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Paris to Florence

  • 1 January 2024
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My wife and I will be travelling on March 31st, Easter Sunday, from Paris to Florence. We are hoping to get to Florence in the early to mid evening. Currently the routing is showing a need to change stations in Milan (from Centrale to Rogoredo) even though there are a number of trains that leave for Florence from Centrale. Is this a mistake or is such a change in station an actual requirement? Thank you in advance for any clarification.

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Best answer by thibcabe 2 January 2024, 20:42

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Let me have a look but there are definitely trains from Milano Centrale to Florence. Also some others from Turin to Florence skipping Centrale and stopping at Porta Garibaldi and Rogoredo.

I'll post an itinerary here :

- TGV Paris Gare de Lyon - Lausanne 07:56 - 11:52 29€ reservation

- IR90 Lausanne - Brig 12:21 - 14:02 or 12:50 - 14:32

- EC Brig - Milano Centrale 14:44 - 16:40 13€

- FR Milano Centrale - Firenze S.M.N. (Florence) 17:10 - 19:04 13€

Also possible to travel via Strasbourg/Basel to save on reservation costs :

- TGV Paris Gare de Lyon - Strasbourg 08:05 - 10:06 10€ limited fare, then 20€ (booking not yet open)

- TER Strasbourg - Basel SBB 10:51 - 12:08

- EC Basel SBB - Milano Centrale 12:28 - 16:40 13€

- FR Milano Centrale - Florence 17:20 - 19:04 13€

Questions welcome.

My wife and I will be travelling on March 31st, Easter Sunday, from Paris to Florence. We are hoping to get to Florence in the early to mid evening. Currently the routing is showing a need to change stations in Milan (from Centrale to Rogoredo) even though there are a number of trains that leave for Florence from Centrale. Is this a mistake or is such a change in station an actual requirement? Thank you in advance for any clarification.

 

The direct line from Paris to Milano is blocked by a landslide until (expected) summer of 2024. 

So you need to take another route than the direct one (e.g. 7.56 from Paris via Lausanne - Brig - Milano; arrives 19.04).

No need to change stations in Milano. But it would be interesting on which concrete route you had a look at.

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I updated my post if you wish to have a second look. Looks like there are less morning trains due to it being a Sunday/holiday.

It will be first a high-speed journey through the French countryside and then a nice scenic journey through the Alps :)

Thank you for the responses. I rerouted via Lausanne and it gets us to Milan but still requires a transfer from Centrale to Rogoredo. Again, it does not seem to make a whole lost of sense given the number of departures for Florence from Centrale. Maybe being ninety days out has some bearing on it. We appreciate your input.

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Yeah Rail Planner doesn't always offer the best connections. I'd suggest using DB Navigator app (German railways) or SBB app (Swiss railways).

The TGV to Strasbourg will be open on 24th January (SNCF release trains by batches).

The TGV to Lausanne is as good but it's more expensive. Depending on where your Paris accommodation is, you might prefer to start in Gare de Lyon or Gare de l'Est.

If you wish to save booking fees have a look at https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

Enjoy the trip and feel free to ask further questions!

You should provide a concrete timetable and where you try to book. 

But the train that does arrive at 19.04 mentioned before does also stop at Milano Rogoredo (coming from Milano Centrale). Maybe that's causing the wrong transfer. 

Italian trains are already bookable.

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You should provide a concrete timetable and where you try to book. 

But the train that does arrive at 19.04 mentioned before does also stop at Milano Rogoredo (coming from Milano Centrale).

If you enter Basel/Lausanne/Brig - Florence on Rail Planner it offers the 17:04 Frecciarossa out of Rogoredo (18:50 arrival) while there's the way more convenient 17:10 Frecciarossa out of Centrale (19:04 arrival), also stopping at Rogoredo.

This is due to Rail Planner but idk if we could qualify it as a bug. A 20 min connection to Rogoredo is not long enough for sure in any case.

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If you enter Basel/Lausanne/Brig - Florence on Rail Planner it offers the 17:04 Frecciarossa out of Rogoredo (18:50 arrival) while there's the way more convenient 17:10 Frecciarossa out of Centrale (19:04 arrival), also stopping at Rogoredo.

This is due to Rail Planner but idk if we could qualify it as a bug. A 20 min connection to Rogoredo is not long enough for sure in any case.

Looks like a bug indeed. The DB planner doesn't propose this so I suppose this 20-minute connection is not in the MERITS data but rather a rail planner app bug. @Camilo. @Mukhammad could you please have this corrected?

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If you enter Basel/Lausanne/Brig - Florence on Rail Planner it offers the 17:04 Frecciarossa out of Rogoredo (18:50 arrival) while there's the way more convenient 17:10 Frecciarossa out of Centrale (19:04 arrival), also stopping at Rogoredo.

This is due to Rail Planner but idk if we could qualify it as a bug. A 20 min connection to Rogoredo is not long enough for sure in any case.

Looks like a bug indeed. The DB planner doesn't propose this so I suppose this 20-minute connection is not in the MERITS data but rather a rail planner app bug. @Camilo. @Mukhammad could you please have this corrected?

Hi @rvdborgt, thanks for reporting to us the incorrect duration on the connection. This issue has already been reported by one of our staff a couple months ago.

It seems that the issue, including the incorrect transfer time on the other stations in Milan, is uploaded to Merits by the railway company. I will give an update if there is a progress on this case.

I am using the planner on the Eurail site. Still trying to get from Paris to Florence on March 31st. I have followed the advice provided and made several different attempts (Paris to Milan Centrale via Lausanne, Paris to Milan Centrale by way of Strasbourg and Paris to Milan going through Germany). In order to avoid the issue of Rogoredo vs Centrale, I will just book a separate ticket from Centrale to Florence. The problem is getting from Paris to either Lausanne or Strasbourg as they both have an icon that states no results and may be sold out. The Strasbourg route had the added issue of Basel to Brig as not being available to book using Eurail. The German connection seems to be ok unless there is some issue I have yet to find. Thank you for your input.

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Do not buy a separate ticket for Milan - Florence!

I log one train at a time and it works better.

You're too early to book domestic French trains. Bookings open on 24th January. Eurail has a 90 days policy on their website but actually cross-border TGVs are already on sale. Either call SNCF or just wait a month, these trains won't sell out so far in advance.

Reservations on domestic Swiss trains are unnecessary, nobody makes them and it's a waste of money. Hop on and sit wherever you want, there are plenty of seats. As a tip : go to the front/rear end to find more seats. :)

For the EC to Italy you may use ÖBB (Austrian Railways) to book in order to save fees. Have a look at https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

Questions welcome.

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