I understand we might be able to buy advance train tickets for a discounted cost. We will be traveling from Paris to Lucerne in August, and I must admit I am a little confused as to how to do that! I have been on the bahn site to check the times, and I see the Rail Europe site where I can buy tickets. But I'm not sure if Rail Europe is a third party site where I will incur unnecessary fees and I should be looking for a different site. We will be staying by the Notre Dame, so I'm also unsure what the best train station is for us to use. Any advice is truly appreciated. It's been over 20 years since I have traveled in Europe, and the last time I had a Eurorail pass and didn't need to worry about this!
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
2625 posts
You can save a considerable amount by buying your tickets in advance. You are committing to specific train departure to do this. You can buy right from the French rail site here: http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers.
There's single change trains that leave out of Gare de Lyon - not far from Notre Dame at all. You could take a cab...but we take the bus to get there - it's quick and inexpensive.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32213 posts
marcie,
Yes, you can buy tickets in advance, and some segments may be discounted. If one segment of the trip is via the French "TER" regional or similar trains, there won't normally be any discounts (at least not that I've found).
I'd suggest checking the Bahn.de website to find the combination of trains you want to use, and then go to www.captaintrain.com to purchase the tickets. They don't normally handle tickets for Swiss Rail but I've found that if the trip originates outside of Switzerland, you may be able to buy tickets for a trip to a Swiss destination. If Captain Train can only supply the French tickets, you may have to use SBB.ch to purchase the Swiss tickets.
Which train were you planning to use? Note that trains departing from Paris may leave from Paris Est or Gare de Lyon, so be sure to allow enough time to get from your hotel location to the appropriate station.
Posted by
Green Bay
20137 posts
I think the obvious choice is the TGV Lyria from Gare de Lyon to Basel changing to a train to Luzern.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32795 posts
An alternative is the TGV from Gare de l'Est to Strasbourg, TGV or TER to Basel, Swiss train to Luzern.
The train you take will determine the station at which you board in Paris. It is not possible to choose which station based on where your hotel is.
Paris is ringed with stations which all send trains to different parts of the country.