My husband and I will be traveling from Paris to Bochum Germany. After a short stay, we will then go on to Frankfurt in early August. What trains should we take and should we buy tickets in advance? Our 18 yr old son will be traveling with us back from Bochum to Frankfurt. Can we get a group ticket?
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Paris-Bochum: Your fastest route would be a Thalys train from Paris to Koeln and either an IC train or a regional train from Koeln to Bochum. If you book the Thalys train TODAY at either thalys.com or the German Rail site, you still may be able to get a discount fare. Book TODAY on the German Rail site to get a discount fare for Koeln-Bochum. Bochum-Frankfurt: If you will be traveling on either a Saturday or a Sunday and are willing to limit yourselves to regional trains, a €40.00 Schoenes-Wochenende-Ticket will cover all three of you. Depart at any time of day. If you will be traveling on a weekday and are willing to depart after 09:00 and take only regional trains, a €54.00 Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket will cover all three of you. Buy either ticket in Bochum. No discount for advance purchase. Your ticket is good on any regional train. See the German Rail site for detailed timetables for all your routes.
Posted by
OP
Auburn, Al, United States
2 posts
Hi Tim, Thank you for the great information.
We will be staying in the latin quarter near the Saint Germain area. Is there a train station closer to this area where we could board the train? What would the name of this train station be? Or do we need to go to the main station near the air port or city center? Nancie
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
There are six mainline train stations in central Paris. All Thalys trains depart from Gare du Nord so you'll have to go there if you choose to take a Thalys train to Koeln. Without knowing exactly where you will be staying in the Saint-Germain area I can't say for sure, but taking Metro line 4 to Gare du Nord could work well for you. For a zoomable map of the Metro and RER system, go here: http://tinyurl.com/6xmvms4.