London to Pisa or Florence, Italy in August

UPDATE: The Thello overnight sleeper service now runs from Paris direct to Florence. For up to date information see the Trains to Florence page.

Trains to Florence page

The Hi Robert,

There are two ways straightforward ways of getting to Florence. Both involve a change at Paris:

By sleeper train:

Catch a Eurostar train from London to Paris, arriving in Paris Gare du Nord. Transfer to Paris Lyon (for more information read our post on transferring between stations in Paris) and take the Thello sleeper which stops at Milan, Verona and Venice as its final destination departing 7.45pm. From Milan, Florence is another 1hr 45mins and from Venice about 2hr10mins. The sleeper train arrives in to Milan at 05.38am so it is quicker this way but it depends if you want to detour via Venice (arriving 09.34am) [_edit: a direct train from Paris to Florence is now available to book, read our post on taking the Thello night train to Florence Rome or Venice here_]

Day train: Stay overnight in Paris and take the TGV from Paris to Milan the next day. Departing at 07.49am Paris Lyon you'll be in Milan at 2.45pm. From Milan there are connecting trains from Milan to Florence, the first leaving 3.20pm.

The booking horizon for Eurostar is about 4 months so booking for the London to Paris leg are from about £27.50 one way for a childs fare and £39.50 for an adult:

London to Paris train fares

The booking for onward journeys opens 92 days ahead, so you'll be able to book from early next month. The TGV is cheapest (from about £40.50 one way for an adult) but the cheaper tickets do sell quickly. The sleeper is most time economical but more expensive, but also saves a night in a hotel. You will probably want a 3 berth sleeper, since although 6 berth is cheaper, it has less privacy. You're looking at about £83 one way for an adult 3 bed sleeper.

Inside a 3 bed sleeper

There are also plans to introduce a Thello sleeper direct from Paris to Florence in around mid July, but we don't have any further information on that yet [_edit: this train is now available to book, read our post on taking the Thello night train to Florence Rome or Venice here_]. Finally, you can get to Pisa from Florence in about an hour. It's a regional train so no need to book in advance, it's the same price on the day. Hope that helps!

Hi Robert,

You're more likely to get the cheapest Eurostar ticket by searching 120 days in advance, whereas the TGV is unlikely to be available further than 92 days in advance. You can buy them separately as they become available, however considering the cheapest tier Eurostar tickets are almost always available 3 months before as well, we would advise booking in one go as then you can ensure enough transfer time - we will automatically give you trains that allow enough time for a change whether that's a platform or station transfer .

Both are available as print at home tickets so you don't have to pay for postage twice if you're keen to save cash. There's more information about getting print at home tickets in this blog post.

Hi Robert, Yes, sad to say these routes sell out quickly. And yield management doesn't make things any easier. Give us a shout if we can help with anything, but my advice - get in there now!

Thanks Kate

Robert

Hi Anila

I think I have got an answer from my station even though I can't buy the ticket yet. Meanwhile, the prices for TGV and Eurostar have gone up. I'm losing it.

Hi Robert,

Hope you managed to find them. Whereabouts exactly will you be travelling from?

Hi Anila

Thanks very much for your really useful reply. If I can get those prices, it looks competitive with flying. Last time I looked on Rail Europe (using dates earlier than I want to travel), the cost was almost double that of flying.

Is it cheaper to book Eurostar and TGV at the same time rather than booking them separately?

Robert

Hi Robert,

Just a quick update, today the booking horizon for TGV has been extended over the summer and is longer than usual meaning from today, you can book for dates in August. When I checked this morning, Paris to Milan was around £23pp.

There's more information in this blog: extended summer holiday bookings with TGV

Hope that helps!

Hi Anila

Thanks very much for both of your posts. It is looking promising. Ironically, the main stumbling block I have to get over now is the leg of our journey from Yorkshire to London. I can only book up to 30 June at the moment and the return leg for an equivalent day in June is looking like £300 each one way. This cannot be right so I am going to pay a visit to our local station tomorrow.

Robert