paris to venice night train/

Hi All-

First off, forgive my lack of knowledge... 3 of us are traveling to Europe for the 1st time. Looking to go from Paris to Venice on June 6th %26amp; want to take a night train (preferably 1st class - private room).

What is the best way to book these tickets to ensure we get reservatoins for a private room? Rail Europe isnt showing the train we want as an option and we havent bought the France-Italy pass yet because I%26#39;m not sure its worth the $ since the rest of our train travel will be in italy %26amp; we hear trenitalia is the way to go in italy. ANY advice/help would be much appreciated!

Thank you :)

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Don%26#39;t book through RailEurope: they charge a substantial fee on top of the ticket price. Check out www.voyages-sncf.com which is the French train operator%26#39;s web site.

The site can be tricky to use. There are hints at www.seat61.com which also has a wealth of information on rail travel in Europe.

A rail pass is almost never worthwhile for travel in Italy. Train travel is cheap there, and a pass does not cover the cost of the seat reservations that are required on all fast trains.

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We did this trip a number of years ago. Be aware that the compartments are very small and that with you and luggage there is little room to move. We ended up not even changing clothes for bed. The beds are bunk style, very clean but up a ladder in the compartment we had. Some compartments have a different configuration.

There is a dining car on the train which we used, but it was pretty ordinary food. I would go prepared for a picnic instead and have it in the compartment. And keep the door locked as there are known to be thefts from luggage on the trains.

The toilet is down the end of the corridor. I did not see a shower. In the compartment there is a basin and tap (and a chamber pot underneath which gave me the giggles)

Once the night sets in you really can%26#39;t see a thing until you stop at stations like Torino. But coming into Venice over the causeway and seeing the soft light on the lagoon was magical.

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Does www.voyages-sncf.com have an English website?

It seems like most of the sites, other than nglish. I am alittle nervous booking when I am not fluent in the language. I also want to book a 3 person sleeper for the Paris-Venice and can%26#39;t seem to find that option- however I may not understand enough to get that far.

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