Touring by prepare in France is without doubt one of the most effective, comfy, and scenic methods to discover the nation. Not like air journey, prepare stations are often within the middle of city, and also you don’t need to take care of cabin bag limits, airport safety strains, or being strapped right into a seat in a pressurized cabin for hours. With Paris as a serious rail hub, you’ll be able to attain cities throughout France and Europe rapidly and affordably—if you know the way to ebook well. This text covers the fundamentals, together with totally different sorts of trains, the Paris stations, buying tickets, and the best way to discover one of the best offers.
When to E-book
You gained’t all the time have the posh of reserving your prepare tickets far upfront, however if you happen to do, you need to know that there’s a bizarrely convoluted schedule of when totally different sorts of prepare tickets go on sale. That is most necessary if you wish to get the most cost effective costs on the high-speed trains such because the Eurostar and TGV InOui trains, which go up like airplane tickets the nearer you get to the journey date.
As a really unfastened rule, tickets for TGV InOui and Intercités trains go on sale 4 months upfront. Nevertheless, ticket gross sales open a bit sooner than that for journey throughout the vacances scolaires, or French faculty holidays (when households journey). These dates are by no means fastened, however are introduced (often with a lot fanfare within the French press) a couple of weeks earlier than the ticket gross sales open (subscribe to the SCNF e-newsletter to be notified). TGV tickets to Spain, Switzerland and Italy go on sale six months upfront. TER tickets are on sale between three and 5 months upfront. Ouigo prepare tickets are on sale two to 9 months upfront. Eurostar tickets to the UK are on sale eleven months upfront, however to Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands 4 months upfront.
Having mentioned all that, I like to recommend simply doing a search to see for your self what’s bookable and what’s not (generally you will note prepare instances listed for sure dates however then “not bookable” or “not but obtainable”, or just not listed in any respect the place the value could be displaying (as if it doesn’t exist), subscribe to the SCNF e-newsletter to be notified, and put a reminder in your calendar for when your tickets “ought to” be on sale in response to the rules above so that you just examine again.
On-line Ticketing Choices
Assuming you already know the place you need to go and when, I like to recommend opening three tabs in your internet browser and plug that information into the official SNCF Join web site plus two different official ticketing associate web sites:
- SNCF Join is the official web site/app for the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF), France’s nationwide railway firm, which operates the nation’s nationwide rail visitors, together with the high-speed rail community. When you’re residing in France or spending numerous time touring inside France, this must be your default possibility when reserving, as there aren’t any reserving charges. Additionally they promote Interrail passes for European residents.
- The Trainline web site/app is an official associate of SNCF in addition to rail networks all through Europe, so it has the good thing about permitting you to buy a number of tickets for various sorts of transport in a single place (for instance, a prepare ticket in France and a bus ticket for Italy). It’s additionally supposedly simpler for these not primarily based in France to make difficult ticket adjustments or to get refunds in case your prepare is cancelled. The costs are the identical because the official SNCF Join costs, however they add a reserving charge. Additionally they promote Eurail passes for non-European residents.
- Omio is one other official associate of France’s SNCF and different worldwide prepare, bus and airline networks, helpful like Trainline for worldwide vacationers primarily based outdoors France who need to ebook all of their journey for a number of nations in a single place.
When you’ve put in the identical vacation spot and journey date(s) on every of the three websites, you’ll have the ability to see the complete vary of choices obtainable to you. I all the time begin this fashion as a result of in virtually each case, you gained’t see each possibility obtainable on any of the three alone (though in my expertise, Trainline tends to indicate probably the most). SNCF Join and Trainline moreover make it straightforward to see the value of tickets on the times instantly earlier than and after your chosen journey date (which may generally prevent fairly some huge cash, assuming your schedule is versatile).
Observe: When typing within the identify of town, select “any station” or the identify of town itself as an alternative of a selected station.
After getting all the choices laid obtainable on the three websites in entrance of you, the 2 most necessary issues to contemplate earlier than making your selection are the station and the kind of prepare.
