train travel in france, switzerland and germany

You need to determine you exact travel plans before you can decide if a rail pass saves money or not. Remember you have to pay a premium to use the pass on fast trains. If a reservation is required it will be required in either first or second class. You cannot get on a train and ride unless it has open seating.

"I want to then go to the south of France. I would like to see Scarlat, Carcassone and Provence. How do I do that by train?" The German Railways site can provide itineraries: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en The French site purportedly provides fares within France if you can figure it out: http://www.sncf.com/en_EN/flash/ "I want to go to Zermatt, and then southern germany. Neuschwanstein castle, Rothenburg and end up in Berlin." FYI, N'stein and Rothenburg are some of the most heavily touristed destinations in Germany. N'stein is way off your route to Berlin. You might look into some other destinations on your way to Berlin that would provide a more authentic German experience and help you avoid the nose-to-bottom mooing that goes on in these places. Rothenburg is worthwhile but it seems like you should see something else too if you're in the area - Bamberg and Nuremberg come to mind.

Thanks Frank, My itinary looks like this: Paris - Amboise - 4 days Amboise - Scarlat - 1 day Scarlat - Carcassone - 1 day Carcassone - Arles - 1 day Arles - Nice - 1- 2 days Nice to Zermatt, Switzerland - 2 - 3 days Zermatt - Neuschwanstein - 1 day Neuschwanstein - Rottenburg - 1 day
Rottenburg - Berlin - 1 day

Thanks Russ, I do need help with the south of france. I went to the BAHN website and started an itiniary and saw that the train from AMBOISE goes through Bordeaux to Sarlat. Is there more to see there than other places I have chosen. What is out standing about Bordeaux? We don't drink wine. Mainly want to see beauty and history. Also the BAHN train site lists the standard fare the trip from Paris- Amboise as 15 E and Amboise to Sarlet - 15 E. Is that correct?

Suzy - You don't have 15 days of long haul train rides in your interary, so a railpass will not be your best deal, particularly since such a huge chunk of your trip is in France, which requires extra reservation fees for the high speed (TGV) trains regardless of what class you're in. Reservations are not needed in almost all German trains save for the ICE-Sprinter (which is easily avoidable). Don't know about Switzerland. My advice is to either go for a shorter day railpass, or price out point-to-point tickets if you're really interesting in saving money. Railpasses are generally good values when a) you're covering long distances on high speed trains and b) you're traveling in countries that do not require extra reservations on high speed trains (Germany, Austria - maybe Switzerland?) You can use both regional and high speed trains with a pass.

Thanks Sarah, I am trying to price out point to point and having no success with the SNCF site. THe Bahn site seems to be working, but 15 E for a 5 hours trip from AMBOISE to Scarlat doesn't seem right?? Suzy

Suzy: Assuming that Scarlat = Sarlat-la-Canada, in the Dordogne region: If you want to see some of the sights of the Dordogne and do not want to drive, you might consider hiring a driver. Bicycles might be an option too, if you can find them. You have some long travel days, plan accordingly. Reservations are required for all seats of all classes on TGV trains.

Thanks Adam, I want to do the bike ride in Sarlat or the canal trip. But, I am having a difficult time getting schedules and prices on the French trains. The Bahn site is the best, but not much help in France. Suzy

Paris to Amboise is very doable as planned. But the Amboise to Sarlat, to Carcassonne, to Arles at one day each is going to be tough if not impossible to achieve especially by train. The Dordogne/Languedoc area is best done by car and with more days. However, Provence is much easier to do by train.

Thanks Just Travel. I will research PROVENCE. Which is the best website to get information on the French Trains. I found Voyages-SNCF.com. Will this one get me the lowest price?? Suzy

So I found the web site Voyagers-SNCF.com and priced out train rides individually as I was directed and got up to 800 euros with going from paris - tours; tours to sarlat; sarlat to carcassone; carcassone to nice; and nice to zermatt and still needed 2 -3 more stops in germany. So the 3 country pass for 15 days and traveling every day for only $1315.00 for two people. Wouldn't that be the cheapest way to go? Suzy