Can anyone help me with some last-minute planning? My friend and I got cheap tickets to Paris for a quick (5 1/2 day) trip next week. My friend is excited about Paris (her first time), but what I would love to do is visit Germany (I've never been).
Is it practical/feasible to take a sidetrip to western Germany in the short amount of time that we're there? If so, what would be the best mode of transportation? (we're both under 25, if thats a factor in renting a car)
Thanks for your suggestions.

Hmm. May we assume you have exhausted seeing Paris? If so and if you want to go to Germany, then I suggest you go there, but what for? What do you want to see or expect to see in such a short time.

BUT, if you have run out of places to go and sites to see in Paris you must have lived there for 6 months to a year!!

If you leave from Paris Nord on a Thalys type train, you can be in Köln in 4 hours.

Now whether or not visiting Köln for a day and a night, with perhaps a ride on the Rhine, is worth not seeing places in Paris, I cannot say.

The Avis website does not answer the age question; you will need to call to see if your age is a factor for a rental car in France.

The base rate for a small car - what I would call a compact by our standards - is about $190 for 3 days. No personal insurance is included, nor is collision insurance included. Often that type of insurance can be ascribed to your credit card, but that depends on which card you have. But I honestly don't know what happens if you bash up a rental car and then want to leave the country without settling the charges.

Parking in cities is a non trivial cost factor. I have paid anywhere from $10 to $20 for less than a full day to park in city centers. And I was told that was cheap.

My own perception is that 5 days is hardly enough time for Paris. I have been there a total of 12 days in the last 3 years and there are still a dozen or more places on my list I want to go see. I figure just to see those alone without adding any new ones will take another 3 days at least. If I start working on more places to see, I could easily push the time needed back to 6 or 8 days.

Then if I added some of the mansions outside of Paris, or places like Chartres or Rouen, then I am looking at a whole new ball game.

So if you want Germany, leave your friend to see Paris, take a connecting flight from CDG (or where ever you land)to somewhere in German that is interesting like Berlin or Munich or ...
and see your friend when you go home.

You could go by train to the nearest part of Germany, for example from Paris Nord at 0655 to Cologne at 1045, but any such trip takes four or five hours travel each way. So I suggest you travel overnight in a couchette. Pleasant old cities a night away include Mainz, Augsburg, Munich, Dresden and Berlin, and modern cities with a lively night life include Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, and Berlin. An example is Paris Est 2255, Frankfurt 0702 to about 0730, Mainz about 0810. The one way fare, with the couchette, is 95 euros to Frankfurt or 180 euros to Berlin: there are reductions for your age, and perhaps for a return fare. Of course, you save a hotel night each way.

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mmm, tough call! Mr. Haines is correct and his advice to take an overnight train is very practical. That is, if you are set on Germany?

Are you sure you're not going to return to Europe some other time? Maybe you can take in Germany next time. I say this because I've been to Paris several times now, and still have not seen everything I want to see. If you've already seen as much as you want, then maybe you could follow Mr. Brown's advice to leave your friend in Paris (no worries, it's safe) and check out Germany on your own (also safe, I've done it).

From Paris the absolute nearest town in Germany worth visiting is Trier. But the rail schedule is not that attractive: ex Paris 06.52 - arr Trier 12.06 or 08.52 - 14.15. Clearly this means staying the night in town and returning next afternoon. Or a second, full day there can be spent exploring the valley of the Mosel.

If you simply want to say "I have set foot in Germany" then the nearest place to go is Saarbrücken. A good direct connection from Paris Est is ex 08.52 - arr 12.47. I'm not knocking SB - there is some very attractive countryside around offering nice destinations for half-day trips - it just isn't high priority tourist country like Trier and the Mosel (not one in a hundred Fodorites who are fans of Germany, like myself, would ever have been there) - but a very authentic German experience is guaranteed. In fact I am inclined to nudge you in this direction rather than the other, if you want my opinion.

Good luck

Harzer

Fly. Lots of LCC's serve the Paris-Germany market (Germanwings to Cologne, EasyJet to Berlin, etc). You may get lucky and get a flight for pretty cheap.

In order to minimize wasting prime sightseeing time, you want to take the fastest trains you can, and travel at night.

Have a full day in Paris, and catch the 17:55 from Gare du Nord that arrives Köln at 21:45. Next morning, grab the K-D line up the Rhine to Königswinter, do the Siebengiberge and Drachenfels, and take a late afternoon boat back, but only as far as Bonn.

This will get you to Köln in time to catch the 18:16, and you're back at Gare du Nord at 22:05.

<b>http://www.k-d.com/engl</b>