German Rail Pass & trip to Strasbourg

You just need to buy a ticket from the last German station.

I am guessing you mean change at Karlsruhe onto a TGV.
Most of the route from Karlsruhe to Strasbourg is in Germany. It is only the last ~3 Km after crossing the river Rhine that is in France.
You don't say which train this is, one it could be is the following:

Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf dep 13:52 ICE 107, Karlsruhe Hbf arr 14:56
Karlsruhe Hbf dep 15:12 TGV 9580, Strasbourg arr 16:01

If you click on the train number (TGV 9580) you can see all the intermediate stops:

Karlsruhe Hbf arr 15:04 dep 15:12
Baden-Baden arr 15:32 dep 15:34
Strasbourg arr 16:01 dep 16:15

Baden-Baden is the last German stop, so you need to buy, on the DB site, a ticket for that train from Baden-Baden to Strasbourg. That ticket will include the necessary reserved seats for France.

BUT - Most of the trains on that route are not TGV's, they are local trains which have more stops. For example they stop at Kehl, which really is the last German station. It is on the river acro9ss from Strasbourg. So a ticket from Kehl to Strasbourg would be a lot cheaper. You could even get off the train at Kehl and get a city tram to your destination in Strasbourg, not even going to Strasbourg station.

Edit: Equally, when you return across the river, you just need to buy a ticket at Strasbourg station to the first German station your train stops at.
I am slightly perplexed, why have you got a German Rail pass if you are going to be in France?

Thanks for your quick feedback. We're travelling to more places across Germany, but have this three days in Strasbourg on the trip, thus the German Rail Pass.

The actual logistics are:
9:52 - ICE 103 Frankfurt Flughafen, switch to 9574 in Karlsruhe to Strasbourg.

Should we just book the ticket to Kehl, then take local transportation into Strasbourg?

The actual logistics are:
9:52 - ICE 103 Frankfurt Flughafen, switch to 9574 in Karlsruhe to Strasbourg.
Should we just book the ticket to Kehl, then take local transportation into Strasbourg?

No! You don't need to do any booking for Germany, you have a pass. You DO need to buy a ticket FROM the last German station at which your train stops, to Strasbourg, on the specific train. That station is not necessarily Kehl, only local trains stop at Kehl.

I just looked up the 09:52 on the DB website (random date):

Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf dep 09:52 ICE 103, Karlsruhe Hbf arr 10:58
Karlsruhe Hbf dep 11:32 ICE 9574, Strasbourg arr 12:13

I then looked up the details for ICE9574:

Stuttgart Hbf dep 10:54
Karlsruhe Hbf arr 11:30 dep 11:32
Strasbourg arr 12:13 dep 12:19
Paris Est arr 14:05

I.e. it has NO intermediate stops between Karlsruhe and Strasbourg. If you want this train, you would need to buy a ticket from Karlsruhe to Strasbourg.
It would be cheaper to get a different train, which does stop at Kehl, then you only need to buy a ticket from Kehl.

Standard warning: If you are landing from an intercontinental flight at Frankfurt airport, are you sure you have allowed enough time for the flight being late, disembarkation and immigration?

You have a GRP, so you can take any train, as you don't know for sure that your flight will land on time, or you will get quickly through immigration and get your luggage and make it to the airport train station soon enough to make that 9:52 train. On the other hand, you could land early, breeze through immigration and be able to make an earlier train. But lets say you make the 9:52 ICE, stay on until Offenburg, then change to the local train to Strasbourg. It is a 1 hour change time there. The connecting train stops at Kehl on the way to Strasbourg, so just buy tickets for Kehl to Strasbourg at Offenburg station. Tickets cost 4.30 EUR pp. Now you are perfectly legal. You don't have to get off the train in Kehl, just stay on the local train to Strasbourg, The GRP is good to Kehl and you have tickets on you for Kehl to Strasbourg.

Thanks to all... this seems pretty simple stuff. We actually are arriving the night beforehand, so no rush to catch the train. I didn't want any stress on Day 1.

If you want this train, you would need to buy a ticket from Karlsruhe to Strasbourg.

Are you sure. The train from Karlsruhe is not a TGV but an ICE. So it may be enough to get the reservation in Frankfurt and to pay for the short leg from Kehl to Strasbourg. I'd ask at the DB desk in the airport.

If you are arriving at Frankfurt airport the night before, not sure why you choose an airport hotel to spend the night, but to each his own.

The ICE from Karlsruhe is nonstop to Strasbourg. Not sure if you can buy a ticket for Kehl to Strasbourg using an ICE, but ask. Maybe you can. Otherwise, it is 60 EUR for 2 from Karlsruhe including seat reservations.

Again cheapest solution is to go via Offenburg with an extra local ticket from Kehl on the SWE train. Gets you about an 50 minutes after the ICE would. Leave an hour earlier at 8:52, an extra train change at Mannheim (easy cross platform), and you get there an hour before. Have your Kehl-Strasbourg ticket bought before you leave Frankfurt as it is an 8 minute connection in Offenburg.

I guess if it's a multiperson pass then two days use could work out as a dollar advantage for the side trip. In summer, I'd really rather have a seat reservatiom. Since the flight arrival is the day before, you don't even need departure time flexibility. Advance purchase DB tickets can be very cheap. And it sounds like you're a planner!

Hi,

Yes, you can visit Strasbourg with just having a rail Pass valid in Germany. Take a ICE train to Offenburg using the Ger Rail Pass. Then, buy a s-Bahn ticket to get from Offenburg to Strasbourg. You're there. I woiuld tailor the rides in Germany instead of following exactly what DB says. If you have some time, tailoring is a lot easier too.

I would reserve the seats on the ICE going to Offenburg when you are in Germany. I'm not surprised that your e-mails have gone unanswered so far. I reserve my seats when using the Pass on the ICE or night trains when I get to Germany, not on-line unless it's a 92 day discounted ticket that I bought on-line.