3 of us have only one week to travel, July 5-11. We plan to start in either Munich or Dusseldorf see a little of Germany & then visit Normandy. Itinenary suggestions based on your exeperiences are what I am anticipating! Do we need to book different trains to cross from Germany to France? Which train site would be best to use?
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
If you aren't leaving from Duesseldorf and arrive at Est or Lyon in Paris: Gare de l'Est: walk to Magenta RER station as Tim suggested for Nord. Gare de Lyon: take Metro Line 14 direct to Saint-Lazare.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
You need to book both legs of travel around 90 days in advance to get cheap fares (but be aware that these are valid on a single train only and if you miss it you will have to pay full fare again). Book your travel from your last stop in Germany to Paris at bahn.de. Depending on where in Germany you are travelling from you may end up at one of three Paris stations: Gare du Nord from northern Germany, Gare de l'Est from the south, and possibly Gare de Lyon if your best route takes you via Switzerland. You then need to cross Paris by metro/RER or taxi to reach Gare Saint Lazare where trains to Normandy leave from. Book your ticket from Paris to Normandy using tgv-europe.com. Claim to be from an English-speaking country other than the US to avoid getting redirected to the overpriced and limited-coverage raileurope.com, and ask to collect your ticket in Paris. Leave at least an hour, or ninety minutes to be safer, to cross Paris in case of delays buying tickets or on the metro. If you leave Germany in the morning, you'll have time to get a sandwich or something for lunch on or close to Saint-Lazare in the extra time.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Oh, and even if you leave somewhere close to the French border, you'll probably have to spend all day travelling. Unfortunately I've done some searching and it doesn't appear as if any of the airports in Normandy have scheduled flights to anywhere in Germany.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Philip has given you good advice. Use the bahn.de site to get detailed timetables for Duesseldorf to Bayeux. You'll see that your best route is Duesseldorf-Koeln-Paris-Bayeux. If you're willing to depart at 05:45, you won't have to connect in Koeln. Book Duesseldorf-Paris at bahn.de up to 90 days in advance to get a discount fare as low as €35.00. Book Paris-Bayeux at tgv-europe.com up to 90 days in advance to get a discount fare as low as €15.00. You will arrive in Paris at Gare du Nord. Take the RER E from Magenta (attached to Gare du Nord) one stop to Haussmann - Saint-Lazare. It's a 4-minute ride. Walk to Gare Saint-Lazare (3 minutes).