München / Munich to Paris by train

How to travel from München/Munich to Paris by train

There is only one daily direct 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.

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Routes

From München Hbf/Munich main station to Paris Gare de l'Est/Paris Est

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: Around 120 days 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.

Oui.SNCF from €39.90

Oui.SNCF 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.

Though a legacy of when SNCF sold international tickets under the Rail Europe branding is that OuiSNCF is available in multiple translations with the offerings on the site then tailored to international visitors to France.
However, some of the site's features, including the integration of mobility assistance into the booking path, are only available on the French language version.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF 'My Travel' phone app, so it's therefore often a good idea to book on the OuiSNCF mobile service.

Saveatrain from €39.90

Saveatrain 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.

Happyrail from €39.90

Happyrail 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)

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 06:46 on Monday to Saturday and at 06:23 on Sundays

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.

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