Looking for an experienced train traveler to help me book 2 overnight train tickets from Salzburg to Burgundy, France on Friday, Sept 7th.
I checked the Bahn.de website http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml but am confused.
Is this the best site to use or are there other railways that would be better suited to travel from Austria to France?
Any help is greatly appreciated
Salzburg dp 1.40am - Zurich ar 7.20, dp by TGV 9.34 - Dijon ar 11.58.
If you don't want to start in the middle of the night, check
Salzburg dp 19.51 - Munich ar 21.33. Munich dp by night train 22.47 - Metz ar 6.15. Metz dp by TGV 8.06 - Dijon ar 11.07
D Bahn gives you a choice of all the available routes - there are no "other" railways.
There is no direct route between Salzburg and Dijon overnight or during the day. The only way you can do it is by multiple changes of train.
In my opinion travelling by train overnight is only a (reasonably) comfortable way of travelling if there are no changes. As soon as you start looking at changing (or catching) trains in the middle of the night it becomes unacceptable.
A daytime train journey, on the other hand, with changes can be quite interesting - and the view is always better.
Is this the best site to use
Use for what purpose?
If you want to actually buy the ticket on-line then you should go the rail site of the country you will be travelling from-to. The German site doesn't allow you to buy tickets for trains outside of Germany.
So, for example, the Austrian site:
http://www.oebb.at/en/
There may still be limitations on printing e-tickets at home, depends on where your home is.
I didn't realize how intimidating purchasing tickets across countries was for a first timer. So I appreciate all the feedback!
I am thinking of skipping Salzburg as a travel destination and stick with Munich. It will be much easier to travel.
For instance, I can take a train from Munich to Koln overnight without a change of trains. Then from there I'll search for a train that will take me to Dijon.
Does this sound like a reasonable idea?
"Does this sound like a reasonable idea?"
Of course NOT!
Why do you refuse to take the direct night train from Munich to Metz (or Paris, if you find it inacceptable to change trains at 6.15am)?
"I didn't realize how intimidating purchasing tickets"
nothing is intimidating. You can easily buy tickets Salzburg - Munich, Munich - Metz or Paris, resp Salzburg - Metz or Paris (www.bahn.de) and Metz or Paris - Dijon (www. voyages-sncf.com) in the net.
If you travel from Salzburg to Dijon via Zurich, you must change only once.