Europe destinations via train

There are direct night trains from Paris to Vienna, more information can be found on www.nightjet.com

Vienna to Prague is an easy trip, there are frequent direct trains between the cities.

The most direct route to Vienna passes through Strasbourg, Munich, and Salzburg, all worth a stop,

The fastest route between Paris and Vienna takes you to Strasbourg, then across southern Germany (through Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and Munich) and on through Austria (Salzburg and Linz). That route is a bit over 10-1/2 hours altogether.

A slightly longer route heads from Strasbourg up to Frankfurt, then through Wurzburg, Nuremberg, Regensburg and Linz. That takes about an extra hour.

Traveling to Dijon and Mulhouse, then through Switzerland (Basel and Zurich) rather than Germany. Is also possible. Upon leaving Switzerland you'd go through Innsbruck, Salzburg and Linz. That trip would take longer. I suspect the fare might be higher because Swiss trains are costly on a per-mile basis.

There are worthwhile stops along all three routes. It's a matter of what sort of experience you want.

There's a potential to save quite a lot of money on the train tickets if you buy them early.

Vienna to Prague takes 4 to 5 hours by train.

Poland is a large country with many attractive cities. Trains tend to be not as fast as those farther west, but they are also much less expensive (or were at the time of my 2018 trip).

We're okay for about 3-4 hours on European trains usually--around 200 miles. Otherwise, we're taking one fo the budget European air carriers. Paris to Munich by train is more expensive than flying, and it takes 5.5 hours--changing trains in Stuttgart.

On trains, we like to travel in straight lines from city to city. Like from Munich to Salzburg to Vienna. And then from Vienna to Prague. But to travel from Prague to Krakow is an 8 hour train ride or buses plus trains--difficult. Flights are from $135 and 1 hr.

These are all great European cities and well worth seeing. We've been to all except Krakow a few times.

We also limit the length of our train journeys in Europe... in our case it is about 6 hours. Unless you have a great deal of time to spend. I always feel rushed if it is a a pause on the way to the "big" destination.

For the first leg, go to Strasbourg. It’s only 2 hours. The town itself, Colmar, perhaps the wine villages. Slightly farther could be Gengenbach, a nice town across the border in Germany. Also Baden-Baden is a possibility

It's a bit of a side trip, but a recent discovery for me is Slovenia. A trip there will take you south from route to Vienna, but I think it's worth it. I strongly recommend Lake Bled. It's an Alpine area, but it hosts half the tourists of Switzerland. Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, is a slice of urban paradise.

I also recommend Prague and Krakow once you get to Czech Republic and Poland.