candipeters

Hello, I will be traveling in Europe at beginning the end of June for 3 weeks. I need to find train schedules and costs. I need a train from Paris to Vallorbe, Switzerland then from Vallorbe to Parma, Italy. What is the best train to take by myself. Morning, night? and how can I find prices and information about the train? I very nervous to take the train without knowing the languages. Any thoughts?

BarbaraMH

I wouldn't be concerned about the language barrier. Learn some key phrases to be polite, bring a little dictionary for critical terms, and you'll be fine.

For train schedules, look to Rail Europe or the rail companies for the specific countries. Trenitalia is Italy's, SNCF is France's. Don't know Switzerland's, but you could probably find out easily enough.

Morning v. night: Look at the schedules to see what time you arrive. That might impact your decision more than when you travel. Don't want to get somewhere unfamiliar late at night.

swandav2000

Hi candipeters,

You can find the schedules for all the trains at the Swiss rail site,

www.rail.ch

You may also be able to find some of the fares, too, I'm not sure.

Good luck!

s

cls2paris

I use www.bahn.de (the German train site) or www.sncf.com (France rail site) for much of my planning. They list trains all over Europe nd you'll get an idea of the freuency of the trains and the length of the trip. Which is very helpful because sometimes the same route can take a lot longer on one itinerary versus another, it can depend on type of train and also how many stops it makes. You can also see how many changes you would need to make. I generally look for the itinerary with the fewest changes and the fastest time! You cannot get prices for every trip but some of them you can. There is an English option for the websites.

I usually know which days and approximate times I will be traveling, so I print out the details for each of the train trips. When I go to the station to buy my ticket, I circle the train I wish to buy a ticket for, that way I know there will be no confusion if I get the language wrong. Having the details of each stop also allows me to "follow along" like I would on a map and I know when I will be getting off the train.

On some routes, you may have reservations. On your ticket will be the car number and your seat number. Usually there will be guide posted on the track so you know where to stand so you are close to your car. It is easier to get on the right car than it is to walk through many cars dragging your suitcase until you find the right one. If you don't have reservations, the cars are marked with a 1 or 2, first class and second class. Hop on the appropriate car.

If you haven't use the European trains before, Rick Steves has some great information on his website about train travel.

As far as which train to take, I try to take the trip with the shortest duration and least number of train changes. You can figure this out when you research.

Since you are starting the trip in Paris, you might want to try the sncf.com website. There is a link for English. You might have a better chance to find the price here.

Have fun!

candipeters

clstoparis,
Thank you so much for your advice. Thanks to all of you!