How much would a train between Paris and Rome cost?

London, Paris, Rome on a budget?

• Hello, I would like to travel to London, take the train to Paris, and go to Milan, Florence, and Rome on 4/25 to May 31st, the flight from Seattle to London and from Rome back to Seattle is about 1000$ . We are traveling in a party of 2 and each have a budget of $3200 USD after tax. The overhead cost are $1000 flight $ 180 insurance $ 450 train pass for euro select (or is there a cheaper way?) that leave us about 2600$ USD each, for 38 days. Is there a reasonable way to do all the places with that budget? if so , how? Thanks.

• Answer:

  You have cut the budget extremely close. It will only work if you plan to travel as backpacker and sleep in dorms of youth hostels instead of booking hotels. Become a member of Hostelling International USA http://hiusa.org/ .. and check for cheap accommodation here. http://www.hihostels.com/ .. I don't comment on the flight costs thinking that you already have researched them properly. For travel insurance you could probably get a cheaper offer. AXA offers European health cover which complies with the Schengen requirements and is also valid in the UK for €82 [~$108]. http://www.axa-schengen.com/ .. For train travel I recommend not to use a pass since they are a ripoff and they are in general sold to people who do not want to go through the hassle of doing online bookings with different train companies. Furthermore you will need to pay a supplement for all those trains which require compulsory reservation. For the Eurostar from London to Paris you only get a reduction as Eurail pass holder, however this reduction is only based on the full flexible fare. I recommend to book the individual non-flexible trains tickets well in advance [up to 3 months] on the websites of the individual train companies and stick to your booked travels to save money. In Italy you can also save additional money by not using the EuroStar highspeed trains but using the InterCity trains which have more intermediate stops but which are much cheaper. A ticket from London to Paris booked on the Eurostar website is £39 [~$62] whereas the French train company SNCF offers the same tickets for €42.50 [~$56]. http://www.eurostar.com .. http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ .. Detailed information how to book tickets on the French website can be found here: http://www.seat61.com/France-trains.htm#How to use voyages-sncf.com .. Tickets for the TGV train which departs from Paris Gare d'Lyon at 2:41p and reaches Milan at 9:45p can be booked online to start from €35 [~$46]. If you use the InterCity train from Milan to Florence departing at 10:45a and arriving at 2:20p you can buy tickets for €29.50 [~$39] instead for €53 [~$70] on the EuroStar which just takes 2 hours. If you use the InterCity train from Florence to Rome departing at 10:24a and arriving at 1:24p you can buy tickets for €30 [~$39] instead for €45 [~$59] on the EuroStar which just takes 1.5 hours. http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=453d123b41b9a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD .. Once you add the figures you can see that you can accomplish the travel for about $180 instead of the $450 you have budgeted. Another ripoff are the often offered tourist-passes for public transport. In Paris for example the "Paris Visite" card for 5 days covering zones 1-3 costs €31.15. A one week pass however is issued for €24.85; the one-week pass for zones 1-2 which mostly suits the requirements of tourists just costs €19.15. This information however is only available in French ;-) http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_21137/forfaits-navigo-mois-et-semaine/ ..