train schedules

I have been unable to find train schedules on-line. We are hoping to take some overnight trains ( Paris to Basel) to save on accomodation and are trying to plan our itinerary. Can anyone help?

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The french railways´official site: www.sncf.fr (they are not really user-friendly, so if you need schedules only you are better off with the German or Swiss rail sites).

For schedules in all of Europe:

www.bahn.de or

www.sbb.ch

as they are not responsible for the tickets in France, you won´t get price information there, though. Should be availabe on sncf.fr after some searching...

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I always use www.raileurope.com

I always seem to find what I need there. Give it a try.

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jojo is right- just go to raileurope- saves you lots of time

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If you don%26#39;t know this already, Rail Europe has a huge markup on their fares. They%26#39;re SNCF%26#39;s American agent and I don%26#39;t find their prices good at all. You are better off ordering your tickets directly from SNCF.

Btw, since your trip involves Basel, check out sbb.ch which is the Swiss Rail site. I highly recommend using Swiss Rail if you can as their site is not only friendlier than SNCF%26#39;s but if you have either small or major concerns and email their customer service department, you will receive a reply within two days. Somehow SNCF%26#39;s customer service is not good. I%26#39;ve gotten sporadic and untimely replies which is definitely not good when you%26#39;re searching for answers now.

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Thank you all.

This gives me a lot of great info and I%26#39;m sure that I will be able to find the information that I need.

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You%26#39;re going to have a bit of a problem finding an overnight train to Basel from Paris. The normal trip is only about 5 or 6 hours, so you%26#39;re not going to have much time to sleep.

Be sure you book the train to the Basel SBB *FRANCE*, your ticket should cost less. It is located in the same building as Basel SBB (Switzerland), but you go through customs when you get off and it is considered a French destination. Alternatively, you could book a train to St. Louis and take a taxi to the border and a tram (the station in St. Louis is about a five to ten minute drive from a border with a tram).

If your train takes you through Germany on your way to Basel, you might be better off going to the Basel Badischer Banhof (the German train station). This is *not* the same station as Basel SBB, but is just as accesible via bus and tram to the city center as Basel SBB.

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Oh, and if you do book your train to SBB France or the Badischer Bahnhof, make sure you buy your ticket from SNCF or DeutscheBahn (www.db.de) instead of SBB, it *should* be cheaper. Check them all to find the best deal :)