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Seemingly strange route from Paris to Bern?

  • 28 December 2023
  • 3 replies
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A

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

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Best answer by thibcabe 28 December 2023, 02:09

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T
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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.

A

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

 

thanks

T
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Userlevel 7
Badge +5

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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