Between Bordeaux and Toulouse#1

Paris to Toulouse by train

How to take a train journey from Paris to Toulouse

There are three options for taking a train from Paris to Toulouse.

Both the regular TGV InOui services and low-cost, but more basic, Ouigo services share a route which involves whizzing down the high speed line as far as Bordeaux
It's particularly worthwhile to click on the Train Guides below so that you can compare the two train services.
However, if you need to arrive at a specific time you will often have to take one train service or the other.
The Ouigo services can plug gaps between the TGV InOui departures.

There are also Intercités trains to Toulouse from Paris which still take the older conventional route.
The plus of taking these trains is that they can be the cheapest option when booking tickets.

Users of Eurail and Interrail passes should take the InOui services, the reservation fees for the Intercités services are the same price, but the InOui services are faster.

Share

Routes

Option 1: taking the regular InOui services on the high speed route

Travel Information

There are now also 2 x daily low-cost, but more basic Ouigo services from Paris to Toulouse.

On Mondays to Saturdays the Ouigo train which usually departs 08:45 plugs a gap of more than four hours between the departures of these TGV InOui services.
On Sundays that 08:45 departure is the first train of the day.

Though when looking up this journey, if you don't opt to see only direct trains, there will be more journey options to choose from, but they will involve making a connection between trains in Bordeaux.

Note that these trains and those Ouigo services depart from the Gare Montparnasse in Paris.
The alternative, slower, but occasionally cheaper, service of Intercités trains from Paris to Toulouse depart from Paris Austerlitz.

Final Destination: Toulouse

All Trains Also Call At: Bordeaux and Agen

Some Trains Also Call At: Montauban

Mon-Thurs = 5 x trains per day
Friday = 6 x trains
Sat/Sun = 4 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but bookings can open sooner when SNCF is running a promotion.

When booking 2nd class tickets only one type of ticket will be available per departure, discounted 'Prems' tickets or 'Seconde' tickets; though the price of Seconde tickets are also typically cheaper when they are first placed on sale.
When booking 1st class tickets there will be a choice of Premiere tickets and Business Premiere tickets.

The two key T&Cs of booking Prems, Seconde, or Premiere tickets are:

  1. Up until two days prior to departure, these types of tickets can be refunded for no additional charge (big tick), but a €15 fee will be payable for making a refund in the two days prior to departure.
  2. It's also possible to exchange tickets to an alternative departure on the same journey, but you will have to pay any difference in price between the cost you paid and the cost at the time of the exchange.

Though if you book Business Premiere tickets, the key T&Cs are that tickets can be exchanged and refunded free of charge up to 30 minutes after departure, so if you get to the station just too late to miss the train you were originally booked on to, you won't lose out financially.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey, but rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding these TGV trains.

The price is dictated by demand per departure, so book ahead and try and be flexible re: your departure and arrival times, as trains leaving earlier or later can be cheaper.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect from €34

SNCF Connect Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.

SNCF Connect on Google Play

SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store

SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase

Download the SNCF Connect App from €34
Save A Train from €34

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail from €34

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

Rail Europe from €34
Omio from €34

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

Trainline from €34

Trainline Guide

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

Two TGV trains will be usually be joined together for the part of the journey between Paris and Bordeaux; the coach number on your ticket will for a coach in the part of the train heading to Toulouse

Also don't be surprised to see a train, heading to a destination other than Toulouse, departing at the same time AND from the same voie (platform/track) as your train.
This will be the destination of the other TGV train, which will be attached to the train heading to Toulouse.

Option 2: Save money on the high speed route by taking the more basic Ouigo services

Travel Information

Final Destination: Toulouse

These Ouigo services are usually scheduled to depart Paris at 08:52 and 12:21.

So you can now opt to save money, but have a much more basic on board experience, and travel on a Ouigo.

2 x trains per day

Tickets

Online bookings usually open: up to 9 months ahead of the travel date

Tickets for the alternative service of TGV InOui trains are usually made available 4 months ahead, so if you look up this journey more than 4 months ahead on SNCF Connect, you may only see these Ouigo services, but they are not the only option on this route.

What is particularly worth being aware of when booking tickets for journeys by Ouigo train services, is that:

  • Premiere/1st class tickets are not available.
  • Reservations are included when booking, as they are on the TGV InOui trains, but you can opt to pay additional fess, or book a more expensive type of ticket to select a specific seat (more info is available on the Ouigo 'Train Guide').
  • The more expensive type of tickets also include an additional luggage allowance, click the Ouigo 'Train Guide' to access more info on the luggage allowances on Ouigo trains; they're more restrictive than on a TGV InOui train.
  • You cannot book or collect tickets for Ouigo trains at stations.
  • The two key T&Cs of booking either of the two types of ticket available for journeys by Ouigo trains are:
  1. The tickets are not refundable.
  2. Exchanges to alternative departures are possible until 1 hour before the beginning of the boarding procedure, but they incur a fee of €10 per passenger, with any price difference between the old and new ticket(s) also added to this fee.

Though these factors, and more, are why you can make big savings by opting to travel by these Ouigo trains and not on the standard TGV InOui trains.

Eurail and InterRail Pass Users:

Rail passes cannot be used on Ouigo trains, but if you will be travelling with a 2nd class pass, our guide to using rail passes in France, explains why taking a Ouigo train can be worth considering

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect from €19

SNCF Connect Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.

SNCF Connect on Google Play

SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store

SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase

Ouigo from €19
Trainline from €19

Trainline Guide

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

If you do opt to travel from Paris to Toulouse by these Ouigo trains, you should aim to be at the Gare Montparnasse 30 mins before the train is due to depart.

And that's because you need to pass through 'reception' before boarding a Ouigo train, staff need to verify that all passengers are abiding by the 'rules' of travelling on a Ouigo train, no additional un-booked luggage, no bikes etc.

Option 3: Taking the slower route can be a money saver

Travel Information

These Intercités services from Paris to Toulouse are much slower than the TGV InOui and Ouigo services; particularly as those other trains now use the relatively new high speed line between Paris and Bordeaux.

Note that these trains depart from the Gare Austerlitz in Paris - the other trains from Paris to Toulouse depart from Gare Montparnasse.

Final Destination: Toulouse

All trains also call at: Limoges and Brive-la-Galliarde.

Mon- Saturday = 3 x trains per day
Sunday = 2 x trains

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date - usually (the booking window can be shorter in Oct-Nov).

If tickets aren't on sale yet for your travel date, you can sign up to the ticket availability notification service on Oui.SNCF.

If you don't choose a specific Paris station on Oui.SNCF,  the search results will still feature both services from Austerlitz and Montparnase for easy comparison.

If you're booking far enough ahead the discounted tickets for the TGVs from Paris Montparnasse are cheaper; despite those trains being much faster.
When the discounted tickets for the alternative TGVs are sold out, these Intercités trains are cheaper - but only by around €10.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.

Rail Pass Users:

If you will be travelling with a valid Euaril or InterRail pass you will need to pay a reservation fee to travel on both these Intercités trains AND the alternative faster TGV train).

The same rail pass users pricing policy is applied to both trains , but it's probable that you'll be more likely to find the €10 fee is available on these Intercités trains.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect from €15

SNCF Connect Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.

SNCF Connect on Google Play

SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store

SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase

Save A Train from €15

Save A Train Guide

Trainline from €15

Trainline Guide

Rail Europe from €15
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