The Paris Practice Stations
There are seven prepare stations throughout the border of Paris, all related to town’s metro/RER system (and subsequently comparatively straightforward to entry from anyplace in Paris):
- Gare d’Austerlitz: Intercités trains to Loire Valley, Limoges, Toulouse, and the evening trains
- Gare Montparnasse: TGV Atlantique trains to Western France (Brittany, Brest, Rennes), Bordeaux, Biarritz, Lourdes, and the Spanish border at Hendaye.
- Gare du Nord: TGV trains to northeast France (Lille, Calais), and Eurostar trains London, Brussels, Cologne, and Amsterdam; connects to each Paris airports through RER B.
- Gare de l’Est: TGVs to jap France (Nancy, Metz, Reims, Strasbourg, Colmar), Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich.
- Gare de Lyon: TGVs to the south of France (Lyon, Dijon, Clermont-Ferrand, Avignon, Marseille, Good, Montpellier), the French Alps, Switzerland, Italy and Barcelona; connects to Orly airport through metro line 14
- Gare de Bercy Bourgogne – Pays d’Auvergne: TGVs to Vichy and Clermont Ferrand, and regional trains to Lyon and Dijon; that is truly a smaller station to deal with overflow from the Gare de Lyon
- Gare St-Lazare: Regional trains to Normandy (Caen, Cherbourg, Rouen, Le Havre); connects to Orly airport through metro line 14.
Most locations are tied to a selected station, so for instance trains to Brittany often depart from Montparnasse and trains for Provence from Gare de Lyon. One main exception is that the in a single day sleeper trains depart from Gare d’Austerlitz.
Observe that generally when reserving a roundtrip ticket, the departure station in Paris could differ from the arrival station if you return to Paris.
Suburban Practice Stations
When deciding on “Paris – all stations” because the departure station, you may additionally see some choices to depart from (or return to) stations simply outdoors Paris.:
- Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy (at Disneyland; on RER A, €2.50 fare)
- Massy (close to Orly airport; on RERs B and C, €2.50 fare)
- Roissy – Charles-de-Gaulle (at CDG airport, terminal 2; on RER B, €13 fare).
On the plus facet, these routes is usually a bit cheaper and generally much less crowded. The draw back is the hour-long RER journey to get to those stations from Paris. Since 2025, it’s solely €2.50 to take the RER to or from Paris and Chessy or Massy stations, however it’s €13 to or from Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle station, so remember to embody that into your calculations. And watch out for periodic late evening or weekend closures on RER strains, examine right here), or chances are you’ll find yourself with an costly taxi fare.
Search outcomes on SNCF-Join present the station names straight away, whereas you’ll have to click on to increase any given prepare on Trainline and Omio to see the identify of the station.
Doublecheck Your Vacation spot Station
Additionally remember to double-check the complete identify and tackle of the station at your vacation spot, as some cities have a couple of station, and one may be removed from the middle of city (for instance, Aix-en-Provence has a TGV station about quarter-hour’ drive from the middle of city, and an older station for slower trains within the middle of town). You gained’t essentially have the ability to select your station, however it’s good to contemplate if you happen to’d fairly take a slower prepare and have the ability to hit the bottom strolling, vs a quicker prepare the place you will have to taxi or shuttle into city.
The Totally different Sorts of Trains
When you’ve narrowed down which station(s) be just right for you, the subsequent crucial step is to choose your prepare. Listed below are the standard contenders departing from Paris.
TGV – prepare à grande vitesse
These are high-speed trains, travelling as much as 320km/h (200mph) on the newer strains, with over 120 million passengers yearly. When reserving you would possibly see a number of totally different TGV choices, relying on the vacation spot. They go the identical velocity, however are very totally different experiences, so be sure to select correctly!
