There is only one daily direct daytime train from München/Munich to Paris, but when looking up the journey you will see numerous other options which involve making connections.
Of those target the routings with only one change of train in Stuttgart.
On Mondays*, Thursdays* and Saturdays* a new Nightjet train provides an alternative direct connection between München/Munich and Paris; though it departs from München Ost, a secondary station in the city.
*= the train usually departs from München/Munich shortly after midnight, so the arrivals into Paris are later on Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings.
When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.
5hr 40min
Daily
1 x direct train per day
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Trainline ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option for: Comparing different train services; Booking international journeys with connections; Travelling between the UK to destinations beyond Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris - and for international travellers who don't reside in western Europe.
DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.
It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.
On journeys within Germany and on most international journeys from and to Germany on trains operated by DB:
When booking both types of the discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets seat reservations are an optional extra, so need to be added when booking if you want an assigned seat(s).
SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.
Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.
And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.
Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.
SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store
SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase
Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.
The three key advantages of using Omio are
The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.
Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.
HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.
Final Destination: Paris Est
The train also calls at: Strasbourg
This is now the only direct train from Munich to Paris.
It is usually scheduled to depart at the somewhat painfully early time of 06:51 daily
If you'd rather depart later from Munchen/Munich, then alternative connections are available into DB-SNCF trains from Stuttgart to Paris.
There are usually 2 x trains per hour from Munich to Stuttgart.
This is a journey of five distinct parts;
1: Between Munchen and Stuttgart there are pleasant views, particularly from the left of the train after departure from Ulm.
2: Between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, the train will spend around 20 mins on the high speed line, between the tunnels the railway crosses spectacular viaducts and the image at the top of the page was taken from one of these.
3. South of Karlsruhe the train initially travels on another high speed line, until it has passed Baden Baden.
4. The train then leaves the high speed line and makes it way, fairly slowly, towards the border with France, see if you can spot when you have left Germany behind, it won't be announced on the train.
5: Between Strasbourg and Paris, the train travels at up to 300 km/h on the fastest high speed line in France.
The train will reverse direction on departure from Stuttgart.
For this journey it can be worthwhile comparing prices across the agents, some may still have the cheapest discounted tickets available, when others have sold out.
Online bookings usually open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but this period of time is shorter when looking up journeys in August to October.
A choice of tickets
Three types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa
One type of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Europa.
A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:
The other key difference is that both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking, but both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date.
Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for Flexpreis Europa tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis Europa ticket and want to travel by a different departure you can refund it and then use the travel voucher towards the cost of the new booking.
Super Sparpreis Europa tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.
The Sparpreis, Flexpreis and Flexpreis Plus tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in Munchen city centre and Munchen Hbf.
Seat Reservations:
On this direct train seat reservations are mandatory so they are included when booking tickets.
On the other journey options which involve making a connection, reservations are mandatory on the train terminating in Paris, but are optional on the ICE trains from Munchen / Munich.
They cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class, though they are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.
Booking on the DB website
Journey options departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so if you can be flexible with your departure time use the 'best prices' tool - at the top right on the list of journey options.
9hr 39min
Not Every Night
Departs on Mon/Thurs/Saturday.
Though the train typically departs shortly after midnigh, so the arrivals into Paris are later on Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings.
OBB is the national rail operator and its booking service offers journeys by express trains within Austria, as well as international journeys which don't involve making a connection outside of Austria.
It pays off to book online, as the discounted 'Sparscheine' tickets are only ever made available on the website, and when making international journeys to and from Austria, these Sparscheine tickets tend to be cheaper.
OBB can offer particularly good value for money when travelling with children on international rail journeys, but something to watch out for when travelling between Austria and Germany on daytime trains, is that reservations are an optional extra; but if you book 1st class tickets with the Germany railways website DB, the reservations are complimentary.
OBB often takes a unique approach to its booking path, but a key thing to keep in mind is that the first price you will see for any journey is that of a Second Class seat.
The costs of upgrading to first class, a reservation, or a sleeping cabin etc, is then added to this price.
DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.
It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.
On journeys within Germany and on most international journeys from and to Germany on trains operated by DB:
When booking both types of the discounted 'Sparpreis' tickets seat reservations are an optional extra, so need to be added when booking if you want an assigned seat(s).
The recently introduced Nightjet train is typically scheduled to depart from Munchen Ost station a few minutes after midnight on Mondays. Thursdays and Saturdays and arrive at the Gare de l'Est in Paris at 09:42 on the following mornings.
If you'll be heading to Munchen Ost from the city centre on local S-Bahn trains, check whether the train is running on time, then aim to be at Munchen Ost ready to board at around 11:45.
Those S-Bahn local trains also link Munchen Hbf, which is not served by this train, to Munchen Ost.
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
The train conveys:
The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.
Click the train details below for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding these trains,
You can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains).Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence this step-by-step guide.
OR reservations can be arranged and paid for at the Reisezentrum travel desk at Munchen Hbf (ideally do this when you first arrive at Munchen Hbf on the preceding train on your itinerary)
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
TOP