Our son has just accepted a position in Tunis, and my wife and I thought it might be fun to visit him sometime next year .... Is it possible and/or practical for us to go from the London area to Palermo by train? We would prefer sleeper or first-class, but understand that accomodations into Palermo may be via a goods car. This concept assumes that ferry service to Tunis departs from Palermo. However, if there is ferry service from Rome or Naples to Tunis, that might be preferable, especially if London/Rome or London/Naples rail service is more convenient and comfortable ... ? Please note that I did NOT mention Air Travel .... ! Also, we have not addressed non-air travel between the States and the UK .... [ 01. October 2002, 01:16: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
Sounds good! Certainly possible, but it's a long way, I had a quick look at http://www.raileurope.com/us/ and did a search (under "fares & schedules") for London to Naples, it suggested the Eurostar to Paris (3hrs or under), a crosstown transfer, then possibly an overnight (sleeper) train to Rome, (15 hours journey on a direct train) and then a Eurostar Italia connection to Naples 1h 45mins (their database didn't have Palermo, so I couldn't try to there!) That would give you two high speed trains and a sleeper service, not bad, and under 24 hours travel if you can get connections that work. Some version of first class should be available on just about every long distance european train. Another way around that would be to overnight in Paris & Rome, which would give you a part day (or more if you wanted) to explore those cities and see the journey across Europe in daylight, but then it is a very long journey, so sleeping through some of it might be regarded an advantage! I'd be happy being on a train all day, but my wife Rachel would be less thrilled about it, YMMV however! Fair enough, it can be done without much hassle by rail, it's a long journey though so it will be slower than air. I'm still digging that tunnel....give me a couple of years! [ 01. October 2002, 15:13: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
Martyn, thanks very much for the advice and especially the Rail Europe site, it should come in very handy. I guess we can wait 3-4 years for you to finish your rail tunnel between Nova Scotia and the Irish coast. I understand you might be considering starting with the tunnel that goes east from Sidney, NS about 12 miles under the Atlantic. You may want to modify it a bit .... it's a coal mine that was abandoned about 25 years ago .... [ 01. October 2002, 21:29: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
I suggest to you http://www.trenitalia.com. It's the official italian railway web site. There is the possibility to read the web site in English language. You will find the trains that travel from Naples to Palermo and tou would give the trains in sleeper service. The travel is under the 9 hours.
