A high-speed train to your place in the sun
Published: June 7, 2012
If you live near Frankfurt, Mannheim or Karlsruhe, Germany, but hanker for the shores of the Med, they’ve become more accessible than ever, thanks to a new train route.
As of March, a high-speed train has been servicing a route between Frankfurt and Marseille. Running once a day in each direction, it makes the travel time between these two points just under 8 hours. The train makes intermediary stops in Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden, as well as Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Lyon, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, France. Hop aboard in Frankfurt at 2 p.m. on the dot and pull into Marseille-St-Charles at 9:46 p.m. You’ll be traveling in a TGV, or Train à Grande Vitesse, model known as the “Euroduplex,” a snazzy double-decker that can reach speeds of up to 320 kilometers, or just a hair under 200 miles per hour.
To return to Germany on this route, you will board in Marseille at 8:14 a.m. and get back to Frankfurt at 4:04 p.m.
With German Rail’s Europa-Special, you can find one-way tickets on this route starting at 39 euros in second class. If you’d like to travel first-class, the pleasure can be all yours for 69 euros. The cost of a seat reservation is included in this price. Learn more about the opening of the direct link between Frankfurt and Marseille on the website of Deutsche Bahn.
