In July, we will be traveling through Europe by train mostly. I wondered what places of note or sites we would pass by on our trains. Natural beauty and places of historical importantance are especially interesting to our group. Thank you for your help. 1. Paris to Cologne 2. Cologne to Amsterdam 3. Prague to Budapest
4. Budapest to Munich
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33848 posts
You will be passing a lot, too much for me to put down in 140 or 10x140. Can I suggest you go to the Bahn website (see sticky at the top under travel) and pull up some trains on those routes. When you look at the detail of those trains (click on the >) you are given a button for a map. That will show, generally, the route and major towns passed. Happy planning...
Posted by
San Diego, CA
638 posts
I would tell you but I'd hate to ruin the suprise!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
After looking at some routings on the Bahn website, a lot of routes from Paris to Köln go by either TGV or ICE to Mannheim, followed by an IC to Köln. Details of the connection from Mannheim to Köln show that it goes via Koblenz, which means that it follows the middle Rhein from Bingen, Bacharach, and St. Goar. This is the most scenic section of the Rhein, with the castles and vinyards up the side of the narrow gorge. You might even want to leave the IC in Mainz and do the rest of the trip by slower, regional train so as to enjoy the scenery longer.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
"Details of the connection from Mannheim to Köln show that it goes via Koblenz, which means that it follows the middle Rhein from Bingen, Bacharach, and St. Goar." That doesn't seem correct. I have never seen an ICE traveling along the Rhine, and I don't think the tracks along the river can support it. More than likely, it travels along a straighter track through the Taunus mountains. ICE trains from Mannheim often also run through Frankfurt and from there through Limburg, Montabauer and/or Bonn. You can't really see that much from the train, and it goes through tunnels frequently. There is a scenic castle on a hill in the middle of Montabauer, and the cathedral in Limburg also sits prominently in the middle of the city. Overall, though, there's not too much to see from the train.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
'Details of the connection from Mannheim to Köln show that it goes via Koblenz, which means that it follows the middle Rhein from Bingen, Bacharach, and St. Goar.' If you are going to quote me, quote me accurately. I said, "a lot of routes from Paris to Köln go by either TGV or ICE to Mannheim, followed by an IC (note I did not say ICE) to Köln." Of 7 trains leaving Paris by 9:09 to getting to Köln by 19:05, 3 go by Thalys through Brussels, 4 go through Mannheim. Half of the connections from Mannheim to Köln are IC type (IC or EC) and take the route down the Rhein gorge from Mainz to Koblenz. You don't have to take that route, but there are a couple of possibilities and the scenery is (IMO) more interesting than any other route. By the way, the detail route plan for the IC/EC shows Mainz to Koblenz. According to the Bahn's IC/EC Streckennetzplan, there is only one IC/EC track between Mainz and Koblenz.