Salzburg to Paris Night Train

There is a direct CNL night train that leaves Munich at 22:43 and arrives in Paris at 09:23. It sounds like you have railpasses. If so, you can book your sleeping accommodations on the German Rail site and pay €65/person for beds in a 2-person economy double cabin. Choose your travel date and time and then click on "Book only extra charge." Since you will be departing after 19:00, the "pass day" you will enter on your pass will be your arrival day, 21 September. If you don't want to use another pass day to get from Salzburg to Munich, buy a Bayern-Ticket (€29 for 2-5 people traveling together) at the German Rail office at the Salzburg station and take a regional train, not an express train. If you don't have railpasses, you can get a Europa-Spezial Frankreich fare of €109/person for beds in a 2-person economy double cabin on the night train.

Thank you for the reply! What is the best way, then, to go from Salzburg to Munich? Should we buy single tickets to Munich, in order to not use another day of our Eurorail pass, or is there a pass that starts in Salzburg and goes to Paris, where we only use one day on our pass? Thanks again for helping!

If you want to only use one pass day, then you'll have to travel during the day. You can leave Salzburg at 07:51, connect in Stuttgart, and arrive in Paris at 16:34. Or leave at 11:51, connect in Mannheim, and arrive at 20:53. Or leave at 13:52, connect in Stuttgart, and arrive at 22:34. See the timetables on the German Rail site. Or do what I suggested in my first post: Buy a Bayern-Ticket to get from Salzburg to Munich. It's good on any regional train departing after 09:00 on weekdays (anytime on weekends).

If you take the day train route, with sufficiently advance purchase, you can get an Europa-Spezial ticket from Salzburg to Paris for as low as €39 per person.. and that included Salzburg to Munich by what ever train (regional or express) gets you there the quickest, with no 9 AM limit.

Brad, Since you have a Pass, take the RJ train leaving Salzburg for Munich at 19:02, gets into Munich at 20:34, no reservation needed for the RJ, then, as suggested above, take the CNL leaving at 22:43, and you'll be in Paris Est by 09:23. You need a reservation for the CNL. I would do it this way. Both legs are going to be on one Pass day since your first leg leaves after 19:00. Your Pass will be checked on both the RJ and CNL, where they are much more interested in seeing your mandatory reservation than seeing your Pass In June I took the CNL from Paris to Munich using a Pass, paid only 9 Euro for a seat in a compartment, slept upright, and got into Munich after 0700.

If I'm reading the rules correctly, then Fred is wrong about the RailJet leg using the same pass day as the CNL train. Yes, the RailJet departs after 19:00, but you will be changing trains before 04:00.

My understanding is that if you are taking a night train, write the next day on your Pass, which Brad's case he should write 9/21 since he is leaving after 1900 on 9/20. I did a similar ride in June, took the train from Berlin Hbf to Hannover Hbf, departing at 1919 and arriving at 2128, where I waited until 2216 to take the CNL to Paris, which arrived at Paris Est at 0923. I wrote the next day on the Pass, this was Sunday, 26 June, so since the first leg was after 1919, I wrote in the 27th. My Pass was checked on both legs, at neither time was anything mentioned to me. If I was in the wrong, I didn't know it, or they didn't know it, or didn't care. They did want to see the seat reservation for the compartment for the CNL. That was 9 Euro.

This from the Eurail website, www.eurail.com: The 7pm rule If you board a direct, overnight train (my emphasis) that departs after 7pm and arrives after 4am, then only the day of arrival is counted as a travel day. On your Eurail pass, you would write the day of arrival on the pass prior to boarding the overnight train. Also, from "Railpasses" above, "Using your rail pass": "If you're starting in a small town where the night train doesn't stop, you'll use a different day of your flexipass (or buy a separate ticket) to travel to the night train departure city (for instance, Füssen-Munich $30)". Fred, someone obviously cut you a break. You could have been fined for not having filled in the 26th on you rail pass. But note, if you are not using a night train, you can get a discounted Europa-Spezial ticket by day train all the way from Salzburg to Paris, using a TGV from Munich direct to Paris (or maybe one change in Mannheim).

Thanks all for the replies; great help. I think we'll take the night train from Munich to Paris, to avoid using a full day on the train. If we buy a Bayern-ticket at the German rail office at the salzburg train station, to go from Salzburg to Munich, is it euros 29 for 2-5 people total, or per person, to take the regional train? Can we buy that ahead of time, and what site is best to buy it from? What are our time options, to be able to catch the 22:43 train out of Munich?
Thanks again whoever replies! I look fwd to travelling enough to easily know the ins and outs to easy rail travel! (;

You can buy the Bayern-Ticket ahead of time, only from the German Rail website. But you can also buy it just before travel for the same price. The advance purchase version will have a date and only be valid on that date, and is non-refundable, so why do it. That's €29 for everyone, up to five people.