München / Munich is some distance from the high speed line which links Paris to eastern France, so most of the international high speed trains which use it travel no further than Stuttgart.
Hence there only being one direct train per day from Paris to München/Munich, but when the timings (and price) of this service don't suit, there are other journey options available, the easiest of which is to make one connection in Stuttgart.
Taking an overnight train journey from Paris to Munchen/Munich is now an option on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday evenings, but it isn't recommended as the train is due to arrive at Munchen Ost station at around 05:45.
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 42min (approx)
Daily
1 x 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.
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
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).
Final Destination: Munchen
This train also calls at: Stuttgart, Ulm and Augsburg
This is the only direct train between Paris and Munchen/Munich, the overnight train between the two cities was discontinued some years ago.
The train is scheduled to depart at 15:55 on Mon-Fri and Sundays, but on Saturdays it usually departs at 17:55.
If these timings don't suit the best alternative is to travel via Stuttgart.
The train will reverse direction on departure from Stuttgart.
Between Paris and Strasbourg the train travels at up to more than 300 km/h on the fastest high speed line in France.
Then from Strasbourg inti Germany, the train travels on conventional tracks through an urban area; see if you can spot when the train has crossed the border, it won't be announced on the train.
Then once the train has travelled for around 15 mins in Germany it briefly joins another high speed line before calling at Karlsruhe.
Yet another high speed line is used for around 25 mins of the journey, as the train approaches Stuttgart.
Between Stuttgart and Ulm the train takes a slower, twisting route through the hills, before speeding up again between Ulm and Munchen.
The train departs Paris at around 15:55 on Mon-Fri and Sundays, but on Saturdays it departs at 17:55.
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.
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
Four types of ticket are typically available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa
Two types of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Europa and Flexpreis Plus 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 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf and locations in Frankfurt city centre.
Seat reservations
Reservations are mandatory on these trains from Paris, so will be included, when booking tickets, but if you will be using a rail pass you will need to make a reservation.
Seat reservations are optional on the ICE train on to Berlin.
They cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class -
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.
They are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
On this journey which involves two trains on which seat reservations are available, the fees cover all trains - if reservations are added when initially booking.
When booking Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and 2nd class Flexpreis tickets, you have the option of purchasing seat reservations later.
It can be worth re-looking up a journey a week or two ahead of travel, because the DB website will indicate how busy a departure will be.
Though if you opt to add reservations later you will have pay the fees per train.
The alternative journey options:
There are three other direct DB-SNCF trains per day between Paris and Stuttgart, that have connections on from Stuttgart to Munchen/Munich(via Ulm and Augsburg).
So if you want to arrive earlier in Munchen/Munich DON'T tick the direct train box when making a booking; the journeys with connections can also be cheaper.
But DO select the direct train options if you specifically want to take this train.
5hr 30min - 5hr 35min
Daily
4 x connections 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.
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.
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
The only direct train between Paris and Munchen/Munich isn't scheduled to arrive in Munchen until after 21:30.
If you want to arrive in Munchen/Munich earlier you will need to change trains.
The optimum 4 x connections per day are the journeys of less than 5hr 35min that involve changing trains at Stuttgart.
We say 'optimum' but the trains from Paris are scheduled to arrive in Stuttgart less than 15 mins before the departure of the ICE train on to Munchen/Munich.
There is 1 x ICE train per hour between Stuttgart and Munchen/Munich.
So ideal IF the train from Paris arrives on time.
If it arrives too late, then tickets/reservations can be transferred free of charge to a subsequent departure on from Stuttgart.
However, due to the reconstruction currently taking place at Stuttgart station, the Reisezentrum travel desk, where the tickets can be swapped, is some distance from where the trains will arrive and depart.
An option is to book with DB Bahn and increase the 'Duration of Transfer' between trains, but do that and you will be committing to arriving in Munchen/Munich an hour later.
There also alternative connections available at Mannheim or Karlsruhe, but they also have similarly tight connecting times between trains, so the journey will be longer, no cheaper and not any more convenient.
Final Destination: Stuttgart
This journey is showcase for European international train travel.
Between Paris and Strasbourg the train travels at up to more than 300 km/h on the fastest high speed line in France.
Between Strasbourg and Germany, the train travels on conventional tracks through an urban area, see if you can spot when the train has crossed the border, it won't be announced on the train.
Then once the train has travelled for around 15 mins in Germany it briefly joins another high speed line before calling at Karlsruhe.
Yet another high speed line is used for most of the final 25 mins of the journey, as the train approaches Stuttgart.
Final Destination: Munchen Hbf
All trains also call at: Ulm and Augsburg
Most trains also call at: Munchen-Passing
All of the advertised connections involve taking an ICE train between Stuttgart and Munchen/Munich.
If you need to take an alternative train on from Stuttgart you could be taking an IC or EC train.
Final Destination: Munchen Hbf
All trains also call at: Ulm, Augsburg
Most trains also call at: Munchen-Passing
All of the advertised connections involve taking an ICE train between Stuttgart and Munchen/Munich.
If you need to take an alternative train on from Stuttgart you could be taking an IC or EC train.
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
This is a journey on which it can pay off to compare prices across the agents.
Look for the connections that have 1 change and a journey time of under 5hr 40mins.
If you want to book with DB Bahn we recommend allowing a minimum of 30mins to make the connection at Stuttgart station; how to do so is explained here
Rail Pass Users:
You will need to pay a reservation fee boarding the DB-SNCF service to Stuttgart, but not on the connecting trains between Stuttgart and Munich/Munchen; though the availabilty of seats can't be 100% guaranteed on the ICE trains on from Stuttgart if you don't reserve.
What is unusual about the rail pass reservations on the DB-SNCF trains, is that rail pass fees are priced according to distance; so they may be cheaper than on the*alternative direct train from Paris to Munchen/Munich.
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