Hi everyone.
I and my wife with an infant, are planning to travel to paris from zurich on 17th july while returning on 19th in 2 days. We just want to go sight see the place. I would really like to have a feed back on taking the fastest, cheapest and relatively comfortable way to get there. My initial thoughts are about using a train. Cuz of the infant we dont want to be in the train for longer than 10 or so hours and preferrably want to travel by night. I have marriot rewards points so can book a hotel in advance. Please suggest the best way possible.

Cheers
Nauman.

Train to Basel and then the high speed train French train (3 hours I think?). But there is a night train from Zurich I believe also/

There are 3 direct TGV trains from Zurich to Paris every day. Travel time is officially 4 and half hours, but sometimes (often?) a few more hours need to be added when factoring in the tendency of French trains to be late.

http://www.tgv-lyria.com/main/FCK/Fi...nce_suisse.asp

Take the train.
Do not fly.

I was in Paris yesterday for work and my flight was delayed 3hrs coming back. Everytime I go to Paris it is a worse expereince then before. The airport is awful and not what I would call baby friendly.
I have taken the train and I prefer it over fying. Plus you end up right in town when you get off the train so there is no hassel of getting to and from the airport ! Enjoy Paris and hold on tight to you wallet !

I agree completely that the TGV direct from Zurich is your best bet, especially travelling with a baby. The direct trains get in at Gare de Lyon, which is reasonably central and has lots of nearby hotels. I don't know if there's a Marriot there but there is a good Ibis just down the street, and the underpriced Palym just across.

Staying near the station is an advantage when it's time to come home.

We find that the best way to get around in Paris is on foot. I suggest getting a baby back-pack if you haven't already got one. In fact we got ours there near Gare de Lyon at Go Sports.

There's lots more info on the Wikitravel page for the 12th arrondissement.

Small correction: the Zurich-Paris TGV arrives at the Gare de l'Est, which is also reasonably central and has lots of nearby hotels.

I believe the Train is now the most expensive way to go to Paris. My friends are going next week and the cheapest they found was going to Geneva by train and taking a flight from there but I don't know which with which airline.

From www.sbb.ch, Zürich to Paris. Each way takes 4 hours 30 minutes. Change at Basel. 2nd class.

Children holding a Junior Card, who are accompanied by a parent, travel free on the Swiss section. This appears to be valid for a child up to age 16.


For an adult with a Rail Plus and a halb-tax: CHF 315.50

For an adult paying full price: CHF 341.00

For a child, who has a junior card, and whose parent has a halb-tax and a Rail Plus: CHF 145.00
Total: CHF 801.50


If you fly, you have to take into account the time and cost get to and from the airport. A direct flight from Kloten is about 1 hour 15.

A minor correction of the correction. Some of the trains arrive at Gare de l'Est, and some of them arrive at Gare de Lyon.

Gare de l'Est is in the 10th which is also an interesting part of town, since you have the Canal St. Martin.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Paris/10th_arrondissement

I did this once and was a bit disappointed by the whole experience. I thought we'd be rushing at 300 Km/h the whole way but from Zurich to well after crossing the Jura the TGV went very very slowly. If I remember correctly it's only after Strasbourg that the TGV really got going.

Yes, the LGV (high-speed lines) Est only cover the track between Vaires-sur-Marne near Paris to Baudrecourt (close to Metz). The last phase, which will link Baudrecourt to Vendenheim near Strasbourg is expected to be put into service around 2014. I don't think anything is planned between Strasbourg and Zurich.

Here is a map with the current TGV lines (LGV in blue and red):

Thankyou so much guys. That was pretty helpful. Its my first experience with using online forums and i'm truly impressed by the kind of help that people provide taking out their personal time. I've booked it with TGV and SBB on the weekend starting 24rth and would be returning on sunday. Would be staying with courtyard marriot there and would be coummuting around the city on the metros available . Things seem perfect so far. would share with you what actually happened With my planning, its always surprises

Cheers.

I see all these lovely signs advertising cheap tickets to Paris (like CHF 100 one way), how do I actually book those? I'm having guests in October who want to go to Paris, but the 350 which seems standard for train is a decent chunck more than flying would be. I tried the TGV link above but it forced me over to the SBB site which refuses to tell me prices, does anybody have experience finding said cheap train tickets? tia

(as an aside, what happened to the quick reply buttons? They seem locked for me and pushed me into the full reply dialogue box, not that it really matters, just odd).

Hay
I myself got two seats for myself and my wife for 580 francs ( return to zurich HB ) . My swiss half price card wasn't any good use here. if you add a seat for the infant you need to pay 40 bucks more. its a > 4 hrs ride one way to and from paris. we'd get there in the morn, around 11 which has been told to me to be pretty reliable a timing and would return the next day around 10 pm zurich time. that's the cheapest fare i could get.

Peace.
Nauman.

The best way to get good deals going to Paris with TGV (as with most rail tix) is to book in advance as far ahead as possible.

A couple of years back I travelled there from about Euros 70 return, boking about 4 weeks ahead of time.

we also got cheap tickets on the TGV but it was a complicated procedure. I finally went in and asked at the SBB how it all worked. They said that for the promotion that they had at the time, i think it was 68chf/way, a certain number of seats are released exactly 4 weeks to the date of travel. We then waited up to midnight and booked the tickets to Paris via the SBB website. We then waited for 4 weeks to the date for the return and got the tickets again online at midnight. The seats were fine except we travelled backwards both there and back. Good luck! Paris is like heaven!

I'm guessing the OP has already traveled. Just wanted to warn against taking strollers if you're travelling with an infant or a child who is stroller-bound and plan on taking the metro. Well, unless you want to do it comme les Parisiennes and schlep your strollers up and down a whole lot of stairs each time you get in and out of a station. Seriously no fun at all; get a baby carrier of some sorts or walk to spare yourself

Good to know, I'll have to set up some reminders in my calendar to get this.