My first time doing this. Traveling with my adult children, spending a few days in Paris then want to travel to Stuttgart via the train. What's the best way to do this? and then pick up a car rental in Stuttgart to drive through Bavaria onto Munich. Thanks for any help in advance.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
I am not sure what you want to know. If you are a newbie for trains, and just want to know how the system works, start by reading this webpage: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Paris.htm#Paris-Frankfurt
And the rest of that page and website.
Posted by
Green Bay
20031 posts
There are 5 direct trains daily from Paris Gare de l'Est to Stuttgart, taking a little more than 3 hours. Buy at www.bahn.com. Full fare is 136 EUR per person 2nd class, but you can get nonrefundable tickets for a lot less if you buy now.
Posted by
25 posts
This is exactly what we did. We choose one of the high speeds (we've used both the ICE and TGV now) and went to Stuttgart right through Strasbourg. I think it's worth it to spend a few hours in the city of Strasbourg (we booked a long connection on purpose - Strasbourg is amazing and the incredible old center and cathedral are an easy walk from the station). On one trip we rented a car and stayed in the Alsace area, and it was easy to put the luggage in the car at the rental agency, and go see the city. If you are storing luggage in Strasbourg for a visit without a car, you have to go to the luggage storage office in the train station up on the platform level, and pay per piece to leave them in the area. It's easy and not too expensive.
To get back to your question, we got to Stuttgart and picked up the rental car from Sixt right near the train station. Getting out of the city by car is a bit hairy, but we are from Los Angeles so traffic and freeways are 2nd nature to us. Once you are on the freeway out of Stuttgart, it was an easy drive through beautiful country to Munich with stops if you want, or a straight shot on through. We went to Schwangau and stayed near the castles and drove a loop through Austria to see Linderhoff and have a stop at Ettal for a peek at the monastery and a dünkel beir. We visited some other towns for a couple of days before dropping the car at the Munich train station. Personally, I wouldn't want a car IN Munich as there is no parking and all the cool stuff is either in a pedestrian zone or near a train or Metro station.