completely confused about trains in Italy and France
I am trying to figure out the best way to travel from Cinque Terre, to Alba (where I need a car apparently)to Paris via Champagne.
I had thought to pick up a car in Genoa, drive to Alba, then drive to Paris via Burgundy and Epernay and drop the car off at Paris. However a EUR300 one way fee with the car hire is a bit much.
I have tried looking at www.trenitalia.it but find it very confusing (and the same with www.bahn.de) when I am trying to work out train routes.
Q1. Does anyone know a site that shows a map of the train routes rather than having to put in a destination
Q2. Any suggestions on how to make this work?
Thanks very much
Vanessa
Melbourne 7/28/08
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Unfortunately, your brain has to hurt a bit before you figure out the train sites. Yes, you do have to put in a destination to see anything. It's not that hard. Genoa to Alba is a 2.5hr train journey that is mostly on a local R train. There is a train change at Asti. Fare is about 8Euro.
CLICK HERE to see a sample of the train runs. Click on NEXT for later trains. To see the stops, click on "detail" and when that comes up, click on the train number link. All stops will appear. No maps here. However, www.bahn.de will show you a route map but again, you have to put in some nice information first like From: and To: and then your age on the next page that comes up. The next screen should be the train schedule. Look slightly above the train schedule and you will see a link to maps.
If you both pick up and drop off your car in France, there should be no drop-off fee. You could take the train from Alba to Chambery or Lyon and pick up a car there. See www.autoeurope.com.
If you would like a general rail map of Europe, use the official Eurail one (PDF). Increase the zoom to 125%.
Hi Vanessa,
if you go to the Deutsche Bahn website (for international guests, it's in english) you can put in the route you want. So you have to have an idea of the direction you would like to head. Once you have a route you can click on the map above that particular train and it maps it out for you.
I use this to look at the surrounding area for potential side trips if I know I'm generally going from Strasbourg France to Bacharach Germany. then I can make a stop at that place before moving on.
hope that helps
Many travelers have trouble planning a RR trip on the net. I would wait until I get there and go to the RR station and talk with a clerk about my trip. He will help you and simplify your schedule. He can even print a computer itinerary for you showing the train numbers, departure times, arrival times and places where you change trains.