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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

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.


I appreciate it! does the Eurail global pass cover the trains within France that you described above?

 

thanks


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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