Using Rail Passes in and to/from France

Welcome to our guide to using InterRail and Eurail Passes which are valid for train travel in France
Having used rail passes to travel more than 1500 of kilometres around France by train, we've anticipated the questions you are most likely to have - we hope.

So either use the menu to jump straight to the info you need, or spend 10 mins (ish) reading all of our insights.
They should save you save you time, money and confusion!

The 'rules' for how rail passes can be used and booked on the international trains FROM/TO FRANCE can be different, hence the info dedicated to international trains on the Content menu.

Being aware of these four things can be a big stress savers

(1) The availability of rail pass reservations can still be limited at times of high travel demand.
There is a limited number of seats set aside for rail pass users on TGV services, so it's not unknown for rail pass reservations to completely sell out months in advance, on popular trains.
This particularly applies when travelling direct to resort locations on Friday to Sunday and around national holidays.

If you can't find a reservation on the direct TGV train, check to see if you can find a reservation to a city along the route, from where you can continue a journey by the TER trains, which don't require a reservation - there is more about this in the 'Booking the reservations' info below.

(2) If you will be making multiple TGV journeys then 1st class passes tend to be better value for money than 2nd class passes.
Paying a €10 reservation fee for a long TGV journey in Premiére class is a good deal; if you can find it online.

(3) However the InterCités trains on the routes which have compulsory reservations are now best avoided, if alternative train services available
Why pay a fee of up to €20 to travel in 2nd class on what can be comparatively shabby trains for journeys such as Marseille to Montpellier, when taking a TER train for the same journey, won’t cost anything extra at all.

(4) Users of InterRail and Eurail passes used to be able to hop on any TER service but that is sadly no longer the case; though having to reserve is still the exception rather than the rule.
On routes between Paris and both Normandy and the Hauts-de-France region the TER trains, which have replaced the IC trains, now have a mandatory reservation fee of €1.50, which is only available from station ticket counters.
So this reservation fee is now charged when travelling by TER train from Paris to the likes of Amiens, Bayeux, Boulogne, Caen, Cherbourg, Rouen and Le Havre.

Reservations prior to boarding are compulsory on all journeys by TGV InOui trains - irrespective of the length of journey or whether the route between the stations is on a high speed line.
However, rail passes CANNOT be used for journeys by the alternative, low cost, more basic TGV service, the Ouigo trains (more info about this is available below).

Reservations are also compulsory on these three routes/journeys by Intercités trains:
(1) Bordeaux - Toulouse - Montpellier - Marseille
(2) Paris Austerlitz – Limoges – Brive – Toulouse
(3) Paris Bercy – Nevers – Vichy – Clemont Ferrand

If you have a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, the reservation fees for the TGV trains and these Intercités services start at €10; irrespective of whether you have a 2nd class or 1st class pass.
So 1st class passes can be better value IF you will be making multiple long distance journeys.
However, the fee rises to €20 if the €10 reservations are sold out; also these €20 fees can seemingly be the only option made available on the most popular trains.
Seat reservations can now usually be booked up to 6 months ahead of the travel date.

On routes between Paris and both Normandy and the Hauts-de-France region these TER trains, which are now branded Krono services, have a mandatory reservation fee of €1.50, which is only available from station ticket counters.
So this reservation fee is now charged when travelling by TER train from Paris to the likes of Amiens, Bayeux, Boulogne, Caen, Cherbourg, Rouen and Le Havre.

If you will be planning a rail pass itinerary that includes travelling in France, what's good to know, is that on many long distance rail routes in France, you won't have a choice of alternative direct train services, on which you can avoid these reservation fees.
This is particularly the case when travelling to and from Paris so it can be tricky to avoid having to pay rail pass reservation fees when travelling long distances, unless you are prepared to make connections AND travel on slower trains.

Reservations for journeys within France can be booked from 3 - 6 months ahead of the travel date.

There are four methods of booking reservations for the TGV InOui trains and the longer distance Intercités services:

1. The easiest option is to book with RailEurope it now sells rail pass reservations without charging any booking fees.

2. Journeys by TGV train within France can be booked with B-Europe and you can check the real-time availability and costs of the reservations prior to buying a pass - you need a pass number to make the booking, but not to see the info.

3. Once you have purchased your Eurail or InterRail pass can book reservations using the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service - though you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.
Though note that to booking a Eurail or InterRail pass these reservation services function as a guide, to show which trains will require reservations and their respective prices.
This matters because particularly popular TGV departures can sell out completely weeks ahead, because all seats on the train can be booked by ticket purchasers and other rail pass users.

