From Copenhagen to Paris

nltrainer
Traveller
1404 comments

quite possible that a flite works out cheapest-check that yourself, and also from nearby airports for cheap-O-s.
Overland; cheapest is BUS-flixbus, from 90€, takes some 22 hrs. so lve eve before 1 change somewhere in DE
TRain-as this forum (google sends people still to this whereas its much outdated on what is stated-the original leaders have left years ago):
check bahn.de, I check for single on 4/8-SUNdays in summer are always highest price- to Brussel is also from 90€ , from <6.00 till around 19.00 and with 2 risky changes, obligatory Seat REServ-should be included, then add-check yourself eurostar.com for a fast hi-speed ride to Par.-can be done still sameday.

MisterSteve
Traveller
1090 comments

yes, for smoothest and cheapest try flixbus...

By train it requires knowledge of the system. The cheap fares start or end in germany, so a Copenhagen-Paris quote will be at the full price around €318 - but Copenhagen-Hamburg could be €50 and Hamburg-Paris €80 gving a total of €130. But you also need to know how to use bahn.de to extend their optimistic connection times, (especially those at Mannheim!) because the DB long distance timetable has become an aspiration not a reality. Journey would be around 14 hours.

MisterSteve
Traveller
1090 comments

PS for a connection at Köln Hbf with onward travel by Eurostar DB don't sell the Köln-Paris section, so you'd buy Copenhagen-Köln Hbf and then a seperate ticekt form Eurostar.

And obviously all Paris trains on these dates will be sold out very soon......

JorgenO
Traveller
1 comments

MisterSteve, What do you mean by "extend their connection times"?

MisterSteve
Traveller
1090 comments

The journey planner will calculate connections based on the official time allowances for each station but some of these have become fantasy. The problem is if you accept the trains offered it will make resevrations on those trains and you asume you will get to the final desitiantion at something like the time shown, which this summer has been a bad idea. So for 4th August it suggests using the 07:110 depature from København to Hamburg with a connection allowance of 18 minutes into the regular ICE service to Mannheim, and there a 11 minute allowance for the connection to Paris. And as our Dutch friend will confirm that this would not be a good idea! The København-Hamburg service has been in performing badly for over a year, so far this month that first train has missed the connection 4 times (including 1 day when it never reached Hamburg!) plus one day when passengers would have had less than 5 minutes to run across the station. The connecting train has failed to arrive at Mannheim in time for the Paris train every day this month except the 2nd and today, and obviously the 2nd was one of those days when passengers from Denmark would have missed it!

The DB journey planer has an option to extend connection times, it appears as "Transfer time"/ "Omstigningstid"/ "Umstiegszeit" etc., if you change this to something slightly more than what it has used (so in this case 20 minutes or more) it will recalculate and give you something that might actually work! There is also an option to force a route via a chosen station (or to accept the route but change the connection time at a certain station) - but to use these options you really need experience.