Transferring from the Gare Du Nord to the Gare de l'Est

München / Munich to Paris by train

How to travel from München/Munich to Paris by train

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.

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Routes

Option 1: travelling by day

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris Est

The train also calls at: Strasbourg

1 x direct train per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date, usually

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey, but rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding this DB-SNCF service.

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.

On the DB booking site look for journeys that have 0 in the Chg. colum
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.

On Oui.SNCF click the 'Direct Trains' box.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB from €39.90

DB Guide

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.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.
SNCF Connect from €39.90

SNCF Connect Guide

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 on Google Play

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

Save A Train from €39.90

Save A Train Guide

Omio from €39.90

Omio Guide

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

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

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 from €39.90

Happy rail Guide

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.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

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.

Option 2: travelling overnight

Travel Information

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.

Departs on Mon/Thurs/Saturday

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

The train conveys:

  • Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
  • Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
  • Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
  • Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins

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)

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
OBB *

OBB Guide

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 *

DB Guide

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.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.

On this journey

Journey Features

Night

Good to Know

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.

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