Train travel across Europe.

[brett]

Definitely recommend renting a car in Sicily. Here is what we did.

-Flew into Catania and bussed directly to Taormina (we had been in Catania before)
-picked up car when we left Taormina.
-Syracuse agritourism (base for Syracuse, Ragusa, etc)
-Agrigento
-Erice
-San Vito de Capo
-Petralia Soprano (tour of Madoni region)
-Cefalu (dropped off car)
-train Milazzo and ferry to Lipari (Aeolian Islands)
-ferry/train to Palermo
-Vueling Air Palermo to Rome.

...and we would go back for another visit!

 

[Nemo2]

...We'll be in Genoa (twice) this Fall, (taking the train from there to Marseille and back, with a possible layover in Nice

Seems the lack of seamless connections between the Italian & French rail lines might be (will be?) a PITA.....so now we're looking at taking iDBUS both ways.

 

[Bamaman]

Getting back to the original posting #1:

We're getting ready to fly to Copenhagen to get on on a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship to Estonia, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and back to Copenhagen. These are all great cities, and the cost of a Baltic cruise cannot be beat.

This is our fourth major trip in just over a year, and we went by train between Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Prague last April. They're all cities not to miss. After traveling on hot, slow trains, we didn't find train travel to be the least bit interesting.

Our preferred method of travel is now budget European air carriers--or fast trains.
And most allow for one carryon bag, so we do travel very light. See RickSteves.com for his travel essentials list.

We used to rent a car and see how far and how many cities we can visit in 2 weeks. High gasoline prices have cured us, and we now prefer to travel slower. We like to go to places that compliment each other--with easy transit between cities. Like London to Paris on the Eurostar (2 hrs. 15 minutes) and later the fast train Paris-Barcelona (6 1/2 hrs.) We like to visit Venice, Florence and Rome--staying 4-5 days on an agriturismo with a rental car.

We tried to go to New Zealand by cruise from Austrailia this year, but it was just too expensive. We figured out how to fly from the U.S. to Europe for half the normal airfare--going Orlando-Copenhagen on Norwegian Air Shuttle.

And if things get too expensive to travel throughout the world, we can always catch an inexpensive cruise out of New Orleans or Florida. We usually take one cruise a year. We've also been touring Canada on our off years, and it's a better value since their currency's been devalued against the U.S.D.

 

[brett]

We have done a fair amount of rail travel in Italy, including the night train from Venice to Naples. With the exception of our limited experience in Sicily, the Italian trains were not only excellent but also well priced.

If you are using Trenitalia, study the timetables and the prices carefully. You can often save a fair amount of money by taking a slightly slower train, or by booking one of the lower priced, quantity limited, tickets. Don't be afraid to use the ticket machines....but easier than standing in a long line up at the ticket counters.

We had planned to take the train from Palermo-Rome last fall. But reality set in when we realized the time requirement and the cost (we had previously spent time in Sorrento, Naples, Amalfi Coast). We decided on a Vueling flight. The flight was only $70. each. Much faster, much cheaper than the train. Regional air fare pricing can sometimes be a bargain, even when the cost of getting to and from airports is taken into consideration.

Yesterday, we booked an early October flight from Crete to Paris-a direct 3 1/2 hour mid day trip on Aegean Air. The cost was 80E each, less than $100 USD. It enables us to spend a few days in Paris on our way home AND gave us the opportunity to book an inexpensive nonstop flight home.

 

[rodi]

We're flying Vueiling from Rome to Catania on this trip... but it's code shared with BA. My understanding is it's kind of like southwest air - no seat assignments, no frills, but good service.

 

[brett]

We had a good experience on Veuling. Plane was clean, on time, very good service, and an unbeatable price.

We flew into Catania last fall from Malta. We found this to be very convenient since our first stop was Taormina. We simply walked outside the air terminal, turned left, and the bus was there. Did the same coming back to Catania to pick up a rental car.


What we find ourselves doing is using regional airlines as a way of cherry picking great one way/open jaw fares to Europe. We found great fares from Toronto, where we are visiting relatives, to Athens and then home direct from Paris to Calgary. The regional airline fare from Crete to Paris us under $100USD. The savings by doing this will pay for our three day weekend in Paris.

 

[audreyh1]

Hit ~199 mph (320 km/hr) today Paris to Strasbourg. It just took a few minutes after leaving the station to get up to the 185+ speeds.

 

[Nemo2]

So....with our 'plans' almost established for this Fall's trip......we're idly discussing next Spring.....we arrive in Barcelona (via the Horizon again) on the morning of Saturday April 09/16.......contemplating walking or 'metroing' to one of the rail stations and buying a ticket on the first slow train that's leaving.......destination (virtually) unknown.

This idea appeals to us.

 

[brett]

A number of years ago when my son and I were 'training' through Italy we met a Seattle couple in the laudromat around the corner from the train station in Florence.

They had both retired, never been to Europe, and decided to do it by rail pass. They also tried out how much to take...they took an Amtrak visit somewhere and then decided that they would do best with a carry on bag each.

In any event, they were on their second 2 month rail pass. They decided where to go next when leaving for the rail station. They had been many places but told us that their trip may even go to a third pass-30 day or 90 day.

I was impressed by their outlook on life and their spontaneity.

 

[Nemo2]

I was impressed by their outlook on life and their spontaneity.

When my wife was still working, (and vacation time was limited), we'd take road trips down to the States with a "Let's turn here" approach.

 

[Bamaman]

Train travel is ok up to 3 hrs. But give me a good Europe budget airline after that. And never would I take a night train again. We're flying Copenhagen to Oslo for $71 9/7. Flying is often so much cheaper.