First time to Europe we would like to take train from Colmar France to Turin Italy. What is the easiest and beautiful route. Trying to understand European train schedules seems some what daunting. Looks like changing trains three or four times with different types of trains. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Doug
Hi Doug,
Use the www.capitainetrain.com website for tickets. I did a random date in March from Colmar to Torino and saw only one transfer in Paris. That would be the "easiest". I do not know about beautiful. Sometimes beautiful means slower. FYI SNCF sells its tickets 3 months in advance at the earliest.
Travelling back to Paris and changing is one way, but is going a long way out of your way. My personal suggestion for a geographically direct route would be to go from Colmar to Basel in Switzerland (through train) and then from Basel into Italy. However, I don't know a great deal about Italian trains and don't know if you could buy that whole journey from one site, or if you'd have to do Colmar-Basel and Basel-Torino separately. I'd suggest going to the Swiss rail (SBB) website first of all and seeing if they can quote times and sell tickets.
OK, just tried the Swiss site at www.sbb.ch, and they can sell tickets for the whole journey. Example itinerary for tomorrow leaves Colmar at 0853 and arrives in Torino (use this spelling) at 1650 changing at Basel, Bellinzona and Milan. I think travelling via Paris would be just as long or longer, and you would have to cross Paris from Gare de l'Est to Gare de Lyon by metro.
"Trying to understand European train schedules seems some what daunting."
To find train schedules, use the Bahn (German Rail) website http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, following Rick's tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules
This site will only have prices for trains that start or end in Germany.
To learn more about European trains in general, you can't beat The Man In Seat 61. Here's his France page: http://www.seat61.com/France-trains.htm#.VMcedC4V6jA
Thanks for the information. What a great resource this forum provides.
Merci,
Doug
Surprisingly, rome2rio shows that for once it's faster to drive
Phred, yes, the trains through the Alps are slow but scenic. Car can be quicker, but if you are unlucky, at busy times there can be a 2+ hour delay to get through the Gotthard road tunnel.
But, the biggest problem with going by car from Colmar to Turin is that a hire car would have a humongous surcharge for a one-way rental, unless you drove it back to France to drop off.
Oh I am highly pro-train and would always suggest same, just surprised at the timings
