headed to france by rail? help!
 

need some advice on how do i book a rail ticket to france from germany frankfurt. fastest possible way. i arive in germany frankfurt at 9pm... io went to euro rail website i went to DEbahn website, can't seem to get anything conclusive also went to http://www.voyages-sncf.com but i can't understand the language...confused with ICE TGV ICT eurorail and DEBahn please advise

The only train to Paris after 21:00 is the night train at 23:00, which takes 9h15.

If you take the ICE the next morning at 6:00, the train only takes 3h50.

(This is for travel on a Friday.)

The night train doesn't go from Frankfurt. You take a high-speed ICE train to Karlsruhe, and leave there at 0105 on the City Night Line train to Paris.

thanks for the inputs, so now i got 2 options, as i land in frankfurt at 8pm ...

either i sit in FRankfurt airport the whole night and wait for the next morning's 7am flight to paris or i can board the train at 11pm and get there about 8am the next morn...

any advise on which option would be better?

thanks

Hi M,

> i sit in FRankfurt airport the whole night and wait for the next morning's 7am flight to paris or i can board the train at 11pm and get there about 8am the next morn...

any advise on which option would be better?<

I would advice you to take the train,

((I))

>either i sit in FRankfurt airport the whole night and wait for the next morning's 7am flight to paris or i can board the train at 11pm and get there about 8am the next morn...

>any advise on which option would be better?

None of the above.
Take the next train to Frankfurt (10 min) or Mannheim (35 min but on the way) and stay in a hotel tehre. Then take the train onwards to France the enxt morning.

I just checked the DB timetables. It appears that the CNL train from Karlsruhe to Paris will be discontinued after 13 December. (It's not listed if one enters a date from 14 December forward.)

It looks like your best choice is the 05:55 departure from the airport with a change in Mannheim, arriving in Paris at 09:50. If you book NOW on the DB site, you may be able to get a Europa-Spezial Frankreich fare as low as €39.

>It looks like your best choice is the 05:55 departure from the airport with a change in Mannheim, arriving in Paris at 09:50.

That would be a masochist´s choice. Staying in tbe airport from 21:00 to 5:55? Thanks but no thanks.

There is no reasonable train through the night, only crummy connections like several hours waiting in places like Saarbrücken etc, and the only flight you could possibly make if you really get in at 8PM (and not at 9PM as you first stated - and if that 8PM arrival is on time) is the Lufthansa flight at 9:35PM - could cost you a ton.

Why do you fly into FRA in the first place? This plan of yours is going to cost you a bit - a night in a hotel at least. Why don't you spend that money on a change fee instead, and have your airline ticket redone to fly into Paris? Should come out about the same financially, and you get there when you want to get there.

I agree with above, this wasn't a good plan as there aren't that many night trains in Europe any more due to high speed lines. There just isn't the need for them and not many people who want to take them when they can do something more reasonable or take a cheap flight.

Lufthansa has a 9:35p flight to CDG. :)

Altamiro<-thanks, good suggestion... 9pm - 6am stuck in the airport will suck, can u be more specific with the train into Mannheim and suggest a budget hotel i can put up in for the night and from the hotel how do i get to the train station to take the DB to Paris CDG using the offer suggested by TimS<-thanks

Dailai<-thanks for the inputs, FRA->CDG = €500, omg O.o

i know my predicament sucks :( but my plane ticket cannot be amended its a company ticket bought at a superlow fare... else i would have changed it... looks like my only choice is to stay in Mannheim for a few winks and grab the 6 am DB to CDG...

thanks to all who contributed...
please tll me more about Mannheim hotels and train station proximity...

Just a moment, do you want to go to Paris or to CDG???

Hotels in Mannheim (or elsewhere in Germany)
www.hotel.de

Train to Mannheim

www.bahn.de
From: Frankfurt Airport
To: Mannheim

Need to get to Paris. CDG is only if i take a plane then i'll end up in CDG...

i am booked for the Europa-Spezial Frankreich fare €69 from Mannheim -> Paris EST on the DB , unfortunately the €39 was sold out.... :(

btw does any1 know which station is the Paris EST? is the the same as Gare Du I'Est Paris Metro Station?

i have also booked the Ramada Hotel Mannheim cost me €54, description says its 200m the main Mannheim Train Station.

Also need some info on how to get from Frankfurt Airport to Mannheim at 9pm at night everything is dark and i am lugging my lugguage.

thanks in advance..

went to the DE Bahn WEbsite, there is no train station for me to select out of Frankfurt airport, there is only 1 from Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf to Mannheim...

is that the correct station from the airport?

thanks in advance

I only suggested staying at the airport because you mentioned it in your first post and I thought you wanted to save yourself the cost of a hotel room. A hotel in Mannheim is a much better idea.

"Flughafen" is German for airport. You have the right station.

Paris Est (Gare de l'Est) is a mainline train station. The metro station with that name is directly beneath it.

Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf means
Flughafen = airport
(M) = am Main (on the river Main, tells you that you're in the right Frankfurt, the other Frankfurt is on the river Oder, a lot farther East)
Fernbf is short for Fernbahnhof
Fern = far away, Bahnhof=train station
Underneath the FRA airport you have trains that run locally and just in the immediate region, hence they leave from the Regionalbahnhof, and the long-distance trains leave from the Fernbahnhof.

>i have also booked the Ramada Hotel Mannheim cost me €54, description says its 200m the main Mannheim Train Station.

It's on a busy thoroughfare where almost all of the through commuter traffic to Ludwigshafen passes. Not good for sleeping in, but fortunately you will be up very early :-)

Just walk out the front of the main station in Mannheim, walk straight for about 100 m until you cross the 4 lane road. After crossing turn left and follow the road. another 100 m and you are at the hotel.

>Also need some info on how to get from Frankfurt Airport to Mannheim at 9pm at night everything is dark and i am lugging my lugguage.

Train schedule at www.bahn.de as above.
The trains to Mannheim leave from the Fernbahnhof (long distance train station), also called AiRail Terminal, not from Regionalbahnhof (local train station). Just follow the signs to AiRail.

thanks to Alta and dalai for clearing the air, and instructions on how to get from the Mannheim Statin to my hotel...

i saw the train schedule on DeBahn from Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf to Mannheim... few selctions to choose from, some 1hr+, some only 30mins.

is it adviseable to buy tickest online now? as i will reach FRA at 9pm at night, will ticket booths still be open? or any chance that tickets will be sold out?

thanks again to those whom have contributed...

If you travel in Jan. or Feb. on a Thursday or Friday you can save yourself that night in a hotel, catch one of the fast trains to Stuttgart (leaving FRA airport Fernbf at 8:59PM, 9:20PM, 9:54PM, 11:06PM), then catch the sleeper train City Night Line CNL40418 lvg Stuttgart at 01:26AM arr. Paris Est at 9:30AM.

In March that night train runs every Thu + Fri plus on Mo 30 and Tu 31, in April it runs daily from 4/1 through 4/15, then not until again from May 25 through 29, daily except Sat-Sun from June 1-30, on July 1-8, then not until Octobr again.