I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this question, but here goes: Let's say next October I'm in Paris and I want to take a train to Italy. Which are the best trains/most scenic routes from Paris to Venice or Rome? If you were making the journey, which trains/routes would you take and why? Which websites do you recommend for an American railfan/traveller in France/Italy? Thanks in advance to all who care to give their advice.
I can't say what route to take, as I've never gone from Paris to Italy by train. I can give this advice... A great site to just trawl through for information is http://www.railfaneurope.net/.
Also, buy George Drury's books. They are a great help. www.georgedrury.com
If you are a hardcore need to know the builder and model number of everything you see railfan, like myself, I would buy some spotter's guides from http://www.transportdiversions.com/ for every country you plan on visiting. The France books for the RER and the Metro are amazinging!
Lastly - as to France. If you like freight, spend some time in Villeneuve Saint-Georges. If you ride to the RER station there, then walk back north, there is a pedestrian bridge across the tracks. From there, I saw a freight train about every ten minutes. I was thrown out of the station itself as train photography is illegal in France (I was told) without permission.
With the internet, you should try to get permission from the SNCF. I was not able to get anyone to respond when I trie.d
Another great suburban station for pictures (this one more for passenger) is Villeneuve Saint-Dennis.
I have been told that in Italy you can take pictures of trains without restriction.
Your options are endless. October weather may be cloudy and rainy in the Alps. Matter of fact central european weather is not always charming in Autumn. With this in mind I offer you the following routings:
Paris (Gare-de-Lyon) to Geneve on a TGV. At Geneve, Switzerland change to Euro City traveling thru Rhone Valley of Switzerland to Milan via Simplon Tunnel. Then to Rome, Florence or Venice.
On the return I sugest Rome Pisa-Genoa-Marseille. Then Marseille - Paris via TGV. The coastal route north of Pisa is spectacular ! Weather should be great.
Another option is to return north from Venice via Innsbruck - Munich - Strasbourg - Paris. This is much longer routing but you must decide how to spend your time. The Brenner Pass and trackage in Austria / Germany is interesting.
Buy a Rail /Flex Pass and travel light. Enjoy!
Tom
I've been kicked out of three places (VSG, Austerlitz and Juan Les Pins)... and been told the exact same thing by all three guys, "you have to get permission from SNCF." That's not to say that they weren't all three of them being jerks, but it was a common thread. (Of course, I have been told the same thing by police here, where I've known they were wrong, and was able to tell them so and follow up with their supervisors. In another country, it's not so easy. That being said - for the three places I was stoopped, I took pictures at another 30 in France where no one cared.)
Next time I go to France, I'm still going to try and get permission... just to have it.
I'm Assuming you are traveling with one other person:
What ever train you take, My advice is ride First Class on the city to city trips, This guarantees seating, it also made the A/C more likely to work in Italy, but in October that won't be an issue. You need to do these 1st class upgrades on some Italian trains with your railpass at the station. and pay say $35 extra for 1st Class and seat reservation. The TGVs are usually booked ahead as first/second class when you buy at Raileurope.
We took an overnight train from Florence to Dijon France it terminiates in Paris, but we booked it to Dijon to ride the TGV. Even with the hour+ layover in Dijon, we only arrived 20 minutes behind the overnight train, The TGV is FAST. The overnight train runs every night back and forth but at night there is not much scenery to speak of and I was tired so I slept, saved the expense of the hotel that night. Food was ok, French cuisine going to France, itialian going to Italy. Sleeping car for 2 was comfortable enough, no toilet its common down the corridor. 1 Attendant per coach. If you book a 6 berth car (cheaper) you can end up with people you don't know in your compartment.
During my 2 weeks in Italy, Italian Rail officals only checked tix 50% of the trips I took, so my railpass still had a day left on it when I returned and my wife and I rode free 2 extra days. The local commuter runs were the ones that didn't check like Naples to Pompeii, and around Rome. City to city (Rome to Florence, Naples to Rome etc.) were always checked. Subways use euros like tokens and you need to pay to access them *sometimes*.
As stated before Travel Lite, we did not and bags are tough to wrestle through turnstyles and stairs. Also mix your luggage with your travelmate, even if just bag is not lost, you still both have xtra clothes. Our inbound flight lost all 3 bags; 1 showed up 2 days later in Positano, the latter 2 took 2 more days and showed up as we were leaving Positano. whew. Fortunately, not having the bags was a blessing since the Taxi service was on strike the entire time we were there, so we figured things out with no luggage to carry during our most non rail traveling portion of our trip.
Lastly, I had no issues taking photos in any country, I shot movies as well and filmed an entire coupling operation for an autotrain. I guess I look trustworthy :<)
Good Luck!