Getting to verdun by train

[trenchwalker]

can any one tell me a site how i can plan a trip from waterloo to verdun?

anyone ever done it?

many thanks

martin

[burlington]

Martin

Try http://www.voyages-sncf.com the French railway system.

You might have to get to Paris or Brussels first via Eurostar

I did try for you a few minutes ago but it did not work for me because I could not enter dates of departure & return.

Good luck.

Martin

p.s If I can go from Paris to Zagreb by rail then I am sure you can get to Verdun by ditto!

[CROONAERT]

Martin.

Get your hands on "Thomas Cooks European Rail Timetable" which is updated quarterly. This is very accurate and various editions served me well throughout Europe for many years.

It's available from (surprisingly! ) Thomas Cook's and (I think) you might get it at W.H.Smith's these days.

Dave.

(Went from Ieper to Diekirch (via Brussels, so Waterloo isn't that far from here)and Diekirch to Verdun a few years ago, so, yes it is possible (though I recall it being a bit of a logistical nightmare on the Verdun leg of the journey, for some reason!))

[CROONAERT]

(Went from Ieper to Diekirch (via Brussels, so Waterloo isn't that far from here

Hang on! Did you mean Waterloo, the station in the UK, or Waterloo, the battlefield near Brussels?

If it's the station you mean, yes, it's easier than the route I (wittingly) took, but still involves several train changes.

Dave.

[MartinWills]

Do remember that even after you have reached the town you still need to get out to the battlefields - it's a long walk!!!

[Jonathan Saunders]

Do remember that even after you have reached the town you still need to get out to the battlefields - it's a long walk!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unless young Martin is only going for the pull of KWAK.

[andigger]

Actually this is a good link for times and fares across Europe. Not every point-to-point is here, but enough to make it a good tool.

http://www.raileurope.com/us/index.htm

Andy

[trenchwalker]

we are renting a car

£135 for a week with travel and a hotel lovley

[healdav]

If you stay at the Hotel Orchidée on Rue d'Etain you will be very near the battlefields and could even walk there fairly easily (Etain is the next town north).

The hotel is easy to find, but a little peculiar to get to!

As you drive out of Verdun towards Etain you will find an industrial estate on the left. There is what always strikes me as a cement works on the corner. You turn in there and then go around to the right. The hotel is modern and even has a swimming pool (outdoor). If you drive pas this (there is a sign) you will see the hotel to the left about 100 metres further on and lying back from the road.

To get to the battlefields from it, just carry on up the road and then turn left.

The hotel has a restaurant which is usually acceptable - nothing more, but Verdun is far from the gastronomic capital of France. I don't know of any good restaurants (by good I mean any that would get me to drive there from Luxembourg especially) in the area at all.

Don't forget that if you go to the Verdun website you should find a link to the organisation Connaissande de la Meuse (or you can go direct to their site) and there you will find details of the son et lumière and evocation of the battle that they hold every year on weekends in June and July. If you have never been it is something not to be missed.

It's the only show I know of where the earth literally shakes as the guns of Douaumont fire and the charge into the machine guns is spectacular. You cringe.

There is a cast of 300 who are locals or school children and adolescents from France, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. Which army they are in depends on which uniform fits.

[paul guthrie]

I have to disagree about restaurants, Hotel St Paul's is very good - if open - and Alsatian one near Coq Hardi terrific!

[healdav]

Depends what you are used to. Personally I wouldn't eat at the Coq Hardi if it was the only place in town.

And an obnoxious bunch of incompetents that run it as well.

[paul guthrie]

Well I put my opinion on Coq Hardi in milder terms but frankly I agree. Too bad, in 98 it was really good but has gone plum to hell in food and service.

Have you tried the 2 I like real well?

[Paul Hederer]

Martin,

I hate to ask this question, as you probably have your reasons for taking the train, but have you thought to fly one of the budget airlines?

For my trip to Verdun I flew to Hahn, in Germany, from Stansted, and rented a car and drove to France. It worked out very well.

I live about 30 minutes from Stansted, so this is an easy method for me, and it might not work if you live farther away.

Paul

[Christina Holstein]

Martin,

If you want to go by train, the best way is eurostar to Paris, then by train from the Gare de l'Est to Verdun via Chalons-en-Champagne (also still called Chalons-sur-Marne), where you will almost certainly have to change. It's not a quick journey. There are almost no direct trains from Paris-Verdun. Don't even think about going via Brussels.

The Orchidée is the only hotel I've ever stayed in where there didn't make the bed or clean the bathroom, so I won't be going there again. I think David is optimistic about walking to the battlefield from there although you could do it. It must be a couple of miles uphill to Fleury from the Orchidée. Most of the hotel sin town are only of two star quality. The St. Paul doesn't have a restaurant any more. The Alsatian restaurant is good but my personal favourite is a Turkish snack bar/cafe on the Quai de Londres called Snack Istanbul. The marinaded lamb is just wonderful.

When are you going to be there?

Christina

[healdav]

Christina, you must have been unlucky at the Orchidée. Everyone else who has stayed there said it was OK.

The restaurant is not great, but it is eatable and at least they don't bringwater in dirty jugs and then tell you to push off - as you will remember happened at the Coq Hardi. Not that I would drive there especially to eat in the restaurant!

[paul guthrie]

That's really too bad about St Paul restaurant, it was very good and remodeled 5 or so years ago. Is Prunellia beyond reasonable walking distance from city center?

[Christina Holstein]

The food at the Orchidée was OK, as far as I remember. I was certainly 'unlucky' in not having my room tidied - if you can can call it that. The person I was with stayed three nights and his room and bathroom weren't tidied in all that time. It was February and the hotel was more or less empty, so it wasn't as if they were rushed off their feet.

As to the Prunellia - it depends how far you like to walk before and after dinner. It must be a good half hour's walk into the centre of town from the hotel. The food at the Prunellia is good, both what is offered on the menu and the buffet they serve. The breakfast buffet is excellent. You don't need to go into town to eat out of the hotel. There is a very good Italian restaurant/pizzeria across the road from the hotel.

I like to stay in the town, so I'd go for the St. Paul or the Cloche d'Or. The rooms in the St. Paul are a bit on the shabby side - that is, unless they've redecorated them since last year. I've not yet stayed in the Cloche d'Or but shall be doing so in May, so I can report on it then.

If you want luxury, space, silence, historic premises and absolutely wonderful food ... go to the Chateau des Monthairons on the Meuse about 6km south of Verdun. During the war it was a hospital served by the American Field Ambulance Service, which just adds to the interest.

Christina