France by TGV...  There's no check-in, you simply walk straight from the city centre onto the station concourse, glance at the indicator board to find your train & hop on, any time before departure... Buy French train tickets... www.raileurope.co.uk (UK) www.raileurope.com* (USA) www.raileurope-world.com (residents of Canada, Australia, NZ, Asia, Africa, South America) www.loco2.com (anyone) www.voyages-sncf.com (anyone) * = I've seen the US Rail Europe charge higher prices than www.voyages-sncf.com, so compare prices before before buying.

See France by train: Paris to Nice, Lyon, Bordeaux from €25...

French trains are easily the best way to travel between major French town & cities, in comfort at ground level.  France's world-famous TGV travels at up to 198 mph, from city centre to city centre, and if you pre-book direct with the operator you can find some really cheap fares, too.

Information on this page...

French train schedules & fares

Buy train tickets for France - at the station or online...

What are French trains like? TGV trains, iDTGV, Téoz, overnight trains

Travel tips - luggage, food, places not served by train, language problems

How to use the French Railways website, www.voyages-sncf.com

Hotels & accommodation in Paris & France

Information on other pages...

Train travel from the UK to France - by Eurostar & TGV or overnight train.

Train travel from Paris to other European cities

Train travel from other European cities to Paris

Left luggage facilities in Paris

Eurail passes   InterRail passes

General European train travel information

Luggage   Taking bikes   Taking dogs

Sponsored links...

Useful country information

French train schedules & fares...

You can check train times & fares for any journey in France using either www.raileurope.co.uk (for UK residents) or the official French Railways (SNCF) website www.voyages-sncf.com.  www.voyages-sncf.com has more than its fair share of quirks, so before using it, see the step-by-step advice below.

• To understand the different types of train, see the What are French trains like? section.

• Map of the French railway network

Buying tickets at the station...

It's easy to buy tickets at the station, even if you don't speak French.  For local journeys such as Paris-Versailles or Nice-Cannes, you just turn up, buy a ticket and hop on, no reservation necessary.  You can buy tickets from the self-service machines at main stations, which have an English language facility.  For long-distance trains including all TGV, Téoz & Intercités de Nuit overnight trains, it's compulsory to make a reservation, but there are usually seats available even on the day of travel and you can buy a ticket immediately before the train departs.  However, on the day of travel you'll pay the full price, there are much cheaper fares if you pre-book.  It's also a good idea to pre-book at busy holiday periods.  Remember to validate your tickets by putting them into the small orange machines marked 'Compostez votre billet' at the entrance to every platform - there's a fine if you don't!

How to buy French train tickets online...

• If you book well in advance on a 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans' basis, you can find some amazing advance-purchase fares called 'Prems'.  Prems fares start at just €25 even for a long-distance journey such as Paris to Nice.

• French train bookings usually open 90 days before departure.  You can't book before reservations open.

• In a logical world, French Railways (SNCF) would have one website, in various languages, with ticket delivery anywhere.  That's how most European train operators work.  But this is not a logical world, and SNCF and its subsidiaries have a variety of different websites.

• Buying direct from SNCF:  SNCF themselves have a website www.voyages-sncf.com selling tickets online, charging the official SNCF price, in euros.  Tickets can be collected at any main French station, or in many cases you can print your own ticket.  www.voyages-sncf.com will send tickets to any country worldwide except for the USA.  The site has a few quirks, so before using it to buy French train tickets online see the step-by-step advice below.  Just be aware that pressure is being put on SNCF to protect their worldwide Rail Europe subsidiaries and if you're not alert www.voyages-sncf.com will try and divert you to the relevant Rail Europe.  If you're from the USA you must choose 'Canada' as your country (or if you prefer, try 'Afghanistan') not 'United States' to avoid automatically being diverted to www.raileurope.com.  Whatever your country, stay alert for pop-up boxes telling you that you're being diverted to their 'local' website (which means the relevant Rail Europe), decline this by clicking the 'Continue onto voyages-sncf.com' link.  If you stay on www.voyages-sncf.com you'll pay the official SNCF price, where TGV journeys start at just €19.

