Day 14-15: Thello from Venice to Paris

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 43

The cheapest and most direct way to travel between Venice and Paris is by the Thello sleeper train. The other train plying this similar route is the ever-famous Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, however it costs way more than I’m willing to pay for this journey.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 45

The leading locomotive of this train.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 44

The coach I’ll be in.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 46London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 47

Inside the 4 or 6-berth couchette compartment.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 48

Each compartment can be configured to a 4-berth or 6-berth couchette, depending on the demand and how much you paid for your ticket. I paid for a 4-berth couchette as it was cheaper than a 6-berth at the time of my booking.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 49

Departing Venice.

Passports are taken by the attendant for immigration and customs clearance when the train passes through Switzerland so they don’t have to wake you up for it at the two borders. It’s a normal procedure, and your passport is tagged to your ticket and berth. Make sure you fulfill the visa requirements of the EU and Switzerland if you are travelling on this route.

I was also told that my passport will be returned to me about 1 hour before arrival in Paris, but read on…

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 50London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 51London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 52

Inside the Bar & Restaurant Car. Unlike the Thello between Marseille and Milan, this is a dedicated dining car with space for both standing and seated diners.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 53London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 54

I had the Smoked Ham and Chicory Pasta in microwaved style for €7.50.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 55

The coach attendant converting my seat bench into a bed. The mattress part is simply tilted flat from slight incline of the seated position. As this is a 4-berth couchette, the middle berths are kept folded.

London to Singapore Day 14 Venice 56

Bedding and a pillow is provided in the couchette.

At this point, I thought that I would have uninterrupted sleep, but I was woken up in the middle of the night by Switzerland immigration officers at the exit border of Switzerland for checks, after which, my passport was returned to me by the immigration officer. Maybe the procedures have changed, as my online searches and what the attendant told me before did not include this part. Oh well.

London to Singapore Day 15 Paris 01London to Singapore Day 15 Paris 02

Due to delays on the Italian side, the train arrived in Paris Gare de Lyon slightly more than an hour late.

London to Singapore Day 15 Paris 03

From here, I got on the RER to my hostel.

Price I paid from Venezia Santa Lucia to Paris Gare de Lyon: €55 (Offer SMART)

The Thello is an economical and time-effective way to travel between France and Italy with English-speaking crew on board. I felt more comfortable on Thello trains than on TrenItalia’s, but unfortunately they don’t run on parallel routes. Why some may not know about this is because if you book your tickets through SNCF (France) or Trenitalia (Italy), the Thello will not show up as it is a separate private company, so they will give you a prohibitively-high fare on their high-speed trains or a slower train with lots of transfers.

If you are planning such a journey, you might want to consider getting a direct Thello instead of following the slower suggested transfers with higher fares or a stressful flight.

One comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.