- TGV InOui: With service to over 200 locations, these are France’s well-known high-speed trains that make everybody fall in love with prepare journey. Operated by SNCF, they’ve all the newest providers just like the eating automotive (known as Le Bistro), a nursery space for younger youngsters, free wifi and entry to free movies, TV collection, and magazines (like on an airplane), in addition to electrical retailers (shared in 2nd class), reclinable seats, and even adjustable lamps in top notch. There’s room for small suitcases on the overhead rack and bigger suitcases on the ends of every automotive. You may select your actual seat in 1st class (the place seats are bigger and there are fewer passengers per automotive) however you’ll be able to choose your seating “choice” in 2nd class. Apart from 1st and a couple ofnd class charges, there are additionally full and semi-flex charges if you’d like extra choices to vary your thoughts. Tickets could be booked as much as 4 months upfront, with bulletins for the opening of ticket gross sales for the vacations and main faculty breaks. Additionally they have flash gross sales (generally you’ll see “Prems”, the historic identify for the low cost tickets), join the e-newsletter to learn.
- Ouigo Grande Vitesse: These finances TGV trains operated by SNCF are like low-cost airways, providing far fewer comforts than InOui trains. Your ticket solely permits for a small backpack or bag that may match below your seat; the slender seats don’t recline; there aren’t any middle seat armrests; there’s no snack bar or catering choices; you need to pay an additional “Ouigo Plus” complement for entry to wifi, energy retailers, with the ability to select your seat when reserving, and with the ability to carry a big bag. There’s an overhead rack, however it’s so small you’ll be able to solely put a hat or a small purse up there. In concept solely individuals who paid the complement can carry suitcases that go within the rack on the ends of the prepare carriages, however no brokers examine who’s placing their luggage there, so house rapidly runs out and you find yourself placing your suitcase below your legs. I’d actually keep away from these uncomfortable Ouigo trains for the longer journeys (over 2.5 hours) until you actually haven’t any different possibility. You may ebook these trains from two to 9 months upfront (the value will probably be clean and it’ll say “non reservable” on trains earlier than ticket gross sales have opened). SCREENSHOT
- Eurostar: That is the Franco-British firm most well-known for the Paris-London “chunnel prepare” (after the tunnel below the English Channel), which opened in 1994. In the present day the journey takes simply 2 hours and 18 minutes. In 2022 Eurostar merged with the Thalys prepare firm, and now additionally has service from Paris to Lille in northern France, the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Schiphol airport), Belgium (Brussels, Antwerp, Liège), Germany (Aachen, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund), and Switzerland, in partnership with the TGV Lyria (Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva). See the route map right here. Eurostar trains often have a bar/eating automotive and even 2nd class is pretty comfy with electrical retailers and reclinable seats. You should buy your tickets on SNCF Join or on Eurostar’s personal web site (the place you’ll discover the very helpful charge calendar with one of the best offers already highlighted).
- Different Worldwide Trains: Since 2020, SNCF now not has a monopoly on prepare service in France, so you’ll now see high-speed trains in French stations from Italy (Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa), Spain (Renfe’s AVE), Switzerland (SNCF-SBB partnership, TGV Lyria), and Germany (Deutsche Bahn’s ICE). You may solely ebook on-line at SNCF Join for the cities with direct trains from France (see the map right here) or the place the transfers are inside France. If it’s worthwhile to switch outdoors of France, you’ll want to purchase a ticket to the station the place you’re transferring, then the second ticket from the vacation spot nation’s rail service. That’s tedious, so on this case simply ebook by means of Omio or Trainline so you’ll be able to ebook and pay for each tickets in a single place.
Common (Slower) Trains
When you do a search greater than two months upfront, these often is the solely bookable choices obtainable (some TGVs can solely be booked inside two months of journey). They’re usually cheaper and serve extra cities the TGVs don’t. However slower doesn’t all the time imply cheaper (I’ve seen TGV trains with direct service cheaper than common trains with a connection), particularly if you happen to’re reserving upfront. Listed below are the slower prepare choices:
- Ouigo Practice Classique: Along with Ouigo’s finances TGV service is their ultra-budget possibility on common (slower) trains. These bargain-basement trains can be found from Paris to Lyon, Dijon, Nantes, Blois-Chambord, Chartres, Rennes and Brussels (and a few of the stations alongside the best way) for €10 to €59. Tickets are reservable as much as 9 months upfront, which is an efficient insurance coverage coverage to ebook upfront in case you miss the gross sales on the TGV InOui tickets (right here’s the map of the cities served by Ouigo trains). The €10 fares are nice for day trippers who need to go to the Loire Valley castles, Chartres Cathedral, or the Artwork Nouveau museums in Brussels with out staying in a single day. Identical to their OuigoTGV counterparts, the Ouigo Trains Classique has little in the best way of service or consolation, with solely 2nd class seating, no eating automotive, and extra value for Wifi and any baggage past what’s going to match below the seat.
