By Karen Bradbury
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.