Hi

We're flying from New York to Frankfurt. We want to go to Strasbourg-Metz-Paris.
Does this route make sense? Any other suggestions?
We're taking bahn.de train from Frankfurt-Strasbourg, but from Strausbourg-Metz-Paris(because its France, not Germany) what train company should we use

Thanks a lot
Hope for a lot of advices

rebk

The French train company is SNCF. Google for "TGV" .

You can buy TGV tickets ahead of time (book in advance to get cheaper PREM fares if you can) and print them out to take with you. Choose "France" as the country where you pick up the tickets, then print. (You don't need to use the "Rail Europe" site.) Make sure your credit card allows you to make a foreign purchase. An Amex card may actually work better for this than your average Visa card, but try you preferred card first.

Use www.capitainetrain.com for trains within France.

This has the same trains, same prices, same seat options, same lack of any fee, same print-at-home or collect-at-station tickets as the official French Railways (SNCF) website http://en.voyages-sncf.com but no Machiavellian tendencies to divert you to its overseas Rail Europe subsidiaries with fees and no seat options so it's a lot easier to use.

The "direct" train line is Frankfurt-Metz-Paris, so Strasbourg requires a small detour, but it is very easy to do.

Hi again

its our first trip to Europe and we want to make the most out of it. I know that Strasbourg is very nice town to visit, but does it make a sense to detour? Is Metz nice? Any other suggestions?
I am really open for any suggestion

thank you very much for your help

Strasbourg to me is one of the most unheralded nice cities in Europe not just France. Metz is nice but Nancy to me is the real gem between Basel/Strasbourg and Paris - Nancy is increidble!

For lots of good stuff describing European trains, etc check out Man in Seat 61 who osts above his commercial site - www.seat61.com (with a commercial link to the RailEurope site he constantly criticizes - ???) and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

I think that Metz is very nice, as is Nancy. You can go from Strasbourg to either of those cities and then take one of the many direct TGVs to Paris from either of them.

Here are quite a few photos of Metz: http://www.anyportinastorm.proboards...02/metz?page=1

Metz is certainly worth a day. Nice cathedral, pleasant garden walks, and a new branch of the Pompidou contemporary arts museum from Paris. Its Germanic connections influence the cuisine and fondness for beer pubs.

Just finished booking on sncf for Paris to Barcelona - capitainetrain.com couldn't offer me the number of seats I wanted, sncf did. I got upper deck automatically (woo hoo) but yes my Amex was rejected and after the second attempt I succeeded with a bank-issued MasterCard. Now to make sure I get to the station in time from the 7th Arr at that hour!>

The above experience just posted would appear to contradict Man in Seat 61's take that you should always just use capitanetrain.com - apparently not - unlike Man in Seat 61 says this Fodorite found seats on voyages-sncf.com but not www.capitainetrain.com

I think Strasbourg is incredibly charming and not to be missed and was fairly unimpressed with Metz in comparison. (But we have come from the Loire via Dijon, Vezelay, Avallon etc.)

Well I think if it's a toss up between Strasbourg and Metz Strasbourgh by far is the more charming on many counts - stunning cathedral with stunning historic clock - a Petit Venise with canals - and modern architecture in the EU buildings just out of town - take a boat ride there!

Metz I found typical of northern France - to me kind of cold and not that colorful but it also could be a nice stop - not that it isn't nice just that Strasbourg is exceptional!

True: you can't compare Metz to Strasbourg. They are not in the same league. Just like you can't compare Strasbourg to Paris.

Thank you for all your inputs. Now I am confused. We definitely going to Strausbourg, but We want to stop some where else on the way to Paris. Can you give me some suggestions?
Also I heard that renting apartment in Paris is a good idea. Is is true? What area of Paris we should be staying in??

All your input woulf be greatly appreciated

Thank you very much

Well for stops no one said Metz was crappy - to me Metz and Nancy and especially Nancy - a bit smaller and more compact make the perfect stopping off places en route to Paris.

An advantage of stopping in Metz is that if you have a few extra hours, you can hop on the local TER commuter train, the Métrolor, and take a quick trip to Nancy or Luxembourg.

I am going to buy tickets Frankfurt-Strausbourg-Metz-Paris in advance. Do I need to buy tickets for Metrolor from metz-nancy in advance too?

Is apartments in Paris a good idea?? What area in Paris is best to stay in??

Thanks

No, since the Metrolor is just a commuter train, there are no reservations or discounts to be had for early purchase. You just put a few coins in the ticket machine.

Is apartments in Paris a good idea?? What area in Paris is best to stay in??

Thanks>

Make a separate post on that - you will get many expert Fodorites comments about these - but it is lost in this thread - put it in your title.

thanks