• If you live in the UK, SNCF has a UK subsidiary, Rail Europe Ltd, www.raileurope.co.uk, which also charges the official SNCF price (give or take the exchange rate they use), converted into pounds.  Booking at www.voyages-sncf.com can save a small amount on the exchange rate, but it's a good idea to use www.raileurope.co.uk as it's easier & clearer to use and you get the backing of a UK call centre if anything goes wrong, call 0844 848 5 848, lines open 09:00-19:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-18:00 Sat.  On the other hand, voyages-sncf.com allows you to select seating options on French trains, but raileurope.co.uk doesn't so you have to take pot luck, and I've seen bookings open on voyages-sncf.com 48 hours before the same train becomes bookable at raileurope.co.uk, useful to know if you're trying to nab a cheap deal as soon as bookings open 90 days ahead.  www.voyages-sncf.com currently charges no fees, www.raileurope.co.uk charges a £2.25 postage fee and a 2.5% credit card fee, but you can avoid these fees by collecting tickets at the station and using a debit card.  So use either www.raileurope.co.uk or www.voyages-sncf.com, it's your decision...

• If you live in the USA:  First the good news.  If you live in the USA or Canada, you can easily buy tickets for any French train online at www.raileurope.com (USA) or www.raileurope.ca (Canada).  This is Rail Europe Inc, a US-based subsidiary of French Railways, not to be confused with Rail Europe 4A (referred to below), which is a separate subsidiary selling to Australia, Africa, Asia and South America based in Paris, or Rail Europe Ltd which is another subsidiary based in the UK.  Now the bad news.  www.raileurope.com & www.raileurope.ca have been known to suppress the cheapest fares for the US market.  That means you may well find your train ticket cheaper on www.voyages-sncf.com with all the cheap fares shown and no added booking fees.  You can easily use www.voyages-sncf.com by selecting 'Antarctic' as your country of residence and making sure you are offered print-at-home or ticket collection at station option.  As I write this, a quick price comparison shows www.raileurope.com charging $130 from Paris to Marseille (for example) when www.voyages-sncf.com is showing only €44.90 (about $64) for exactly the same date and train.  So do a price comparison before buying!

• If you live in Australia, Canada, NZ, Asia, Africa or South America, you can buy online at www.raileurope-world.com.  You may get a print-at-home ticket, or they will send tickets to any country worldwide except the USA for a small fee.  Prices at www.raileurope-world.com are now the same as on voyages-sncf.com, at least according to every test booking I've done so far, give or take a small fee, so it's fine to buy here, avoiding the need to overcome any redirection or payment problems you might have at voyages-sncf.com.  You're buying from Rail Europe 4A, the 4A stands for Australia, Africa, Asia and South America, it's a subsidiary of French Railways based in Paris with offices in Australia, India, Singapore and a few other countries.  They should not be confused with Rail Europe Inc based in the USA, which is a different company (although still a French Railways subsidiary) with different policies.

What are TGVs like?

TGVs or 'Trains à Grande Vitesse' run at up to 186 mph (300 km/h) on long distance routes covering most of France.  In fact, they run at up to 198 mph (320 km/h) on the new TGV-Est route from Paris to Reims, Strasbourg, Metz, Luxembourg & Basel, opened in 2007.  Smooth & quiet even at high speed, it's a very relaxing way to travel.  Seat reservation is compulsory on TGV services, and all TGVs are completely non-smoking.  All TGVs have a wheelchair space & wheelchair-accessible toilet.

1st class on all TGVs has spacious seats with armrests and power-recline, arranged one-abreast on one side of the aisle, two abreast on the other side of the aisle.  Each seat has either a drop-down table big enough for a laptop (face-to-back seats) or a fixed table with table lamp (face-to-face seats).  All first class seats have power-points for laptops & mobiles with European-style two-pin sockets.  There are luggage racks above the seats and at the end of the car for larger items.  There is a small bench seat outside each main seating saloon if you need to make a private mobile phone call.  When making a reservation, two seats facing each other across a table are referred to as 'Club duo' or 'Dual face to face', four seats around a table are 'Club Quatre' or 'Club four'.  Two seats side by side facing seat backs in front are 'Duo' or 'Dual side by side', and single seats facing a seat back in front are 'Solo'.  Top tip:  Ask for (or select) 'Club Duo' or 'Dual face to face' if travelling as a couple for an intimate table-for-two, or 'Club Quatre' or 'Club four' if three or four of you are travelling together so you can sit cosily around a table.

2nd class on all TGVs has comfortable seats with armrests, arranged two-abreast on both sides of the aisle.  There are drop-down tables big enough for laptops (at face-to-back seats) or fixed tables (at face-to-face seats), although laptop/mobile power sockets are not always fitted in standard class.  There are two toilets for each pair of coaches, and baby changing facilities in the second class coach at the end of the train.