4. You can wait until you're at the station in France, where the SNCF Travel Boutiques will sell reservations for advance travel, while reservations for that day can be purchased from ticket counters.
Rail pass reservations are also available for journeys within France from the newer type of white ticket machines.
Though inevitably if you wait until you are in France to book, you're more likely to find that the €10 reservations have sold out and will be asked to pay the €20 fee.

So avoid booking non-refundable accommodation until you have secured any necessary train reservations.
Try to be open to the possibility that your itinerary may actually be enhanced by the addition of an overnight stop in a French city; or that a lengthy transfer time between trains will then give you an opportunity to get out of the station and explore a location.
Though it's not a good idea to purchase a Eurail or InterRail pass less than a month ahead for an itinerary involving French rail travel and assume you will be able to book reservations on the TGV trains to your wish-list of destinations.

Travelling in July and August

It's was evident that trains on some routes with mandatory reservations were selling out earlier than usual in summer 2022.

Because many trains were already fully booked by ticket purchasers this inevitably impacted on the availability of the reservations for Eurail and InterRail pass users.
This situation was outside the control of Eurail and Interrail, it doesn't set timetables or ticket / reservation allocations.
So the advice for 2023 is if you'll be travelling in July and August and want to take a specific TGV train, try to reserve at least six weeks in advance - though this is a rough guide.

The situation was particularly acute on Saturdays on departures before 15:00, so avoid that day if possible or plan routes so that you can travel later in the day.

The alternative routes

As you may have gleaned it can be useful to have a back-up plan, or better still keep to keep your plans fairly loose, in case you can't book your first choice of taking the optimum TGV service.

If reservations are unavailable on TGV trains between Paris and your chosen destinations in France, this is a summary of the alternatives of how you can use your pass to get to where you want to be.
TER trains provide a slower alternative to the TGV trains when travelling between Paris and multiple cities inlcuding Belfort and Dijon and Lyon and Strasbourg.

TER services are also available on these routes:

• Lyon ↔ Avignon and Dijon and Marseille
• Marseille ↔ Avignon, Lyon, Montpellier, Nice and Nimes,
• Montpellier ↔ Avignon, Cerbere / Port Bou (connect for Barcelona), Marseille, Narbonne and Perpignan
• Bordeaux ↔ Bayonne, Biarritz, Brive (connect for Paris), Limoges (connect for Paris) and Toulouse
• Toulouse ↔ Bordeaux, La Tour de Carol (connect for Barcelona), Montpellier, Narbonne, Perpignan and Tarbes

Paris ↔ Biarritz and Bayonne and Toulouse
Check if you can book reservations on TGVs between Paris and Bordeaux and then take the TER trains to/from Bordeaux.

Paris ↔ Bordeaux
Book reservations on the Intercités trains between Paris and Brive or Limoges and then take TER trains between those cities and Bordeaux.

Paris ↔ Nimes
Book reservations on the Intercités trains between Paris and Clermont-Ferrand and then take TER trains between Clermont-Ferrand and Nimes; also much more scenic than taking the TGV trains.

Paris ↔ Avignon and Marseille
Check if you can book reservations on TGVs* between Paris and Lyon and then take the TER trains to/from Lyon.

Paris ↔ Antibes, Cannes, Montpellier and Nice and Nimes
Check if you can book reservations on TGVs* between Paris and Marseille and then take the TER trains to/from Marseille.

*= In the fairly unlikely scenario of not being able to find reservations on the TGV trains between Paris and Lyon or Marseille, travel by the TER trains instead.

You can use a rail pass on most, but not all TER train services, at no additional charge; the most modern TER trains can be comparatively comfortable compared to 2nd class on TGV trains.

TER services are now available on many routes which operate to/from Paris Nord, Paris Est and Paris St Lazare, but a €1.50 mandatory reservation is required on the TER trains between Paris and both Normandy and the Hauts-de-France, the most northerly region in France; and these reservations can only be booked at station ticket counters or advance booking desks.

Though users of Eurail and InteRail passes can still hop on and off the overwhelming majority of TER trains.

Reservation fees also aren't required on some Intercités routes which don't travel from/to Paris including Nantes <> Bordeaux.

(1) Rail passes can't be used on the RER trains in Paris.

(2) InterRail and Eurail passes ALSO cannot be used on Ouigo trains - the low cost, but more basic TGV trains.
This didn't use to be of concern to rail pass users, as Ouigio trains were confined to alternative stations on the edges of cities, so if you wanted to take a TGV train, it always made sense to pay the reservation fee to travel by the TGV InOui services.

Having to take public transport at both ends of a journey AND booking a ticket on a Ouigo train is more expensive than paying for a rail pass reservation fee on a regular TGV InOui train.
However, SNCF has now reorganised its Ouigo services, so that they share some like-for-like routes with the TGV InOui services - as a result many Ouigo trains now arrive at and depart from city centre stations.

