Rhine Gorge
EC 7 Cologne 0853 Zurich 1452 (Restaurant)
EC21 Zurich 1509 Milano 1850 (Restaurant in Switzerland)
ES9533 Milano 1915 Roma 2245 (Restaurant)

Via High Speed to Frankfurt
ICE513 Cologne 0755 Mannheim 0924 (Bistro)
ICE373 Mannheim 0936 Spiez 1331 (Restaurant)
EC57 Spiez 1405 Milano 1640 (Restaurant in Switzerland)
ES9631 Milano 1700 Roma 1959 (Restaurant)

Look at the DB website, and there are more options, although most involve rather more connections.