Cafe-bar:  All TGVs (except a few running very short distances, for example Lille-Paris in just an hour) have a café-bar serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, a few hot dishes such as quiche or lasagne, small bottles of wine & spirits.  The café-bar is located in the centre of the train, between the first and second class cars.  The coffee is good, and credit cards are accepted as well as cash.  There is a standing area where you can eat and drink your purchases, or you can take them back to your seat.  Alternatively, on European trains including TGVs you are free to bring your own food and drink (including beer or wine) on board if you like.

What are iDTGVs?  On key routes, SNCF operates one or two daily trains branded iDTGV.  These are simply special TGVs with their own cheap fare structure and bookings which open 120 days ahead, designed to compete head-on with budget airlines.  iDTGVs do not appear on Rail Europe, only on voyages-sncf.com or their own website www.idtgv.com.  iDTGVs often run coupled to a regular TGV, which is why you'll see two trains in the search results with identical departure times but different fares and logos.  I get more emails about payment failing for iDTGVs than for any other TGV, as iDTGVs have their own fussier payment processing system, but if you have problems paying for an iDTGV ticket, contact iDTGV customer care through their website quoting the last 4 digits of your credit card and they say they'll unblock it for you.

TGV seating plans...

There are several types of TGV, but you can find plans of the seating layout on various TGV types on the internet if you search. 

• TGV Duplex seating plan (most Paris-Lyon, Paris-Marseille, some Lille-Marseille services)

• TGV Réseau cars 1-4   TGV Réseau cars 5-8 (most Lille-Southern France services)

• TGV Mediterranée seating plan (Paris- Nîmes, Montpellier, Perpignan services)

• TGV Atlantique seating plan (Paris to Le Mans, Bordeaux, Lourdes, Toulouse, Nantes, Rennes).

On board a typical TGV....

TGV 1st class.  There are two 'club duo' seats on the left, a bay of four 'club quatre' on the right, and many rows of 'solo' and 'duo' seats behind.		TGV 2nd class.  Most seats are face-to-back, but there are some bays of four face-to-face seats, ask when booking.

Many TGVs have now been refurbished with interiors by designer Christian Lacroix.  All TGVs on the TGV-Est route from Paris Est to Reims, Strasbourg, Metz, Luxembourg, Basel & Zurich & the TGV-Atlantique route from Paris Montparnasse to Tours, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lourdes, Rennes are already refurbished...  Incidentally, SNCF's in-house designer still hasn't forgiven Christian Lacroix for breaking the 'rules' and using warm colours in 2nd class, cooler colours in 1st class, so see what you think!  Watch the video - inside a Christian Lacroix TGV.

TGV 1st class, refurbished...		TGV 2nd class, refurbished...

TGV Duplex:  double-deck TGVs...     Watch the TGV Duplex video guide

Most Paris-Lyon services, many Paris-Marseille services, most Paris-Nice and even some Lille-Marseille services are now run by impressive 186 mph TGV Duplex double-deckers.  You can tell if your train will be a TGV Duplex, as a 'TGV Duplex' logo will be shown for that train when you book using www.raileurope.co.uk or www.voyages-sncf.com.  You board the train at the lower level, but walk along the train from car to car at the upper level.  The café-bar is also at the upper level.  When booking, you can choose a seat on either upper or lower decks if you use www.loco2.com or www.voyages-sncf.com or book by phone, but not if you book at www.raileurope.co.uk as this only offers 'aisle' or 'window'.  If you have problems with stairs or very heavy luggage, the lower deck might be best.  But for the best views (over the top of the occasional sound barrier along the high speed lines!), choose an upper deck seat.  For couples, an upper deck first class 'club duo' ('Dual face to face') table-for-two is easily the best option.

TGV Duplex at Nice station.  All Paris-Nice TGVs are TGV Duplex...		1st class seats on TGV Duplex, upper deck.  That's a 'club duo' on the left & a 'club quatre' on the right.

2nd class seats on TGV Duplex, upper , upper deck.  There's a mix of face-to-back & a face-to-face seating.		The café-bar, on the upper level in car 4...

The stairs...  The landing on a TGV Duplex showing the stairs down to the entrance door...		A double-deck TGV Duplex, about to leave Paris Gare de Lyon for Cannes & Nice.  You can easily travel from London to Nice in a day by Eurostar & TGV, a relaxing day catching up on your reading or your email, over a bottle of wine.  And it isn't even expensive if you follow the advice on this page!

What are Téoz trains like?

Although merely 125mph trains rather than TGVs, most Paris-Limoges-Brive-Toulouse & Nantes-Bordeaux-Marseille-Nice trains now use stylish air-conditioned Téoz coaches like this, with a unique interior design.  Seating plan.

Téoz train...		Téoz 1st class...		Téoz 2nd class...

