My girlfriend and I are off to Europe 1 week before Christmas. We fly into Frankfurt Germany. From there, we're planning on visiting Paris for 4 days then travel to Munich for 4 days, then back to Frankfurt. Does anyone know the best (and economical way) to travel this itinerary? I was in Germany last winter but I ended up renting a car for a similiar trip. Is a rail pass feasible and inexpensive. And if so, which rail pass would best fit us? Any information is GREATLY appreciated! Also, because this is are first time in Paris, any suggestions to affordable but "close the sites" accommodations? Thanks

Chris

Here's what I would consider (strongly) doing to minimize hassles and maximize time.

Take the train from Frankfurt airport to Paris using the high-speed ICE route FRA to Cologne and change there for a Thalys service to Paris. You can check schedules at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Depending on the timings chosen the trip will take from between 4 and 6 hours to complete.

For the Paris-Munich portion unless you WANT to see a lot of scenery on the ground and you cannot live with the usual checked luggage weight restrictions and want to save some money, consider flying from Paris (Orly) to Munich on a cheap budget flight...there is service between these two cities and I'll give you the link in a soon subsequent post.

Take the train from Munich back to Farnkfurt for the return home.

If you go to www.skyscanner.net you'll see that DBA has cheap budget flights between Paris and Munich www.flydba.com

I am not sure any railpass would be best for this if you decide to do it all by rail; point to point tickets MIGHT be cheaper.

You can check that by going to www.railsever.com and entering the proposed itinerary for a comparison of prices.

Hi C,

I take it that you already have your airplane tickets.

In future, you might want to look into open-jaw flights - into Paris, out of Munich.

Railpasses are at www.raileurope.com

Train schedules and fares between Germany and France are at www.bahn.de or www.voyages-sncf.com.

Cheap flights are at www.whichbudget.com

I would add a day to Paris and subtract a day from Munich.

In Paris, We always stay at the Hotel Bonaparte, 61 Rue Bonaparte in the 6th. From 124E dbl w/bkfst. It is located near 3 metro stops. Has AC

Tel 33 1 43 26 97 37
FAX 33 1 46 33 57 67
www.hotelbonaparte.fr

For more info, enter "Hotel Bonaparte" in the "search this forum" box.

Photos are at http://tinyurl.com/ludgd

Also see Paris Superthread
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34519236

100 Great Things to Do in Paris
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...mp;tid=1277898

Degas�s Paris Walks
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34712768

Jacquemart-Andre� Museum http://tinyurl.com/p9pol

Enjoy your visit.

You can get schedules and some fares (not Thalys) at www.bahn.de. For Frankfurt-Paris, in addition to the ICE-Thalys connection through Cologne, there's a direct EC train at 6:43 and 10:43 which takes 6:21. The fare is EUR 82.60 (2nd class). While this is longer than some (but not all and others not by much) of the ICE-Thalys routes, it's likely to be cheaper. (Frankfurt-Cologne is EUR 55.)

As to Paris-Munich, the train would be 8.5-9 hours and cost EUR 112-128. Flying may be just a cheap and much faster.

If you are under 26, you can get a 5 day (in 2 months) 3 country selectpass for $249, so this would be cheaper than the train fares (EUR 275 including the EUR 75 Munich-Frankfurt). If you're over 26, the pass would be $325 (each for 2 people traveling together), so it's still a bit cheaper at $1=EUR 1.25. (Note, passes are good on all (basically) German trains including ICE.) There's lots of railpass info at http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/rail_menu.htm.

Enjoy your trip,
Paul

Fares for flying the Paris-Munich segment in December are currently running between 53 and 152 Euro per person depending on the date. I notice DBA does not offer service on 24 December.

Unless you go through the effort to book discount fares well in advance online, train travel in Germany and France is fairly expensive.

For example:
Frankfurt-Paris: E82.60
Paris-Munich: E112.60
Munich-Frankfurt: E61-75.

That's a minimum total of E255 which is $320 US.

You might benefit from getting France-Germany 2nd class saver passes (two or more people traveling together) for $240 US/person. See the railpass section at ricksteves.com or call BETS (Budget Europe Travel Service), 800-441-9413. Check the Web site, too: budgeteuropetravel.com.

Some of the trains you're likely to take will require reservations and a lot of people will be traveling around the same time. It's cheaper to make reservations in Europe, but I think you'd be wise to make them from home. You can make them through raileurope.com or euraide.de, but it would be worth the price of an international phone call to get the European price without any extra fees. After you buy your passes, call the Deutsche Bahn service center. From outside Germany dial +49 1805 - 996633.

There is a Frankfurt-Paris and Paris-Munich night train. If you have a pass, you have to pay a supplement for a bunk in a couchette, but you save the cost of a night in a hotel and have more daylight hours for sightseeing.