Avignon to Lucerne and beyond
 

I am planning a trip from Paris to Avignon to Lucerne to Amsterdam to Brussels to Paris (I think). Are there TGV connections between all these cities, and how would I go about booking train tickets or finding schedule information? I know you can go from Paris to Avignon, but I have no clue about the rest of the itinerary. Any info much appreciated.

I doubt if there's a TGV from Avignon to Lucerne. Check www.raileurope.com

I don't know about rail systems in Switzerland, but the TGV is French and doesn't go much beyond the borders, IU think there is a high-speed line that goes towards Geneva, so you could take the TGV up from Lyon and then change to go that way. I think high speed trains in Switzerland (their railsite is www.sbb.ch) are called Pendolino but I'm not sure on that. Here's a railsite that has RR links for a lot of countries: www.eurorail.com Raileurope should be good for broad overview info on major lines and if there are high-speed, but it doesn't list every departure. The French RR is www.sncf.com, or you can look at www.tgv.com

Jon.<BR><BR>Whilst not many of the trains are actually TGVs there are several excellent and relatively fast trains on the routes your are designating.<BR>From Avignon, there are regular trains to Geneva, most with a change at Lyons, and from Geneva there are are hourly trains to Lucerne.<BR>For example the best train is a TGV from Avignon TGV station at 1335, direct to Geneva, arriving 1629. From Geneva there is a 1634 to Lucerne, arriving 2003.<BR>You did'nt say whether you wish to break the journey, of if you are planning for next Summer. If so another option, and very scenic, is a 3 hour lake cruise from Geneva to Laussanne, from where regular trains to Lucerne.<BR>So there are options, including a stop off in Bern and so on.<BR>From Lucerne to Amsterdam is easy, but a full days train ride, so I would suggest a break of journey, probably near Koblenz or Mainz, where you have an opportunity for a short Rhine cruise down river - covered by eurail pass, as was the Lake Geneva cruise.<BR>From Lucerne there is a direct train to Amsterdam, but the hourly service usually involves a change of trains (quite easy) at Basle and/or Cologne.<BR>Hope this helps. Do a search for the German railway website - I think it is something like www.bahn.de for excellent itinerary planning in English.

Thanks for the helpful info. I will check out all the suggested websites, etc.