Can you take the high speed train from Mannheim, Germany to Strasburg, France? How long does the trip take? Would it be a good idea to make advanced reservations? We are hoping to go the last weekend in June. Thanks for any any all suggestions!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Go to www.bahn.de and click on the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner for English. After you get summary timetables for Mannheim-Strasbourg, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points. You'll see that if you go via Karlsruhe, the second leg will be on a TGV. However, going via Offenburg will be just as fast. You can safely wait to buy your tickets in Germany--or you can book now on the DB site if you're ready to commit to a specific date and time.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19095 posts
According to the Bahn website that Tim mentioned, some connections from Mannheim to Strasbourg take 1-1/2 hours.
I have been on the ICE from Mannheim (FRA, actually) to Karlsruhe twice. Once was the day after Christmas, a holiday in Germany. The train was packed, and we had to stand from FRA to Mannheim, but in Mannheim people got up to get off, and we got seats. Although every seat was occupied, less than half were reserved. We could have purchased reservations (€3 ea) when we bought our tickets at FRA and would have had seats.
The next time I rode that train was a normal day, and I asked at the ticket counter in FRA if I should get reservations. The guy said something like, 'if you want them'. I passed and I was one of maybe three people in the car. But that was in March.
I feel confident that if you buy tickets in Mannheim, you can get reservations.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
There are no high-speed tracks between Mannheim and Basel yet and therefore even though you can take an ICE train from Mannheim to Karlsruhe or Offenburg to connect to a regional train to Strasbourg (or from Karlsruhe a TGV to Strasbourg) they'll all be running at regular speed around 100 mph...
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19095 posts
If you go by TGV from Karlsruhe to Strasbourg, the train does not stop in Kehl.
The regional train from Offenburg (RB or OSB) does. Staying on the train from Kehl to Strasbourg Gare take only 12 minutes longer and costs €2,20 more.
The bus takes about 9 minutes to Aristide Briand. From there you would have to go by streetcar (probably more) to Strasbourg Gare. The entire trip takes half an hour.
So, if you want to go to Aristide Briand, the bus works, but to the train station in Strasbourg, stay on the train.
Posted by
Nice, France
49 posts
A tip:
look what is the price between Mannheim (or wherever you leave) and Kehl. It may be several euros less than a ticket to Strasbourg.
Kehl is a small town, just next to Strasbourg, but on the other side of the Rein. (that is, in Germany). You can come from Kehl to Strass with a local bus, 1,30 euros one-way... And they leave just next to the train station.