Ouigo services now share these routes with TGV InOui services (with more to follow):

• Paris Gare De Lyon - Lyon St Exupery (Lyon Airport) - Aix-en-Provence TGV - Toulon - St Raphael - Cannes - Antibes - Nice
• Paris Gare De Lyon - Lyon St Exupery (Lyon Airport) - Avignon TGV - Marseille
• Lille - Aepoort CDG - Marne la Vallée - Lyon St Exupery (Lyon Airport) - Avignon TGV - Aix-en-Provence TGV - Marseille
• Paris Est - Lorraine TGV (for Nancy)- Strasbourg
• Paris Est - Metz and Strasbourg and Nancy
• Paris Montparnasse - Poitiers - Bordeaux - Toulouse
• Paris Montparnasse - Nantes and Rennes
• Paris gare de Lyon - Montpellier via Nimes

If you will be using a 2nd class rail pass to travel in France, this re-organisation of the Ouigo services means that they can be a viable alternative to paying the reservation fee on the TGV InOui services; particularly if you will be taking one of these routes AND using the type of pass restricted to a set number of travel days.

Ticket prices on this Ouigo routes can be as low as €16, so IF you can only find a €20 reservation fee available for a regular TGV InOui train, AND the €16 price is still available for a Ouigo train, not only will you save money, you can also save a day of use on your pass.
OR if the €10 reservation is available for a TGV InOui train, you may still conclude that paying €16 to travel on a Ouigo train is good value for money.
You can use that day your pass is valid for on other more expensive travel days.

If you will be travelling with a 1st class pass, avoid the Ouigio trains.
Paying a €10 or €20 reservation fee to travel in Premiere class on a long journey by TGV France (InOui) train, is better value for money than buying a Ouigo ticket instead.

High speed train services provide the majority of the international train services to/from France – including ALL international daytime trains to/from Paris
For rail pass users, the reservation fees for these trains are comparatively expensive - the fees for using TGV trains solely within France are now cheaper.

Example reservation fees:

Eurostar: Paris – London = €38 1st; €30 2nd

DB-SNCF: Paris – Frankfurt = €30 1st; €13 2nd

Eurostar formerly Thalys trains:

1st class pass users to travel in Comfort Class:
Belgium <> Netherlands = €27
Paris <> Belgium = €32
Germany <> Belgium = €32
Paris <> Germany and Netherlands = €37

2nd class pass users:
Belgium <> Netherlands = €22
Paris <> Belgium = €27
Germany <> Belgium = €27
Paris <> Germany and Netherlands = €32

Lyria:
Paris – Basel/Geneve/Zurich = €52* 1st; €25 2nd
Marseille/Nice – Geneve = €23 1st; €16 2nd

RENFE - SNCF:
Paris – Barcelona = €48 1st; €34 2nd
Though the number of reservations available to rail pass users on these trains are limited, they can sell out, despite tickets for non-pass users still being available.

TGV Bruxelles - France:
Marseille – Brussels = €30 1st; €20 2nd

TGV France/Italy
Paris – Turin/Milan = €45 1st; €31 2nd

The options for avoiding the reservation fees when travelling to and from Paris are shown on this alternative journey guide .

When booking Eurail or InterRail passes you can opt to use a mobile pass or a paper pass.

Regardless of whether you have opted for a mobile pass or a paper pass you can book the reservations online for any train service from France which has mandatory reservations, by using the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service; though you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.

RailEurope now sells rail pass reservations on most* trains to and from France without charging any booking fees.
When the rail pass reservations are sold out on a particular departure, RailEurope will indicate that the pass no longer applies, so will automatically offer the purchase of a regular point-to-point ticket instead.
*= the exceptions are the AVE high speed trains on the Lyon ↔ Barcelona and Marseille ↔ Madrid routes

These services:

• DB-SNCF
• RENFE-SNCF - Paris <> Barcelona*
• [Lyria](/travel-on/train/50-tgv-lyria-france-lessgreater-switzerland/
• TGV France-Italy*
  trains can also be booked at SNCF Boutique travel desks in the major stations and from SNCF ticket machines.

You can also make reservations for the Eurostar and Thalys trains on B-Europe.
Eurostar reservations can normally be booked up to 330 days ahead and Thalys reservations can usually be booked up to 4 months ahead.
Though in effect you will be paying a €4 fee for using B-Europe, as it only sells rail pass reservations as 'mobile tickets', so that you can download the reservations and store it on your phone, but it applies a surcharge for booking these.
So it's more expensive than using the reservation services provided by Eurail and InterRail, but reservations can be available to book on B-Europe for specific departures, when the Eurail and InterRail reservation services doesn't have them, particularly for Eurostar departures.

