Finalizing France Trip December 2013

Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:12 PM
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Finalizing France Trip December 2013

We have finished planning our France trip from the 17th to the 31st of December, and would like a conformation from fodorites that the trip is good:

17th - 22nd in Paris

22nd - 26th in Chamonix

26th - 27th in Paris

28th - Day trip to Strasbourg

29th - 31st in Paris

Airline tickets are booked, apartments/hotel reserved, and all but return train tickets from Chamonix and Strasbourg train tickets.

Thanks
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:13 PM
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And this will our first trip to Europe.
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:19 PM
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Make your train reservations now.
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:29 PM
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Instead of breaking up the Paris portion I would go from Chamonix to Strasbourg and then to Paris. Stay overnight in Strasbourg rather than spending about 5 hours on the train for a day trip from Paris.

Agree about making the train reservations, it's already a bit late and the best prices will have passed you by.
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:30 PM
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what are your opinions on this website for buying train tickets in France: https://www.capitainetrain.com/search/
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:32 PM
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how do you suggest going from Chamonix to Strasbourg
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:33 PM
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in the past when I researched that, there was a flight from geneva to Strasbourg, but it will be A LOT of hassle lugging our luggage to geneva, then onto a plane just for 1 night in Strasbourg
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:42 PM
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oh I forgot we have another day trip to Versailles on the 27th
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 04:56 PM
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Capitaine train is the easiest site to book tickets on (IMO) for English speakers, especially Americans. We used to book our tickets to and from Strasbourg. Love it. No diversions to Rail Europe. They will send PDF of the tickets that you can print and/or bar codes that you can download to an iPhone.
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 05:02 PM
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Forget Strasbourg - too much hassle for too short a trip. Yes, use capitainetrain.com but get those tickets soon - you're way past the time for the cheap tickets.
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 05:08 PM
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We just booked our return tickets from Chamonix. Are you sure to skip Strasbourg? I feel when I ever come back to France, it will be out of the way to visit in terms of seeing the south and southwest/west France.
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 05:59 PM
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Buy your train tickets from the SNCF the national train company. Go to http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train; you can print your tickets before the trip or get them from the train station. Plan to be at the train station early if you do that because during the holiday season the queues will be very long!
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 06:12 PM
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Yes skip Strasbourg if you are going to make only a day trip. You won't be able to see very much.
On the 28th a round trip for 2 adults (26-59 years of age) will cost around 270 Euros taking an early train (6:55 am) to Strasbourg returning on at 6:15 pm. to be back in Paris at 8:35 pm.
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 06:25 PM
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The early train arrives in Strasbourg at 9:15am.
The next trains from Paris are at 7:25 - 8: 25 - 10:55 - 11:25 am

If you chose to pend a night in Strasbourg so you could have dinner there, there are some 1st class return tickets on the 8:46 am train back to Paris.

Copy and paste the following link to see the possible itinerary I checked out for you http://calendrier.voyages-sncf.com:8.../recapitulatif
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Old Nov 19th, 2013, 07:10 PM
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I feel when I ever come back to France, it will be out of the way to visit in terms of seeing the south and southwest/west France.

You can visit any time you go to the upper Rhine valley in Germany.
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Old Nov 20th, 2013, 10:43 AM
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>

It's much easier for most Americans now to use www.capitainetrain.com, which has the exact same train schedules and pricing as the SNCF site. SNCF often won't accept American credit cards; Capitainetrain always does.
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Old Nov 20th, 2013, 11:11 AM
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StCirq, I didn't know about that train website. I just tried it and you are right, it's much easier to use than the SNCF website. Thanks for posting it!
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Old Nov 20th, 2013, 02:09 PM
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It's fairly recent, Blaise22, and yes, it solves all those headaches a lot of people had with www.voyages-sncf.com (though I still use the latter because I like all the details on special services and promotions and such.
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Old Nov 20th, 2013, 02:21 PM
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thank you, I will take Strasbourg off my itinerary. Are their other day trips, by train, from Paris that you would recommend under the circumstances?
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Old Nov 20th, 2013, 02:23 PM
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oh and we used capitaine train and it was wonderful! Much easier (and even cheaper!) than SNCF/Rail Europe.
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