- TER: Transport specific regional These are the SNCF’s regional prepare networks which can be run domestically below totally different names, together with the Transilien community within the Île-de-France area surrounding Paris, or Intercités community that fills in gaps all through France the place there is no such thing as a TGV service (that means these are sometimes older, slower trains meant for touring quick distances). Be taught extra concerning the suburban Transilien trains working from Paris on this article, Paris Public Transportation.
- Night time Trains: Intercités de Nuit After disappearing for a number of years, the evening trains are again! Operated by SNCF, these Intercités de Nuit depart from Paris between 8pm and 10pm and get up within the morning in cities within the south of France from the French Riviera and Provence to the Pyrenees and Basque Coast. There aren’t any non-public automobiles with loos, however you’ll be able to ebook a 4-bed (1st class) or 6-bed (2nd class) couchette with shared rest room and washroom within the corridor. There’s additionally the choice to ebook one of many semi-reclining seats if you happen to’re actually determined, however you’d need to be fairly determined to spend your complete evening in a chair when for just some extra euros you’re in a lockable compartment together with your baggage, in a mattress with a pillow and sleeping bag, and a bit pochette with bottle of water, moist wipes, ear plugs and eye shade. There’s free Wifi and an electrical outlet at every mattress, too. When you don’t need to share, you’ll be able to merely ebook all 4 or six beds your self. There’s additionally the choice for solo feminine vacationers to order a mattress in a women-only compartment, for no extra charge. Have in mind there’s no eating automotive (eat beforehand or carry a snack), however a light-weight breakfast could be delivered to your couchette compartment. There’s no particular place to ebook an evening prepare, it’ll merely seem as one of many choices (often after 8pm) if you seek for trains on any given day, departing from Gare d’Austerlitz in Paris.
Making Your Reserving
Select the Web site
When you’ve zeroed in on the prepare you need, you’re able to make your buy. If the ticket is on the market on all three web sites, then you definately’ll have to choose which one is greatest for you. Generally this isn’t only a case of non-public choice for a way an internet site is setup. I usually use SNCF Join as a result of I’m used to it (and it’s obtainable in French or English, change the language on the prime of the footer on any web page), however I do know getting refunds for cancellations is usually a bit difficult if you happen to don’t dwell in France. I discover Europe Rail is kind of stingy with data and takes too lengthy to discover every possibility intimately. And Trainline usually will get me to the tip with a cheaper price then says, “Sorry, no extra tickets can be found for this worth” and makes me begin over (and fees a reserving charge). However the two latter websites are greatest for these buying tickets for journey all through Europe or on totally different modes of transport, multi function place. If you wish to cowl all of your bases, create an account on each earlier than you get began in order that when/if you happen to do discover the ticket you need, you’ll be able to go straight to “buy” with out the detour of establishing an account.
Maintain that Worth!
When you’ve received a ticket in your buying cart, it often shows a message that you’ve got half-hour till it expires. When you want extra time to resolve, you’ll be able to put some tickets on maintain with the “Possibility Pause”. It’s a free reservation maintain that allows you to quickly safe seats and lock in a fare, providing you with further time to finalize your determination or collect passenger particulars earlier than truly paying (the precise date and time it’ll expire will present). You’ll see the choice simply earlier than paying for tickets on TGV InOui and Intercités trains as much as 48 hours earlier than departure. It can’t be used for non-exchangeable/non-refundable fares, Ouigo, Eurostar, or TER trains. That is what it appears to be like like:
You’ll obtain a deadline (often displayed in a affirmation e mail), after which the maintain expires if you happen to haven’t paid. Because it prices nothing to carry the ticket, there’s no threat!
