We will be catching a train from Paris to Munich with a change in Stutgart. The price varies by upwards of $50aud each depending on connection times.

That is, an 8minute conncection is cheaper than the 15minute connection and so on.

If its like for eg. Gare du Nord in Paris I'm sure 8 minutes would be fine, as in getting off one train and running around to the next. But I can't see if Stutgart is the same sort of set up or if we would need to get to a completely different area of the station.

We may have to change from a TGV it an ICE will that make any difference?

Also does it make a difference what site I book the tickets on? I've been using RailEurope.
Thanks as always.

Rail Europe is probably the most expensive place to buy the tickets - and may not list all of the train options.

Have you looked at bahn.de - the German Rail Site - to see what train/connection options there are and if there are any discounted fares available.

We had a short connection in Stutgart on the same route. I believe it was the eight minute connection, As it turned out the incoming connecting train was late, but we would have made it if it had been on time. I talked to one of the conductors about which track we needed to get to and the quickest way to get to it. He was very helpful. both trains were in the same general area.

I booked on Bahn.de and had no trouble. We booked well in advance and got a discounted fare. I believe u can book 90 days in advance to get the lowest fares.

Here is a floor plan of the Suttgart main station http://www.nshispeed.nl/en/stations/...n_maps_germany It looks pretty straightforward.

You will not have any trouble IMO unless there is a late train (yours).

Get your tickets through the Bahn site, not RailEurope.

You can probably take a later train if necessary; although you can reserve seats on ICEs they are not always all reserved and you can sit in un-reserved ones.

1. You should book at http://www.bahn.de/en (the German Railways website)as this cuts out the middle man and all their fees. Prices start from €39 per person with no fees. You'll usually print your own ticket.

2. Book the 8 min connection. If you buy this as a through ticket from bahn.de, you are definitely covered by International Conditions of Carriage (CIV) and if you miss it becaue the first train is late you can simply get the next train onwards at no extra cost.

Physically changing only takes 90 seconds, it's the risk of late running that is the issue, NOT the physical getting off one train and on another.

Man in seat 61 - if RailEurope is a rip-off why do you have a commercial link to it on your site and presumably profit off the rip-off pricing?

Just curious as seems to be a bit hypocritical?

Oh BTW Man in seat 61's commercial site, which I think is simply terrific and recommend all the time in my rail posts, is www.seat61.com - a wealth of great info in addition to a plethora of commercial links to firms like RailEurope and their ilk.

Be careful about tight connections in Stuttgart currently - better, avoid having to change there altogether. This week another IC train has jumped off the track, it's the third time in a row. They still have not solved the problem, and there are delays and detours that also affect some long-distance trains. Nobody knows yet how long this will take.

I'm on the route tomorrow, on an IC train, let's see how it goes.

Thanks so much, I'll be sure to use the Bahn site.

PalenQ, Rail Europe links appear along with many others on my site, as one way to buy tickets. Their links almost always appear with words of explanation before or after it about the pros, cons and alternatives.

...And come to think of it, I've lost count of the times my site says that (for example) it's better to book the Elipsos Trenhotel from Renfe.com for €74 (from whom I get no commission as they don't run an affiliate scheme) than to buy from Rail Europe (who have an affiliate scheme so pay commission, but in this case suppress the 'prems'/'Mini' fare) for €179. The same when i tell people to buy Italian tickets from www.trenitalia.com.

So if I really AM trying to be 'commercial' and 'hypocritical' I'm making a really bad job of it!

Man it is just surprising that you would sell and make commission on some way overpriced ticket - so I do understand the only reason you have RailEurope link is to make money off folks blindly buying an overpriced ticket?

You do have lots of advice like you say about cheaper options for the same ticket but why have RailEurope at all is the question - just to make money - and that is fine with me - but still smacks of hypocrisy to me.

And again as you will know I constantly recommend your site in dozens and dozens of rail posts and will continue to do so.

2. Book the 8 min connection. If you buy this as a through ticket from bahn.de, you are definitely covered by International Conditions of Carriage (CIV) and if you miss it becaue the first train is late you can simply get the next train onwards at no extra cost.>

What if the train is only one minute late? Do these rules still apply?

As quokka mentions, Stuttgart station is a mess at this point due to major construction work that has caused a whole series of trains to derail (at very low speed, nobody hurt, nothing to worry about), so expect to be delayed. 3 ways to mitigate:
1) Book a through ticket on bahn.de (this will most probably be the cheapest), to ensure that you are not asked to pony up additional fees for taking a different train if you miss your booked connection
2) Don't book the last connection of the day, to avoid being stuck in Stuttgart overnight
3) Adjust your train choice to lengthen the layover time in Stuttgart - bahn.de gives you the option of doing so.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Thanks one and all. Will definately purchase on the bahn site, at this stage I can't as we are travelling on Dec. 20 and its only up to Dec 8.

But thanks for all your great advice.

When you miss a connecting train due to late arrival of the first train and you have discount tickets restricted to specific trains, you need to see the service counter of Deutsche Bahn in the station first to get your tickets validated for the next possible connection..
Don't just hop on the next train.

Thanks, good to know Cowboy1968.

Yes very good info to learn for anyone using the Wunderbar discounted tickets! And try to leave as much time in between trains as possible as there are so so many trains to chose from - having to go to a ticket windcw in German stations IME can mean a very long line!

Just some hair-splitting correction:
For this matter you don't need to line up at the ticket window but go to the general information desk (called in "German": ServicePoint) which exist at least at all major stations like Stuttgart.