What are Intercités de Nuit overnight trains like?

Sleep your way to the South of France on an Intercité de Nuit couchette train (formerly 'Lunéa').

It can be the most time-effective way to travel, effectively faster than flying.  Sleep your way to the south of France in a comfy couchette, from Paris to Nice, Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, Biarritz or Perpignan for as little as €35 (£30) each way booked at www.raileurope.co.uk or www.voyages-sncf.com.  Formerly branded 'Lunéa', French overnight trains are now branded 'Intercités de Nuit' and have couchettes (simple sleeping berths) in 1st class 4-berth compartments & 2nd class 6-berth compartments.  Most of these trains also have 2nd class reclining seats, but a safe and comfortable couchette is recommended for an overnight trip. 

Exclusive use of a couchette compartment:  Sleeping-cars with 1 & 2 bed compartments were withdrawn from all French overnight trains in 2007, but you can now book a 1st class 4-berth couchette compartment for single or dual occupancy - ask for the 'Espace Privatif' offer or book online at www.voyages-sncf.com and remember to have 1st class selected, you'll be offered the private space option when you select a 1st class fare.

Couchettes are simple padded bunks, each supplied with a pillow and special lightweight sleeping-bag, a great idea, replacing the traditional sheet and blanket.  Men and women are mixed in couchettes, as you don't normally fully undress, but on these French overnight trains women travelling alone can ask for a berth in a ladies-only compartment if they prefer.  If you have children, you can ask the train staff for an additional child safety rail for their bunk.  There are washrooms and toilets at the end of the corridor.

The couchette cars are being modernised with bright interiors, new carpeting and soft fabric bunks.  Each couchette passenger gets a small bottle of mineral water, earplugs and tissues.  There's a security lock on the door which cannot be opened from outside even with a staff key, and plenty of staff are on duty if you need them.  Only passengers with tickets and reservations are allowed onto the platform, and there are minimal stops between midnight and 06:00 to ensure a smooth and secure journey through the night.   I prefer the top bunks up in the roof space as these give the most privacy, though if you've any mobility problems you should ask for a bottom bunk.  Bottom and middle bunks can also be cooler than top bunks, if that's an issue for you.

2nd class couchettes have 6 bunks in each compartment, with upper, middle & lower berths on each side of the compartment.  Lower bunks are easier to get into, but top bunks up in the roof space give you more privacy.

1st class couchettes have 4 berths per compartment, arranged as upper and lower on each side of the compartment.  They are much more spacious than 2nd class couchettes, with 4 people instead of 6 in in a similar size room.  Great for travelling as a family or with friends.  It's now possible to reserve a whole 4-berth 1st class couchette compartment on Intercités de Nuit overnight trains for sole or dual occupancy.  Sole or dual occupancy 'Espace Privatif' can't be booked online, so phone Rail Europe to book.

Intercités de Nuit:  A couchette car on the Paris-Nice overnight train at Nice station...		2nd class 6-berth couchettes		1st class 4-berth couchettes

Most Intercités de Nuit overnight trains also have reclining seats, and you can also find overnight TGV trains on some routes which of course just have seats (non-reclining, at least in 2nd class).  However, a couchette allows you to sleep properly lying down in a securely locked compartment, so is the recommended option, well worth the small extra cost.  Travelling overnight in a seat is not recommended except as a last resort.

Railpasses for France, a warning...

• By all means check out the InterRail pass for France (for European residents) or Eurail passes for France (for non-Europeans) at the seat61 rail shop.  However, passes have lost their convenience factor as all TGV, Téoz, & Intercités de Nuit overnight trains now require a seat reservation before boarding.  A €6 or €18 reservation fee needs to be paid on top of the pass price for each long-distance journey which must be factored into your budget.  More seriously, railpass places are controlled by a very limited quota, and with a pass you may not be able to travel at all without pre-booking - in which case, a €25 prems fare becomes cheaper than a €50-per-day pass plus an €18 reservation fee!  It's been reported that some people have had to wait several days before a train with available railpass places is available.  If you're prepared to pre-book on a 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans' basis, you can find ultra-cheap Prems fares that blow railpass costs out of the water.  Indeed, one might say that the situation has reversed in the last 20 years.  It's now the point-to-point passenger who buys cheaply online and breezes onto the train with their no-hassle print-at-home ticket, while the railpass holder has to queue up at the ticket office to make a reservation and pay a surcharge for just about every long-distance train.

How to change trains & stations in Paris...

• See the changing trains & stations in Paris page.

• Paris metro & bus website

Which station in Paris?

