RailPlus in Australia. Dont use

[max44]

Just as feedback,
I have been trying to book two tickets from Rome to SJPDP for over a week. I have been using the Eurorail website and have had the same message 5 times saying I cant book because I havnt declared the sex of the second passenger. All I can do is fill out the on-line form.
Someone sugested I try railPlus in Australia. Worst company I have ever dealt with in the world(And I have a huge amount of patience )
I am looking at flights now as the rail seems to be such a pain.
Ryan air goes from Rome to Bayonne however, the baggage is more than the seats. I only have less than 10Kg but a backpack is bigger than the carry on weight.
I thought about driving, however, car rental companies dont allow country to country travel.
Any suggestions as to airlines? I have google but there is so much advertising promising the earth but don't fly from Rome to Spain.
I leave on the 10th April and still trying to get this sorted out for almost two weeks now

 

[Thengel1]

The challenge with train travel in France is the fact that Paris is the transportation hub for the whole country. So trying to cross the south of France by train is a nightmare as far I can tell. Basically, your choices are either use a mess of secondary train lines (slow, lots of changes), or you route through Paris. Considering that a direct cross-country route wouldn't take you within 500 km of Paris, not ideal.

Oh, before I leave the subject of trains. Rail Europe is a terrible website, which routinely gouges anyone who uses it. Much better to use the national rail companies sites.

However, for your case, I think you are probably better off flying. Without dates, it is hard to be precise, but Iberia seems offer reasonably cheap flights to Bordeaux. You might end up having to spend the night in either Bordeaux or Bayonne, but it would still be faster than taking the train. (flights to Biarritz (Bayonne) seem pricey, but that may be a function of the dates I looked at)

A good site for getting an idea of your options flight-wise is http://www.kayak.com .

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Friends of mine found the cheapest option for them was to fly out of Italy via Paris to Bayonne.
Margaret

 

[oursonpolaire]

http://www.seat61.com suggests a likely workable approach of a train from Rome to Ventimiglia on the French border, and then from Nice to Bayonne through a few changes-- note that French provincial trains rarely have food available, so it is best to stock up at Nice station or a nearby restaurant. As well, there is a Rome-Barcelona ferry (http://www.grimaldi-lines.com), and the Barcelona route from there is also easily done. While a train fan, I am continually astonished at how difficult it is for North Americans to buy train tickets online (and I imagine that Australians are in the same boat)-- and how misleading the sites are for connexions. Most railways have sites from the cutting edge of the internet of 1997. For reasons which are beyond me, I find the German RR site (http://www.bahn.de) far better for planning inter-country travel in Europe than any other, even if you then have to go to individual country sites for booking (except for France, which has a phobia about selling overseas).

Do not ignore the possibility of long-distance buses in Europe-- they are more comfortable than Canadian or US inter-city buses and are often reasonably priced. As an example, http://www.eurolines.fr gives a Rome-Bordeaux bus leaving 11.45 arriving 21.15 for 140euro for the 1,100km journey. One overnights in Bordeaux, and can be in St Jean Pied de Port via Bayonne in time for a relaxing dinner.

 

[Terrri]

Some one here mentioned the following site and it is now my favourite for looking for flights. You can't purchase tickets but when you find the flight you want you just go directly to the airline webpage to purchase. I find it a very easy to use site.

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/