Air or train to Munich from Paris

Look at German wings, Condor, Ryan air, air berlin, etc. Sometimes you can find hot deals on airfare, sometimes the train is cheaper. You just never know.

We opted to travel via train for a one-way trip from Munich to Paris this August. It was ridiculously cheap - 118 EUR for my family of 4 (kids age 6 and 9) for a non-stop high speed TGV booked on Bahn.com 90 days ahead of time. Even if the cost of a flight was similar, we still likely would have opted for a train since it eliminates the hassle of getting to and from the city centers and the airports.

Paul, My preference would be travel by train, as it's only about a 6-hour trip (depending on which train you choose). I really doubt that air travel would be much (if any) faster, by the time you include travel to and from the airports, check-in, security, waiting and the other usual air hassles. Which option is cheaper will depend to some extent on when you book. Those booking well in advance can usually get much cheaper tickets for both rail and air travel. Happy travels!

For train trips that are less than 6 hours, my preference is to take the train, because in my experience you spend about as much time "door to door" for short intra-European flights as you would on a 5 1/2 hour to 6 hour train ride. It's a pleasant trip, and if you're willing to catch the early train back, you can be in Paris by half past noon. Not too shabby.

Well it sounds like train might be best. Now I am running into airfare being less expensive than traveling by train. My dates would be from June 30-July 8. For our family of 3 it would be in the 600+ euro range. That seems high. Is there a best way to get less expensive train tickets?

Paul, Where are you researching your rail trips? For a travel date of 30 June, I noticed one fare for €69 PP for the trip from Munich to Paris (using the bahn.de website). I don't often buy tickets on the net, so hopefully one the rail experts can provide further information on the best options for your trip. Cheers!

Since I am originating in Paris can I book on the German site? I have been using the TGV France site which takes you to raileurope.com.

You do not need to go to the RailEurope site, don't enter your country as US ,, as they automatically reroute you to that site. I enter France myself, but many here use Antartica.

You can book both journeys with bahn.com, however, you won't be able to book ALL trains for the return trip from bahn.com, just some of what's available. But I quickly checked and the prices at bahn.com are still cheaper than at tgv-europe.com. To check prices for yourself, enter your country as the UK at tgv-europe.com, then when they ask you if you want to go to raileurope.co.uk or stay on tgv and book in euros, choose the latter option. On bahn.com I found a rate for 474 euro for 3 adults for both journeys. However I did this by looking up the prices individually, not choosing the "round trip" option. For some reason, bahn.com tends to charge more for round trips. It might indeed be cheaper to fly, but be sure you factor in additional luggage fees, extra transit costs to the airport, and that sort of thing before you decide which is actually cheaper. Unless one of the discount airlines is having a helluva sale, I doubt it will end up being much cheaper to fly when you factor in all the costs. In the future, the best way to get cheap train tickets on the TGV or Deutschebahn is to book 90 days in advance.

We just did this trip by rail and it was cheap, even got a deal on first class. If time is a constraint, try airfare. Our only complaint was the late arrival. I was not crazy about wandering around the train stations that late.