Train from Paris to Koblenz

Trains to Saarbrucken leave from Gare De L'Est (East Station). To get to Koblenz from Saarbrucken with a stopover at Moselkern, take a connection at Trier to a Regional Bahn to Koblenz that makes all the stops, basically one per hour from Trier. Do not take on IC train which skips all the smaller towns.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?ld=96235&seqnr=16&ident=ao.024690235.1351833939&rt=1&rememberSortType=minDeparture&REQ0HafasScrollDir=2

Wow! Thanks for all the info. Yes, Glenn, packing Light is high on our list. Already thinking of how to do this. Kind of excited by the challenge too. :) so, I should do some comparing of whether the Eurail pass will be the way to go or not.. unless we go to the Eurail Global.. and I think that means lots of countries. we are mainly planning to use it for travel in France to Germany and around Germany. As far as booking early, you can all see I'm doing my research early so guess what... I'll be booking that early too. :) Thanks for all your advice. Anyone ever stay at MoselKern? I thought that might be a possibility.

Something to pre-plan: most European train fares go on sale online 90 days before travel and booking in advance can save an awful lot of money. The cheap fares are limited to specific trains though and if you miss the one you booked you have to pay full fare. The cheapest fares for journeys involving Germany are usually online from the German rail official site at www.bahn.de, but also try www.tgv-europe.com to see if French rail is offering any better.

Yep, what Sam and Philip said...good advice...
I did the reverse trip in 2006...left Koblenz and went to Paris, arriving, as Sam suggests, at Gare de l'Est. Great journey, especially travelling through the Mosel river valley. With respect to the train systems, a highly recommendable site to check out is The Man in Seat Sixty One, which tells you virtually everything you'll ever need to know about travelling by rail in Europe, how to purchase tickets, etc, etc

Thank you Sam, Philip & Glenn. See, I knew others would know how to help me. :) Each one of you helped a lot. Thanks Sam, Now, I'll find where Gare De L'Est station is in Paris. :) Philip, do I need to go through the websites you mentioned if we have a Eurail Pass? Do we need to make reservations? I'll check out The Man in Seat Sixty One. Sounds interesting. Glenn, since you did the exact same trip but back in 2006, did you have to change trains lots of times or only once. I don't want to make it more complicated for us. Going down the Mosel was why I thought this might be an option. The thought before had been to go to Cologne and down the Rhine but I thought i'd like to see the Mosel. We'll be doing the Rhine too from Koblenz to Mainz. supposed to be the most scenic part.

Check out Andre's recent post that France will no longer participate in Eurail Pass after July 1, 2013. I do not know for a fact, but I'd check with eurail before purchasing. Gare de L'Est is a couple of blocks from Gare du Nord. Purchase your Paris-Saarbrucken ticket 90 days in advance to get an ICE or TGV fast, direct train for a good price.

SNCF (French National Rail) has just announced that starting in 2013 it will no longer honor Eurail Select passes. It will continue to honor Eurail Global passes. If you book well in advance (up to 92 days allowed) on the German Rail site, you can get a discount fare as low as €39.00 for Paris-Koblenz (one connection in Saarbruecken). The standard 2nd class fare is €103.00. The train does not stop in MoselKern.

Shelley, there are several things you need to consider. It looks like your most likely connection, particularly one that has the discounted fare, is a TGV or ICE to Saarbrücken, then a Regional Express (RE) to Koblenz. However, only "milk run" Regional Bahn trains (RB) stop in Moselkern, so you would have to transfer from the RE to an RB somewhere (Cochem, Wittlich). I know Moselkern does not have lockers in the station. You probably don't want to carry your luggage to Burg Eltz. There are some small hotels in Moselkern; you might get one of them to let you leave your luggage there. I also don't believe there are lockers in Cochem (DB says no). There are lockers in Koblenz. You might want to take the RE all the way to Koblenz, stash your luggage there, and come back on an RB to Moselkern.

Shelley, when I did the trip, I took the IC ( Inter City ) train that had limited stops, and didn't change trains at all. I actually started my journey in Amsterdam, and traveled ( not all in one day though) from there to Cologne and then down the Rhine valley to Koblenz, staying the night in Koblenz before carrying on to Paris. Is this your first trip to Europe? How long are you going to be there, and how much train travel do you anticipate? I ask as I've used Eurail passes in the past ( 5 day Flexi pass in 2006, and a Global pass in 2009 ) and to be honest, point to point may be a better option, depending of course how much traveling you'll be doing. Some routes, and some trains( eg ICE trains) may require a reservation, even if you have a Eurail pass.If your schedule is going to be set before you go, Philips earlier advice regarding booking in advance can save you tons of money. This past Sept/Oct, I traveled from London-Paris by train( Eurostar), Paris-Interlaken Switz by train, Basel-Edinburgh by air(easyJet), and Edinburgh-London by train. Because I booked everything 2-3 months in advance, I was able to get cheap rates...all that travel came to $300 Can. A final suggestion...if you're new to Europe travel, and need a good starting point on how to "do Europe"...I, and many others here, highly recommend Rick's Europe Through the Back Door . The single best investment a new traveller to Europe can make, IMHO

Oops...I forgot another piece of advice...lol...PACK LIGHT PACK LIGHT PACK LIGHT!!!! Read Rick's comments under the "Travel Tips" section, and take them to heart...seriously

We did this same trip in 2010, using the same methods suggested here: leave from Gare de l'Est to Saarbrücken, change there for the RB along the Mosel. We chose to stop in Zell for the night, which I would recommend for its slightly reduced tourist crowds. We stayed at Schloss Zell and had a fabulous meal in their grape arbor and stayed in a great family suite for 4 in the Schloss tower for €160 (my birthday splurge). The next day, we took a short train ride to Koblenz, dumped our luggage in a locker as Lee recommends, and spent a lovely day sightseeing along both rivers unencumbered by our baggage. came back, picked up our bags and our next train and off we went. It was a wonderful couple of days. Eta: if you decide to do this, the nearest train stop to Zell is Bullay. You could mess around with buses from there, but it's only 3 km to Zell. We just called a cab and it was a cheap and short ride. We loved the Schloss, pm me for pictures if you're interested.

Shelley, A couple of comments regarding this post and your other Thread about Hotels. If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door. It provides a lot of good information on "how" to travel in Europe, and includes things like packing and rail skills. The country specific Guidebooks provide more detailed information in sightseeing, hotels, transportation, etc. Rather than posting transportation or lodging suggestions for each segment of your proposed trip, it occurred to me that it might be easier if the group had another Thread with a more complete idea of all the places you'll be visiting. That would make it easier to "connect the dots". If you've already done that, I haven't seen it yet. Based on your other post about Hotels, you could stay in Cochem. What price range are you considering for the Hotel? The train from Paris Est to Cochem will be about 3H:46M, with at least one change in Saarbrücken. One final comment. Hiking is the easiest and cheapest way to reach Burg Eltz. If you're looking for other transportation, the options become a bit more "complicated". Cheers!