Train vs. Plane- Six of one, half a dozen of the other?

I would train it. you can arrive 5 minutes before your train will depart and be fine (but make it 15 to find your way) vs the 2 hours you need before your flight. Plus there is the time getting to & from the airport to city center, the waiting in lines to check bags, go through security, board...

Train...arrive at station, get on train, relax for 5 1/2 hrs! Have a beer or two, lunch, take a nap - arrive relaxed.

No brainer for me

Lisa,

I'd also suggest using the train, as it will be much more relaxing trip, and also probably cheaper and faster. Keep in mind that while the flight may only be 1.5 hours, you also have to allow for time to & from airports, check-in, security, waiting, boarding & deplaning, etc. The overall trip will probably be at least six hours.

You'll also probably find that your 'budget' flight won't be as cheap as you thought, once you start adding charges for checked luggage, something that won't be a concern with trains. Train may also be a bit faster, as you'd be using the IC trains in Germany and TGV for the France portion (which travels at up to 300 km/h).

If you want an afternoon departure, you might consider a train leaving Munich at 14:47, arriving Paris Est at 20:41 (time 5H:54M, one change in Karlsruhe). Using an arbitrary date, they currently have fares listed at €139.90 PP.

I'd take the train even if it clearly took longer (which I believe is not the case), because you absolutely, positively need to be in Paris for the beginning of your tour, and though a major disruption is unlikely in either case, I think the odds of a canceled flight are greater than the odds of a canceled train.

But I admit that I much prefer trains to the stress of figuring out how early I need to leave the city to get to the airport on time.

Figure like this. You can get to the station 20 minutes before departure, check the the big board for your train's departure platform, walk there, find your carriage, get on and take your seats. Ten minutes later, you're on your way to Paris.

Or, take the S-Bahn to Munich airport, about 45 minutes and be there at least an hour and a half before the flight, check bags, go through security, get to your gate, wait, board the plane. 1 1/2 hour later, land, wait, get off the plane, walk to luggage carousel, wait, pick up your bags, take the shuttle or walk to the train station, depending on what terminal ( I am assuming now it is CDG, but similar at ORY) and buy 10 EUR tickets and ride the train into central Paris, which takes another 45 minutes. Or take a taxi, similar time and a bit more money.

It will be about 5 hours all in all from city center to city center. So factor in the cost of getting to and from the airport, 20 EUR to 40 EUR per person for airport transfers depending on your mode.

It will be about 90 EUR per person if you get Sparpreis tickets as soon as they are on sale for your date of travel and take 5 1/2 to 6 hours. Early morning departures can be as low as 40 EUR per person.

Train is starting to look pretty good.

If it were me, I'd take the train, no question. Riding the train is part of the travel experience: You can look out the window and see things you haven't seen before. Airports and airplanes, on the other hand, look more or less the same the world over.

Plus on the train you can take stuff for a picnic including wine! There are several of you traveling together so one person can stay with the stuff and the others can wander thru the cars a bit.

This is going to be a great trip! You do want to travel on Sunday so you can settle in.

For me to start thinking about plane the train ride has to be over 7 hours. Let's say 7 hours is a distance between Prague and Budapest and I would still prefer train. But Budapest - Berlin plane would win. Paris - Munich less than seven hours by train, therefore train.

Train by a wide margin. You won't save that much time by air and there could be delays which are more difficult to resolve than train delays. And much less travel stress.

My cutoff is theoretically six hours, but I will happily spend eight on a train rather than fly.

Thanks everybody for your input! I was willing to fly if it gave us more Paris time and cost less. However, I'm not a fan of flying, so the train sounds great to me. One travel mate has extra luggage, so wanted the train for that purpose. The other travel mate doesn't want to waste any more time than necessary to get from point A to point B and figured flying was the best bet. So I appreciate hearing everybody's opinions!

Lisa

I don't accept the notion of no "right" answer. In your case I would take the train, obviously. Instead, I would board in Frankfurt Hbf rather than Munich, unless there is also a direct connection from Munich Hbf.

I would choose the train. Airports can be nightmares and you can't tell when a flight will be delayed or cancelled. Since your hotel is right by the train station in Munich, that will make it even easier.

Use the train time to read, look at the scenery, or write a trip report!