Bahn train from Paris to Trier

It's definitely not sold out! First try to search for the legs separately: Paris to Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken to Trier... Alternative routings (although longer) might be Paris to Cologne, Cologne to Trier...

Thanks Andreas, we will try that or maybe just keep checking back, as the Rail Europe website (which I decided to check) says tickets are not available yet. Teri

Using the Bahn website for May 20, I get "Sale possible 92 days in advance at earliest", but for May 19, I find connections available. Most connections are not available for purchase online from the Bahn since they include legs entirely inside France. However, those that are available show fares and, as seat reservations are required on those trains, they are included. Are you sure you are using the German Rail (Bahn) website? I don't recall ever seeing a "no seats available on this train" message on the Bahn website. It might say "cannot be reserved" if it is a regional train. I can't emphasize this enough. If at all possible, Avoid using the RailEurope website for purchasing point-point tickets. They offer a limited selection of connections, almost always at higher standard prices, vs the national rail lines, like the Bahn.

We definitely used the Bahn website. In fact, we backed completely out, went back in again and went thru the entire process twice with the same result. We then tried Rail Europe (before we got your message not to use it, Lee). We decided to try going thru Luxembourg as it had 15 minutes to change trains rather than 8 minutes. We went thru the entire process and at the end it said "We are currently unable to complete the booking for one or more products in your shopping cart. Your credit card has not been charged. We assure you, we're working on your request and one of our Travel Consultants will get back to you within 2 business days by phone or email." So, now we are waiting! Does anyone have any idea what is going on? We have never traveled by rail in Europe before, and have heard how easy it is, but this has been anything but an easy process. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Teri

There are the same exact trains on the Deutsche Bahn site as what Rail Europe is showing you. Rail Europe does not have its' own trains. If you want to ride the train with 7 extra minutes to switch trains and leave a half hour early, traveling through Luxumbourg, this train is also listed on the DB site. Not quite sure why you aren't seeing these trains with the different times and routes.

The shortest trip, 3 hours, is with the 1 change in Saarbrucken. The 8 min. should be sufficient to switch trains, but if it isn't, there is a train about every half hour to Trier from Saarbrucken. I wouldn't sweat that part of the trip. Price with booking now, was about 44 euro I believe.

If there's a problem on the website (which is what it sounds like) you can always call the UK Bahn number and make your reservations over the phone. The number should be on the English portion of the Bahn.com website.

If we go thru Luxembourg, we would leave 1/2 hour earlier from Paris Est, have 15 min. to change trains and arrive in Trier about 5 min. sooner. On Rail Europe it is about $30 more than the Bahn site thru Saarbruecken where we only have 8 min. to change. Being novices, we weren't sure that would be enough time to find our way to another train. Is the ride thru Luxembourg any more scenic? Thanks again for your help. Teri

After the holiday weekend was over, I called RS office, as the reason for the train ride was to connect between two RS tours. They told me "don't wait for Rail Europe to call you, just call them and cancel if that is what you want to do, and then try the Bahn site again as there is no reason why it shouldn't be working". We followed their advice and now have our tickets in hand thru the Bahn site, thru Saarbruecken. No one had an explanation why both sites responded to our request the way they did on Saturday. Thanks again to everyone for your help! Teri

Hi, No need to go through Luxembourg, I wouldn't. Get the tickets for 2 separate legs, Paris Est-Saarbrücken, (I took this route in 2009), and Saarbrücken-Trier. Most direct, as others have pointed out above. If you want to transfer in Lux, you can take the TGV to Metz, nice station there, and then transfer.