train travel help in germany
 

i will be visiting freiburg germany for work and would like to visit venice and paris on my weekends. Someone here suggested using bahn train for paris and taking bahn train to stuttgart airport for cheap flights by TUI.
it seems a bit expensive.
Is there a pass i can buy for bahn that would allow me to take 10 or so rides for cheap within germany and to paris by bahn train?
is there any other cheaper option?
bahn site seems a bit confusing.

I'm starting to think you are a troll with all the Qs you're asking here (bathrooms in Europe???).

Die Bahn is the official name of the German Rail.

What is expensive (the TUI flight)by your standard, if you're worried about paying for public bathrooms?

There's no cheap way to go from Germany to Paris, unless you take local regional trains thru-out Germany and France. That'll take more than a weekend to achieve it.

ha ha not a toll just naive. i am sorry it so sudden that this trip came up and i have little time left to do much research and every site i go to seems totally confusing to me. I appreciate you answering my questions.
When i said "what to do when you don't have money for restrooms" i meant if you run out of change and have to pee not that i am too broke to pay to pee. I was surprised when i realized that bathrooms are paid.

TUI flights actually seemed cheap but getting to stuttgart airport for TUI seems almost as much as the flights if not more.
thanks anyways

The Bahn shows a Europa-Spezial Frankreich fare of €78 round trip from Freiburg to Paris via Mannheim by ICE, but I couldn't find a day in April when they aren't already sold out. I was able to find, however, an available fare of €138.

yes thats what i saw and thought it was pretty good. But then i thought that if i am going to use bahn to go to stuttgart airport and around germany too, then why not find if there is any discounted pass available.

The relatively new France-Germany flexipass, good for up to ten days of unlimited travel over a two-month period (i think) would be the only pass to cover both France and Germany

Paris is just over 4 hours from Germany now i believe by the new TGV-Est bullet train


www.whichbudget.com for cheap flights if any to Venice - consider Frankfurt - hahn, Stuttgart and regional airports as well or even Mulhouse-Basel airport

Yeah, the Germany-France flexipass. I guess I just don't think outside German Rail. At $496 for 6 days, if you use two for a RT, that's $160 per trip, less than the €138.

On the other hand, if you could get it for €39 each way, that's the best.

The pass probably won't work for Freiburg to Stuttgart because you could use a Ba-Wü-Single for €18. Takes an hour and a half longer but the savings...

ok not sure what Ba-Wü-Single is. help me out here.
what is the best way/place to look for special fares and discounts?

Read Larry's and TimS' posts and ask them

or go to www.bahn.de

I think he's talking about the Baden-Wurrtemburg (sp?) single Regional pass - good on regional trains and most urban transport but not on fast Inter City trains

Usually a great deal if you are traveling within one region for the day like you are apt to from Freiburg - buy those at stations in Germany

But scour bahn.de for SPAR fares or huge discounts over full fare which can be shockingly high

Freiburg is less than 30 minutes from Basel by train. From there you can get a direct TGV to Paris. Pretty simple to do from where you are. If you book in advance you can probably get a TGV Prem fare which will be quite reasonable.

For Venice, again check Basel to fly out of. Why take a train all the way to Stuttgart to then have to wait for a plane. I can't see how Stuttgart would be cheaper but then again I have never flown into Venice.

isn't basel in swiss teritorry? i don't have a swiss visa and thats why not considering basel.

Reb,

Oh well thats a shame. I see now. You have no Swiss visa? But, you are going into Germany, France, and Italy?

Do you have visa's for those countries?

Switzerland has entered the Schengen Accords for Visa-free travel inside the many countries in the accord

Has it not taken effect yet - thought Jan 1 it started and though there were still border checks perhaps Visas no longer needed as long as you have one for a Schengen country?

i have the schengen visa which covers countries in EU.

OH REALLY??? that would be awesome.
Let me do some search on that.

no doesn't look like swiss is yet a part of schengen visa :(

swiss will join schengen visa on Nov 2008.

Most train connections from Freiburg to Paris go via Strasbourg. So you do not have to enter Switzerland or go via Switzerland to go to Paris.

Basel/Mulhouse airport has a Schengen and a Swiss section, so for flights within Schengen, you also do not enter Switzerland.
But it has also no flights to Venice, hence the idea of Stuttgart airport which does have a (low budget) non stop connection to Venice.