I'm in the process of planning my family's train route through France, Switzerland, Germany, and Poland. I think the most intimidating part of planning this trip is planning the train routes.

For those of you that have traveled via rail for your stay in Europe what helpful tips would you give me? What websites did you use to plain your route out?

I've got a rough train schedule planned out but any tips would be great.

What cities do you wish to visit in those countries - that I what I think you should first decide.

Depending on exactly where you will be going, sometimes cheap, short flights are better than trains.

Why don't you list your itinerary and let frequent European travelers make suggestions?

Lotsa info here:

http://www.seat61.com/

And quick schedules:

http://www.seat61.com/

Figure about an hour on either end when changing hotels.

There is nothing to worry about. Pick your desired targets and practice looking up the schedules.

Start with this website - not only for timetables but for the kind of info you need to know to be an "informed" and therefore confident planner: www.seat61.com

The official train website for Germany, also very helpful for adjacent countries, is www.bahn.de

For Switzerland it is www.sbb.ch

For France, www.sncf.com or .fr

Now get a map of Central Europe that includes Poland, find your targets, and doing your homework will become fun.

Try to stay away from Raileurope - a website that likes to sell sell sell but not favorably so.

Most of all, at this stage, absorb the wisdom of seat 61, it is priceless.

I second the recommendations for seat61 and (for switzerland) sbb.

That said, I would wonder how much time you are allocating for a trip that involves "France, Switzerland, Germany, and Poland." That's a lot of territory for one trip!

BTW, you can get some "quick and dirty" transit info at rome2rio.com. It isn't perfect, so don't rely on it for fully accurate info, but it can give you some idea of your options.

Good luck!

Oh - and one more thing: Train schedules and fares of most systems are subject to review and adjustment every December, so treat what you look up now for next year as guidelines, not as gospel.

Yes, the go-to web sites are seat61 and bahn.de. But for long multi-country trips I have found the Thomas Cook Rail Map useful for initial planning.

Thanks everyone for your help! This is great feedback I appreciate it!