Travel from Basel to bayeux

Rick Steves, the newsboard you posted on has excellent free advice on trains in Europe. Please start with

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains

and then post here with questions. Rick has been doing this since he was an annoying teenager!

Good advice above from Tim. When you follow Rick's link for finding train schedules, you'll see that travel time is typically 6.5 - 8 hours with a change of trains and train stations in Paris. This is common in Paris, since different stations serve different parts of the country, and you must transfer between them by subway (for die-hard, single penny pinchers) or taxi (might cost 10 euros, more convenient for two people with luggage).

ThanksLaura any additional info from anyone?

ThanksLaura any additional info from anyone?

ThanksLaura any additional info from anyone?

"we have not traveled by train in europe". Have you travelled by train anywhere?
Sounds like you are totally "green" and want a basic primer on how trains work.

• Browse through the posts on this website.
• Look up times on http://bahn.de This is the most user-friendly timetable site.
• You need to get one train Basel to Paris Gare de Lyon, then cross Paris by métro (as the previous poster said), and another train to Bayeux.
• To get cheap fares, book in advance ON THE RAILWAY COMPANY WEBSITE (which is "SNCF" = Société nationale des chemins de fer, in this case), and book 2-3 months in advance (at least) to get the cheapest fares.
• Lots of posts on this website about the SNCF booking system, or look on http://seat61.com
• Trains are not planes, and stations are not like airports. There is no check-in, no security, nothing. You just walk in off the street and look at the departure board to find your train. It is your responsibilty to find the correct train and get you and your luggage on board before the train starts moving. There are no staff to help you.

There is a lot more to know about the SNCF ticketing system, but there are lots of other posts about it (or http://seat61.com ).

What additional information would you like?

To look at train schedules, use the Bahn website: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en,

following Rick's tutorial: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules

This will not have prices on this route, as it is entirely outside Germany. To get prices, look at the French rail website, http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers.

To learn more about trains in general, you can't beat The Man In Seat 61, as said above. Here's the direct link to his information page about French trains: http://www.seat61.com/France-trains.htm

Thanks Chris and Harold. Yes I am green when it comes to trains. With your suggestions I now know that it will be about a seven hour ride. We will have to transfer from Gare de Lyon to St Lazare. We will have 50 minutes to do so. Is that doable?

4 stops on the number 14 Métro from Gare de Lyon to its terminus at Saint-Lazare and then a short walk. The Métro portion should take about 14 minutes, but you also need to add in walking from your first train, finding the Métro entrance, buying tickets if you don't already have a carnet, waiting a few minutes for the Métro train, the 14 minutes' travel time, getting back up to the street and finding the platform at St Lazare, and getting onto the train.

50 minutes would be OK, if a tad tight, for me and I'm pretty familiar with the route.

50 minutes might be quite tight for a "green" Métro user, and a "green" train station navigator.

When I looked on the www.bahn.de website for some sample times for next year, an example is:

Basel SBB depart 10:34, train No. TGV 9210. Paris Gare de Lyon arrive 13:37
Transfer by métro, 50 minutes.
Paris St Lazare depart 15:10, train No. 3311. Bayeux arrive 17:16

So it recomends allowing 50 minutes, but in fact there is 1 hour 33 minutes between the trains, which should be OK.
There are many trains per day, the last one leaves Basel at 16:34, arrives Bayeux 23:07. It depends when you want to travel.

Nigel and Chris: Your posts were very helpful. I think I will take a taxi from Gare de Lyon to St Lazare. What do you think? I assume that there would be taxis available on the spot. With Metro. luggage may be an issue. Thanks

According to what Chris posted you actually have 1 hour and 33 minutes train to train. You might be able to make it with a taxi because you don't have to go down and up stairs, find the right platform, buy tickets, etc. The taxi ride itself will be longer than the 14 minutes of the metro ride, however.

Since you are a newcomer to trains, here's a video segment from Rick about some of the basics: http://tinyurl.com/ac82c92

Thanks to all for your help to a rookie. Could someone tell me the name of the train station in basel that has trains going to Paris. I understand there are two stations in Basel. Thanks.

There aren't two stations in Basel, there are three main stations, one for each of the countries served by Basel, which sits at the intersection of Switzerland, Germany and France.

Trains to Germany are served by the Basel Bad Bahnhof. Local trains into France are served by Gare Basle SNCF.

Trains into Switzerland, and major trains like TGV and ICE into France and Germany, and the Euro-City trains through Switzerland into Italy are all served by the main station, Basel SBB Hauptbahnhof.

So the station you will want is Basel SBB Hauptbahnhof - sometimes abbreviated as Basel SBB Hbf.

Interestingly, although the Basel Bad Bf is some distance away across town near the convention centre, the Messe, the French station is adjacent to the SBB station and is linked by a walkway and Customs post - it really is just a handful of platforms stuck around the side.

So, Basel SBB Hbf for you.

Thanks, Nigel. You will get me to my destination yet. Another question. I will be on a Viking River cruise coming from Amsterdam and ending in Basel. Do you, or anyone else have any idea where these River Boats dock. And where in relationship to the train station is the dock. Thanks

Maybe Viking can be more helpful than here. Have you contacted them?