Rachel_Europe14
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Hi all,
I am new so please be kind!
My husband and I are taking our three children (who will be 9, 9 and 7) to Europe in March/April next year from Australia. We are flying into Rome and out of Paris. The main wants are for us to see Rome (4n), Pompeii (day trip from Rome), Florence (either a stop on way to Venice for quick photos and lunch or 1n), Venice (2n), Grindlewald / Jungfrau train (2n), then Paris. I have been looking at the interactive map and can't figure out the best route. Since our children are quite young we don't want to be on the train for longer than say 3-4 hours per leg (happy to stop at spots for lunch to swap trains and continue on). A must is the Jungfrau train (is this ok to do in late March??) and maybe the Bernina Express if we can find a route that suits and fits in. We were thinking of doing a night train from Switzerland onto Paris but not sure if there are any - maybe from Zurich?? Can anyone help me!
We arrive into Rome on 24 March, and are need to be in Paris by 3 April.
Thanks for your help in advance! :)
Rach :)
JoySeeker
Traveller
77 comments
A little difficult your route...but I'll try my best :D
Rome, Florence and Venice are well connected via High Speed Trains, have a look here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-train-route[/u]
I'd rather spend only three nights in Rome and one in Florence instead though, as it is quite a beautiful city.
If I understood correctly you plan to leave Venice around the 30th of March and still want some time left in Paris. This is quite a tight schedule, especially if you want to fit in both the Jungfrau and the Bernina railways. You will have to choose either one. My suggestion would be to leave out the Jungfrau train and use the time to travel the Bernina route instead, which, especially in the winter, is very scenic.
See here: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u]
and here: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u]
Milan-Zurich via the Bernina and Albula railway is quite a long travel day, so think of adding a stop somewhere in between. For example you could travel Venice-Milan in the morning and then continue to either Alp Grüm or Ospizio Bernina (see links above) to spend the night there. The next day you could either stay in the area or continue your travel. From Ospizio Bernina/Alp Grüm it takes another 4-5 hours to get to Zurich, from where you can continue onwards to Paris.
Unfortunately there is no night train between Switzerland and Paris. Best is to use the direct TGV Zurich-Paris which only takes 4 hours.
By taking this route you should still have enough time left to explore Paris, as you'll probably get there by the 1st or 2nd of April, depending on your schedule.
If you want to stick to the Jungfrau Railway, it'll need a full travel day to get there from Venice. Travel via Milan-Brig-Spiez-Interlaken Ost and from there to Grindelwald. You can always add a stop in between, of course.
For the Grindelwald-Paris part, it takes another 6 hours, but is quite a convenient connection. You'll only have to change trains in Interlaken Ost and Basel SBB.
I still recommend the Bernina route, though :)
Greets,
JoySeeker