Seemingly strange route from Paris to Bern?

Question

Hi there,

i am looking to get a global pass this summer to travel from France-Switzerland-Germany-Netherlands, but have not purchased the pass yet.

while i am looking at train times between Paris and Bern it is seemingly taking a strange route that takes over 10 hours. this is confusing to me as on RailEurope, they show a train route that travels to Bern vis Basel sbb. wondering why this much shorter (4hour) route is not showing up on the train times page.

cheers

thibcabe · Accepted Answer

French timetables for this summer are not published yet. Check back in March-April. You can have a look at the current timetables, they shouldn't change much.

This journey is indeed possible in about 4h. Reservations are mandatory on French fast/high-speed trains limiting your flexibility :

- 10€ limited fare, then 20€ domestic jourmey

- 29€ TGV to Switzerland

If you wish to save money take the TGV from Paris to Strasbourg or Mulhouse and switch to a fast (200 km/h) regional train across the border. Extra change but it doesn't take much longer and trains are very frequent.

thibcabe · Answer

Yes all trains in France are included except :

- Ouigo low-cost high-speed and regular trains

- Frecciarossa

- Paris RER network

The vast majority of Swiss trains are included too. Most exceptions are railways to mountain peaks (25-50% discount). Boats on Lake Thun and Brienz are fully included, a great deal! :)

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