Best way to get to Frankfurt from Paris?
Jan 14th, 2002, 10:49 AM
#1
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Best way to get to Frankfurt from Paris?
My wife and I will be in Europe in late May/early June (our first time) and need to travel to Frankfurt from Paris. It would appear that rail would be the most economical, and interesting, way to get there. I've found some websites that sell Eurorail passes etc. and have *some* information, but haven't really been able to figure out exactly *what* we need to do/purchase and what the various modes of travel (e.g. first class v. second class etc.) encompass. Any advice, or helpful web links, are appreciated.
Jan 14th, 2002, 11:54 AM
#2
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No reason to buy a pass for this. You just go to the station, buy a ticket at the window (or at other locations like travel agents, American Express).<BR><BR>The website www.raileurope.com gives accurate departure and arrival information for both the night train and daytime (2 hrs shorter) service. But the prices are marked up about 25-30% (and that's before you add the "postage and handling" of $15.00).<BR><BR>You can find the "real price" - - 73.90 euros ($66.06 USD) - - at http://www.sncf.com/indexe.htm - - or (sometimes) pricing at the German website as well - - http://bahn.hafas.de (note: no "www").<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>
Jan 14th, 2002, 01:20 PM
#3
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Rex is absolutely accurate in his statements about Rail Europe. You will find the markups to be substantial and totally unnecessary!! By the time RE adds on for sending you the ticket, the markup can be even more than what Rex says. <BR>By learning to use the national rail sites, you can often find out approximately how much the tickets cost.<BR>But, international pricing is hard to come by.<BR>Sometimes the French site will give the price if the trip originates in France and involves less than 2 changes of train. I find the French site hard to use because of its restrictive time windows. And the silly thing will not give you later or earlier times if there are no trains within your time window.<BR>It stupidly says it cannot find any seats!! I usuall check the German rail site first to find out when the trains are and then use the French site with the exact departure times.<BR>The German site is usually quite good.<BR>I have used it to learn rail connections within France that were better than the ones the SNCF site was giving me.<BR>Go figure!!<BR>The Germans know better about French trains than the French??? Seems that way at times!!!!
Jan 14th, 2002, 07:02 PM
#5
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We did the train thing a few yrs ago with 2 couples,2 teens,too much baggage. We piled the bags in the middle of the car like a mountain and slept each with a foot to hold them in place. The other very clear memory was of no water being sold on the train and the water in the lavs marked undrinkable. the ticket thing was a piece of cake......one member of the group went a bit early and bought onsite...no problems. So pack less and bring water...and enjoy!
