Good Morning Everyone, I am going to Europe next month. This is only my second time there and the first trip was on a cruise. The first leg of my trip will be flying to Paris and taking a train to Strasbourg. I am meeting my daughter there and going on to Bern, Salzburg, and Munich. If any of you are familiar with the train system and can give me advice on which websites I need to look at and if I should prebook everything or not, I would greatly appreciate your sending me a private email. Does anyone know how easy/hard it is to find the train at the airport in Paris? I realize this is not necessarily a DVHH question, but if any group could help me with navigating Europe, it would be this one :) Many Thanks, Eileen

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml I have found the train system to be well organized and very punctual. If it says the train leaves at 7:37.... it does. When you buy tickets, be aware they have 1st and 2nd class tickets and are very strict about what section you sit in. Just look for the number on the outside of the door and in the train cabs. You'll see either 1 or 2. Just pick a seat in that section. Also, keep your luggage to a minimum, because you will have to schlepp it around. When you switch trains, you sometimes need to change platforms. The passageways between platforms can either be underground or overhead. Either way, it involves stairs. Also, the step from the platform (which are numbered or have letters assigned to them) to the train is not always on a level plane. Each city may have more than one train station. Look for the appropriate names... for example... Neustadt Hauptbahnhof or Neustadt-Freiburg Bahnhof. They will print out a detailed itinerary for you if you ask them. FYI... platform 1A is different than platform 1B. I would travel like that again in a heartbeat. Enjoy the trip... Wish I was there! Rita > From: easimcox@gmail.com > Date: Sat, 10 May 2014 10:04:59 -0400 > To: donauschwaben-villages@rootsweb.com > Subject: [DVHH] Getting around in Europe > > Good Morning Everyone, > > I am going to Europe next month. This is only my second time there and the > first trip was on a cruise. The first leg of my trip will be flying to > Paris and taking a train to Strasbourg. I am meeting my daughter there and > going on to Bern, Salzburg, and Munich. > > If any of you are familiar with the train system and can give me advice on > which websites I need to look at and if I should prebook everything or not, > I would greatly appreciate your sending me a private email. Does anyone > know how easy/hard it is to find the train at the airport in Paris? > > I realize this is not necessarily a DVHH question, but if any group could > help me with navigating Europe, it would be this one :) > > Many Thanks, > Eileen > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Eileen, On our last German Holiday in 2012 my Wife and I used the Deutsche Bahn network on a Rail Europe, German Rail Pass. Valid for unlimited travel on 5 days in one month - midnight to midnight or 7pm to the following midnight for overnight services. The pass is also available for International European travel. I remember that there were also some "extras" - free or discounted river boat rides and bus passes - that we didn't use. We traveled 2nd Class on various trains (including ICE) from Frankfurt to Berlin, back to Mannheim, Heidelberg to Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern to Stuttgart via Mannheim and back to Frankfurt with minimal trouble at all apart from crowded carriages at peak times. I would second Rita's recommendation about luggage. We had 2 small/medium cases (packed to bursting point!) plus a backpack with the camera's and netbook, my Wife's large shoulder bag and a small cooler bag with water, sandwiches and fruit for the trip. It doesn't sound like a lot but when you need to keep track of everything, when you are looking for storage space in a crowded carriage and when you need to schleep it all quickly between platforms it can quickly become an issue. As Rita said the service is surprisingly punctual and even when they do have a problem they handle it superbly. Our ICE train from Kaiserslautern to Stuttgart originated in Paris and was a 1/2 hour late arriving. We had concerns that we would miss our connection in Mannheim to Stuttgart but the Conductor assured us trains would wait for connecting passengers. This was confirmed by a later announcement (in 3 languages) on the Train and a further detailed announcement as we were coming in to Mannheim informing us where our trains were and how to find them. Granted we sprinted for the next train but we really needn't have. In the end I think we were less than 15 minutes late in Stuttgart. On platforms that service ICE trains you will find a schematic of the train which indicates the number and type of carriages (Class 1, 2, Buffet, etc). This schematic will indicate where you should wait on the platform to board the correct carriage if you have a reserved seat. We found that the Schematics sometimes get turned around (for whatever reason!) and you are waiting at the wrong end of the train. Just something to note and beware of. In the end we didn't bother with booking seats. We invariably had trouble finding them and when we did someone would already be sitting in them. For all of that we would highly recommend the German Train Network. It was an adventure and an excellent way to see the country and meet the people. Wishing you a safe and happy trip. kind regards, Reinhold & Monique Schutz Geelong, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rita Schiwanowitsch" <schiwanore@msn.com> To: donauschwaben-villages@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2014 12:21:03 AM Subject: Re: [DVHH] Getting around in Europe http://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml I have found the train system to be well organized and very punctual. If it says the train leaves at 7:37.... it does. When you buy tickets, be aware they have 1st and 2nd class tickets and are very strict about what section you sit in. Just look for the number on the outside of the door and in the train cabs. You'll see either 1 or 2. Just pick a seat in that section.. Also, keep your luggage to a minimum, because you will have to schlepp it around. When you switch trains, you sometimes need to change platforms. The passageways between platforms can either be underground or overhead. Either way, it involves stairs. Also, the step from the platform (which are numbered or have letters assigned to them) to the train is not always on a level plane. Each city may have more than one train station. Look for the appropriate names... for example... Neustadt Hauptbahnhof or Neustadt-Freiburg Bahnhof. They will print out a detailed itinerary for you if you ask them. FYI.! .. platform 1A is different than platform 1B. I would travel like that again in a heartbeat. Enjoy the trip... Wish I was there! Rita > From: easimcox@gmail.com > Date: Sat, 10 May 2014 10:04:59 -0400 > To: donauschwaben-villages@rootsweb.com > Subject: [DVHH] Getting around in Europe > > Good Morning Everyone, > > I am going to Europe next month. This is only my second time there and the > first trip was on a cruise. The first leg of my trip will be flying to > Paris and taking a train to Strasbourg. I am meeting my daughter there and > going on to Bern, Salzburg, and Munich. > > If any of you are familiar with the train system and can give me advice on > which websites I need to look at and if I should prebook everything or not, > I would greatly appreciate your sending me a private email. Does anyone > know how easy/hard it is to find the train at the airport in Paris? > > I realize this is not necessarily a DVHH question, but if any group could > help me with navigating Europe, it would be this one :) > > Many Thanks, > Eileen > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message