French train tickets vary enormously in price.
The French train system is fast, efficient and comfortable. You can sleep on the Lunea, zip from one big city to another on the TGV or go cheap on the Teoz. But if you wait until the last moment and buy at the SNCF office in the station, you may pay more than you need to.
Instructions
1. Determine your itinerary as early as possible. Give yourself as much flexibility as you can in dates and times of travel. It is more useful to decide that you want to get from Paris to Hendaye at some point in the first week of August than to set a specific date and time.
2. You can get to all big cities in France by train.
Ascertain the names and ages of those traveling with you. The SNCF offers trip discount cards, including those for children under 12, adolescents between 12 and 21, and adults over 62. Although you have to pay for the cards, you can save as much as 50 percent on tickets, so one long trek more than pays for the card. The children's card is about 70 euros as of summer 2010, but it is particularly useful since it entitles you to a reduction of at least 25 percent on tickets for up to four passengers in addition to the child.
3. Paris is the hub of French train travel.
Go to the SNCF website. Click on the English option (look for the British flag in the list of flags) to get an English menu. Open the "Trains" menu, click on "Reservations" and type in your ideal itinerary. Review the list of tickets available. Try the day before and the day after, if that flexibility is possible for you.
4. Trains offer a quick look at French countryside.
Try the search again, specifying that one of your traveling companions is eligible for a reduction card, if that is the case. You indicate this in the description of the passenger. Rerun the possible dates and mark the differences in price. If you decide on a discount card, buy it in on the SNCF site or at any French train station. It is valid from the moment you buy it. You will need a passport to verify the age of the card-holder passenger as you travel.
5. French beaches are not far away by train.
Select the least expensive ticket that works for you. Note that some are "Internet only" tickets, with very limited refund possibilities, called iDTGV. These are the cheapest tickets you can buy without a discount card, and are sometimes cheaper than regularly priced tickets with a discount card, but buy them only if you are sure of your schedule.
6. If you choose a regular or discounted SNCF ticket, enter your credit-card information and whether you prefer to pick up the ticket from an SNCF agent or through the machines in the station lobbies. The latter option, while convenient, works only if you have a French-style credit card with a chip readable by French machines. Internet-only tickets must be printed on your own printer and shown at the gate to a special ticket agent for such tickets. The agents will be waiting beside the train.
