Is rail the best way to travel through Europe?

The train is certainly the best way to visit these cities. Utilising the vast European train network you will be taken from city centre to city centre on modern, clean high speed services. There is no need to worry about airport transfers, petrol or luggage restrictions when you can reach the centre of Paris from the centre of London in under 2 1/2 hours. If you use a Eurail pass including France you will receive a discount on the Eurostar and once you reach the continent your rail travel is taken care of. For the itinerary you have mentioned a 3 country Eurail Select pass for 5 days in 2 months would be the best option, covering you for France, Spain and Italy, with prices starting from $473.00 per person (1st class Adult Saver Pass). Once you are in Paris you can use the pass to travel by day or overnight to Barcelona. The trip from Barcelona to Rome is best done over a couple of days so use your second travel day to stop along the French/Italian Riviera before setting off around the Italian coastline to Rome. From Rome you can take a High Speed service to Venice and still have one more travel day to use on a day trip somewhere along the way. In addition to purchasing your 1st class Eurail pass you can also pre purchase your seat reservations on most trains from Australia, saving you a long wait in the ticket queues locally. You can book your Eurail pass with Rail Plus online.