This summer we will be in Paris for several days and then hope to spend some time in the Loire Valley. What is the best way to get from Paris to the Loire Valley? Train? Bus? After the Loire Valley we hope to go to Switzerlandprobably Interlaken and then Zurich. Would it be easy to catch a train from the Loire Valley to Interlaken or would we have to return to Paris to catch a train to Interlaken?
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Seattle, WA
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Hi Lizanne, if you learn to use one of the European national rail website you can explore all your options. Others have recommended the German site, bahn.de, but I find the Swiss one (www.rail.ch) simpler to use. Trains run from Paris into the Loire Valley, topping at Orleans, Mer (Loir-et-Cher), Beaugency, Blois, and other towns. To tour around, you might want to rent a car (outside of Paris, maybe in one of the smaller towns) or pick a nice village as a base. From the Loire Valley you will need to return to Paris to catch a train to Interlaken, at least if you want to go by the most direct and simplest route. Most routes will take you from Paris to Basel by TGV, then from there to Interlaken area by Swiss train. The villages past Interlaken, such as Lauterbrunnen or the car-free villages of Mürren and Wengen have far more charm and scenery than Interlaken.