B-Europe will ask for pass numbers when booking, but it only accepts the numbers issued with paper passes.
If you have a mobile Eurail pass you can use this pass number generation service and InterRail mobile pass purchasers can use this pass number generation service; you enter your mobile pass number, so that you'll also then have a paper number.

Or be open to the idea of making a slower, indirect journey.

When to book

Reservations on the international:

• TGV France-Italy services
• Lyria services
• TGVs to Spain
• DB-SNCF routes to Germany
• Eurostar formerly Thalys services
  can now be booked up to 6 months ahead* of the travel date
  *The info on Eurail and InterRail reservation service will indicate that trains from and to France can only be booked 90 days in advance,.

Eurostar reservations for journeys to and from London are now available from 330 days ahead.

Either side of the Christmas and Easter holidays and when travelling in July and August it's not unknown for some Eurostar departures to sell out more than a month ahead; and it's the most poplar departures which will sell out soonest.

If you will need to travel by a specific Eurostar or Thalys service, you'll want to check that rail pass reservations are available for the train you need to take, prior to buying a pass and this can be done on B-Europe
Though don't leave it too long between confirming the availability, buying the pass, and then going back to book the reservation.

TGVs between Brussels and France

On these TGV trains trains from cities other than Paris to Belgium: 1st class = €30; 2nd class = €20

These trains can be booked onRailEurope without paying any booking fees -and bookings usually open up to 6 months ahead, so book in advance to maximise your choice of departures, rail pass reservations can sell out on the most popular trains, particularly in the summer.
The reservations be booked for a fee of €2 per person on the Eurail/InterRail reservation service.

On the DB-SNCF services:

When travelling between Paris and Frankfurt (Main), Stuttgart and Munchen/Munich.
Rail pass reservations for these trains are also no longer sold online by DB, so the booking options for rail pass users on these trains are:

• Book online with RailEurope without paying any booking fees
• Book at a station in France at a 'SNCF boutique' or from an SNCF ticket machinem or
• Book at the Reisezentrum travel desks in Germany, or
• You can book reservations online by using the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service - though you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.
  Bookings should open up to 6 months ahead of the travel date.

Or if you are happy to make slower journeys with more connections, you can avoid paying the fees, by taking alternative journey options.

On the RENFE-SNCF trains between France and Spain:

Rail pass reservations for these trains are not sold online by SNCF Connect or by the RENFE (Spanish Railways booking service), so the booking options for rail pass users on these trains are:

• Book at a station in France at a 'SNCF boutique', or at a SNCF ticket machine - Paris <> Barcelona only
• Book reservations online by using the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service - though you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.
  Bookings now open up to 180 days ahead of the travel date.
  The number of reservations available to rail pass users on these trains is limited, so they can sell out, despite tickets for non-pass users still being available.

Though if you can find a €10 reservation fee on the necessary TGV trains, you can save money by making an indirect journey when travelling from travel from Paris to Barcelona.
There are also options for avoiding paying any fees travelling to Barcelona from Lyon and from Marseille.

On the Lyria train services:

Before committing to paying a rail pass reservation fee for these trains, look up the ticket prices for journeys by these trains on SNCF Connect; particularly if you want to use the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service
It's fairly likely that you will save money if you book tickets instead.

When looking up the reservation fees for a journey between Paris and Basel on B-Europe, you will probably see journey options which involve paying a €10 fee for taking a TGV between Paris and Mulhouse or Strasbourg and then connecting for a TER train to or from Switzerland.

But it is possible to avoid paying fees at all if you follow these alternative journey options from Paris to Basel and Zurich .

On the TGV France-Italy services:

These trains have particularly expensive rail pass reservation fees, they're more than twice as expensive than the reservation fee for a TGV journey within France!

So, if you are will be using a Eurail or InterRail pass and a journey between northern Italy and Paris is on your itinerary; check the price being charged for a point-2-point journey, before booking the reservation fee.
If your pass is limited to a set number of travel days, use your pass for another day of travel, such as a day trip from Paris.

You can now usually save money by taking a TGV train to/from a station near a border and then continuing/commencing a journey by international local/regional trains – on which rail pass fees don’t apply.
Cross – border routes on which fairly frequent local/regional trains operate include:

• Lille – Gent – Antwerpen (Belgian IC trains, change of train may be required in Tournai)
• Strasbourg – Offenburg
• Strasbourg – Colmar – Mulhouse – Basel (TER trains)

Cross border routes with a less frequent local/regional train service include:

• Lyon – Bellegarde – Geneve (TER trains)
• Valence – Grenoble – Chambéry – Aix-les-Bains – Bellegarde – Geneve (TER trains)
• Narbonne – Perpignan – Cerbere – Port Bou (connect for Barcelona) (TER trains)

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