Getting Your Ticket
Most prepare tickets bought in France are actually eTickets, which you’ll present in your smartphone (often utilizing the SNCF-Join or Eurostar apps, relying on which ticket you will have). You can too print it out, an excellent backup plan in case your telephone will get misplaced or the battery dies whilst you’re touring. eTickets can’t be transferred to a different particular person; you’ll want to supply the identify and date of start for every passenger if you pay, and the identify can’t be modified after buy.
When you’ve paid, you’ll see a reserving reference of six letters, for instance “Reference: TJZGFY”. Take a display shot, or write it down, simply in case the affirmation e mail doesn’t make it to your inbox. This affirmation reference and your full identify is what you’ll want to drag up your reservation within the app or on the web site (and important if you happen to lose your telephone or the affirmation e mail).
At all times select the eTicket Possibility
Generally you’ll nonetheless see the choice to have tickets snail mailed to you in France (ouf, dangerous!) or to print out your ticket on the prepare station kiosk. I do NOT advocate both possibility, however particularly the second as a result of you will have the very same bank card you used to pay to retrieve the tickets. I had bought tickets a number of months early, then my bank card expired and I obtained the brand new one, which then didn’t work to choose up my tickets as a result of despite the fact that it was the identical checking account, it wasn’t the identical card!
Discovering Offers
Above all, I like to recommend everybody subscribe to the SCNF e-newsletter to be notified of the opening date when vacation tickets can be found for reserving, but in addition to be notified of 48-hou flash gross sales, and information about new strains and providers. For Eurostar trains (London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, and so on), examine the charge calendar for the bottom fares when reserving forward. You can too get notifications on promotions and dates when tickets go on sale for the vacations by signing up for the Eurostar e-newsletter.
Low cost Playing cards
When you’re going to journey greater than twice per yr in France, there are a number of low cost playing cards for SNCF, such because the Carte Avantage Adulte. For €49/yr, it offers you as much as 30% off your tickets for you and one companion and 60% off for as much as three youngsters below age 12. It caps ticket costs at €49 for brief journeys (below 1.5 hours), €69 for journeys 1.5 to three hours lengthy, and €89 max for all trains over 3 hours, even if you are going to buy on the final minute. The one caveat? It’s a must to journey or keep over at the very least one Saturday or Sunday. You may cancel or change tickets with no extra charges up till the day you journey, and also you’ll obtain unique provides (just like the flash sale notices earlier than everybody else). Relying on the place you go and if you’re reserving, it could even pay for itself in your first journey!
There’s a Carte Jeune for anybody 12-27 years outdated, and a Carte Senior for anybody 60+ years outdated, each that are the identical worth because the common Carte Avantage Adulte (for 27-59 yr olds), with out the weekend restriction.
Hidden Web site for Final-Minute Eurostar Offers
Excellent news in 2025, the Eurostar Snap last-minute Eurostar offers are again! The Snap tickets are good for these with a versatile schedule in search of tickets within the coming week from Paris to London, Amsterdam, Brussels or Cologne. Tickets solely value between €40 and €75, however have a couple of constraints:
- You may solely select from “morning” (7am-2pm) or “afternoon” (2-9pm), and are given the precise time 48 hours earlier than your journey
- You can’t purchase a round-trip in the identical day (it’s worthwhile to keep at the very least one evening)
- There aren’t any little one fares (however infants below 4 can sit on an grownup’s lap without spending a dime).
- These are non-refundable, non-exchangeable, and non-transferable.
- If you are going to buy two tickets, you won’t be seated collectively.
Observe that these offers are ONLY obtainable on the Eurostar Snap web site, not if you happen to do an everyday search on the Eurostar or SNCF Join or different ticketing associate web sites. For instance, the Omio web site is displaying all tickets to London tomorrow (March 24th) are €218, however on the SNAP web site you will get a day ticket for €75.
The Practice Professional in Seat 61
If you wish to take the deepest of the deep dives into all issues associated to coach journey — not simply in France, however all of Europe and past — I extremely advocate The Man in Seat 61, probably the most up-to-date, thorough information to taking trains written by Mark Smith, who labored for British Rail as London Station Supervisor and the British Division of Transport earlier than devoting himself full-time to his web site in 2007.
