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Planning a visit to Italy (Rome, Florence,Venice), Paris and Interlaken in 8-9 days

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Hi Community, I am visiting Europe for the first time with my family (2 adults and 2 kids (10,14 yrs) for around 8-9 days. Reaching Rome via flight. 2 days in Rome, 1 day each in Florence and Venice. Than planning to take a train from Venice to Paris and after 2 days in Paris. Train to Interlaken (1.5 days) and back to Rome via train. I need your expert opinion:

 

1. Do you think this itenary with work?

2. Do you think 5-7 days pass will be beneficial. Also does the pass work in local transport (within a city) or just intercity and country.

3. If this doesnot work can you suggest a trip? We will be in Rome on March 25th and will depart back from Rome on April 2nd (Noon).

Appreciate your expert Advice ASAP. Thanks

 

 

Best answer by Sebastian Vetter

Hello,

In theory this would work, but you will have some very long travel days and by the end of the week you will probably have spent as much time on trains as in the cities. So I’d suggest to not go to Paris (it is quite far out of your way and will use up a whole day morning-evening to get to from Venice) and maybe even drop Interlaken.

Just staying in Italy and maybe adding other cities like Pisa, Milano, Bologna or Verona would probably be a better use of your time. You will only travel 2-3 hours on a train to get from one city to another and have the rest of the day for exploring.

As this is just in a month’s time, you need to compare prices on https://www.trenitalia.com/it.html for regular Italian train tickets with the Interrail One-country pass (keep in mind the 13€ reservation fee for high-speed trains with Interrail passes). A global pass will probably not be worth it if you drop Paris (and completely unnecessary if you also drop Interlaken). With Interrail, your youngest one will get a free pass and the 14yo will get the discounted pass, but both will need full fare reservations.

Hope this helps a bit.

The pass does work on local trains, but not on buses, trams or metro.

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  • rvdborgt
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  • 10502 replies
  • February 24, 2025
  1. Make a plan, with a timetable, so you can see how much time the journeys take and if that's realistic. Venice to Paris is a long journey, for example. Use a reliable planner such as bahn.com for timetables.
  2. Once you have a plan, you can count travel days. The passes are valid in trains, not in metro, tram, bus. In and around Paris, they're not valid in the suburban RER trains.
Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
S
Full steam ahead
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Hello,

In theory this would work, but you will have some very long travel days and by the end of the week you will probably have spent as much time on trains as in the cities. So I’d suggest to not go to Paris (it is quite far out of your way and will use up a whole day morning-evening to get to from Venice) and maybe even drop Interlaken.

Just staying in Italy and maybe adding other cities like Pisa, Milano, Bologna or Verona would probably be a better use of your time. You will only travel 2-3 hours on a train to get from one city to another and have the rest of the day for exploring.

As this is just in a month’s time, you need to compare prices on https://www.trenitalia.com/it.html for regular Italian train tickets with the Interrail One-country pass (keep in mind the 13€ reservation fee for high-speed trains with Interrail passes). A global pass will probably not be worth it if you drop Paris (and completely unnecessary if you also drop Interlaken). With Interrail, your youngest one will get a free pass and the 14yo will get the discounted pass, but both will need full fare reservations.

Hope this helps a bit.

The pass does work on local trains, but not on buses, trams or metro.

S
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    SAM1985
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Full steam ahead
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  • thibcabe
  • Full steam ahead
  • 4882 replies
  • February 25, 2025

I do agree that you should drop Switzerland and France. With 8-9 days you can make a good Italy trip rather than spending all the time in transit. Any transfer from city to city takes half a day already.

- Rome 3 days

- Florence 3 days (day trip to Pisa or Siena possible)

- Venice 2-3 days

And it's already over.

With 3 long-distance trains you should compare regular advance tickets (Trenitalia, .italo) vs Trenitalia pass: https://www.trenitalia.com/en/offers/trenitalia-pass.html (3 trips in 7 days for 139€, 10 y.o. free)

Interrail/Eurail is unlikely to make sense for your trip.

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    SAM1985
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  • SAM1985
  • Author
  • Right on track
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  • February 25, 2025

Thank you so much for your response. Kids are excited to see Paris so may be 5 days in Itlay and 3 days in Paris. But from Paris to Rome we can book a flight. What do you suggest? 

 

Also is there any temporary phone sim I can purchase there which has some calling and data facility and could work in both Itlay and Paris? Some budget friendly recommendationss?

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  • thibcabe
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  • February 25, 2025

I mean it's doable but such a shame to miss Florence and Venice. ;)

Yes with that limited amount of time, better to fly.

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    SAM1985
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  • rvdborgt
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  • 10502 replies
  • February 25, 2025
SAM1985 wrote:

Thank you so much for your response. Kids are excited to see Paris so may be 5 days in Itlay and 3 days in Paris. But from Paris to Rome we can book a flight. What do you suggest?

Roma to Paris by train takes about 11 hours with 1 change. Doable in my opinion, but see for yourself.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
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    SAM1985
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Railly clever
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  • AnnaB
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  • February 25, 2025

Be aware that you probably will need some time to adjust for the jet lag so don't plan too much activity the first days. It is normally trickier to travel east than west.

Please note that I don't work for Interrail/Eurail and that I don't reply to personal messages.
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    rvdborgt
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    SAM1985
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  • SAM1985
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  • Right on track
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  • February 26, 2025

Thanks for your response. I would like to know if there are any day pass in Italy and Paris that we can buy to avoid getting charged every time we board a local bus, train or ferry ? Also There are so many things to see in Italy and Paris. Can you please name best places to visit in Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris?

 

Regards,

SAM

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  • rvdborgt
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  • 10502 replies
  • February 26, 2025

In Paris, a day pass is €12:

https://www.ratp.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/one-day-navigo-travel-card

Single tickets are €2.50 for Metro-train-RER, and €2.20 for bus-tram journeys.

Fares depend on city or region, so for Italy you'll need to be more specific.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
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  • SAM1985
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  • Right on track
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  • February 26, 2025

Thanks. This will help

For Italy I will be visiting Rome, Florence and Venice and probably Milan (as transit may be)

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