• The Gare du Nord serves trains to the north:  Lille, Amiens, Boulogne, Calais, Dunquerque, London, Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Cologne.

• The Gare de l'Est serves trains to the east:  Nancy, Strasbourg, Reims, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, sleepers to Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Moscow

• The Gare de Lyon serves TGV trains to the south-east:  Lyon, Avignon, Marseille, Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Nîmes, Montpellier, Narbonne, Perpignan, Turin, Milan, Geneva, Bern, Lausanne, Basel, Zurich.

• The Gare d'Austerlitz serves Téoz trains to Limoges, Toulouse, & overnight couchette trains to Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Toulouse, Perpignan, Narbonne, Lourdes, Biarritz, Madrid & Barcelona.

• The Gare Montparnasse serves TGV trains to the southwest: Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Biarritz, Lourdes, Brest, Rennes.

• The Gare St Lazare serves Dieppe and the immediate north.

• The Gare de Bercy, a little known station down the road from the Gare de Lyon, now handles most trains to Clermont Ferrand.

Places not served by the main rail network...

• Mont st Michel has no station, so you must either take a train to Pontorson-Mont St Michel station which is about 5 miles away (bus and taxi available) or take a train to Rennes and a connecting French Railways bus from there.  If you enter 'Mont St Michel' as your destination into www.raileurope.co.uk or  www.voyages-sncf.com it will offer you both 'Pontorson-Mont St Michel' and 'Mont St Michel'.  If you select the latter, it will offer combined train+bus times and fares direct to Mont St Michel via Rennes.

• The Nice-Digne railway is a private and very scenic line linking Nice (CFP station) with Digne.  Highly recommended, see www.trainprovence.com.

• Corsica:  Corsica can easily be reached by comfortable ferry from a variety of ports in Southern France, including Marseille, Toulon or Nice.  The principal ferry operators are SNCM (www.sncm.fr) and Corsica Ferries (www.corsicaferries.com).

After buying tickets online at www.voyages-sncf.com or Rail Europe or Loco2, you can collect them at any main French station, either from the ticket office or from self-service machines like these.  Simply select 'English' using the touch screen, select ticket retrieval using a credit card, insert the same card you used to buy the tickets, click 'confirm' and out they come...  In some cases, online tickets can be printed out at home, but not always.

The French Railways (SNCF) website www.voyages-sncf.com is very useful.  But it has a few quirks, and the way they structure their booking process, international language and ticket delivery options gives rise to several pitfalls.  This step-by-step guide will help you avoid those pitfalls.

What's the difference between www.voyages-sncf.com & Rail Europe?

www.voyages-sncf.com is the official French Railways (SNCF) website, originally only available in French with an English language equivalent at tgv-europe.com.  However, in April 2013 SNCF rolled its tgv-europe.com into a new multi-language all-singing all-dancing www.voyages-sncf.com.

What tickets can voyages-sncf sell?

www.voyages-sncf.com can sell train tickets including seat, couchette or sleeper reservations for almost any journey within France and for direct international journeys to or from France, for example, Paris to or from London, Barcelona, Madrid, Switzerland, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels.  All the cheap deals are shown, and there are no booking fees or postage to pay.  That makes these sites very useful for any European train traveller or visitor to Europe.

What tickets can't it sell?

They can't make 'reservation only' bookings if you have a railpass.  They will also struggle with tickets for non-direct international journeys, for example Paris to Barcelona is no problem, but it can't book Paris to Alicante with a change at Barcelona.  You often need to book onwards tickets separately at the relevant train operator's website.  In this example, you'd book Paris-Barcelona at voyages-sncf.com, then Barcelona-Alicante at the Spanish Railways website, www.renfe.com.

How are tickets delivered?

Tickets booked at www.voyages-sncf.com can be collected at any staffed French railway station or in many cases printed out yourself, or sent by regular post to the UK or any address worldwide, including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Mongolia and North Korea, but excluding the USA.  Tickets cannot be collected at stations in countries outside France, and a self-print option won't appear for some international journeys, so inwards journeys towards France can only be booked if you'll either visit France beforehand to collect your tickets, or the system offers to send tickets to your country, which it will do for any country worldwide except the USA, or you do happen to get a self-print option.

When does booking open?

You can book tickets up to 92 days in advance.  You can't book further ahead than this.  Remember that all European railways change their timetables on a Sunday in mid-June & mid-December every year, and the 92 days often gets squeezed to just 60 days or less around these times (for example, bookings for the few weeks after the mid-December timetable change usually don't open until mid-October).  Don't be surprised if you find no trains shown at all if you enquire for a date after a timetable change, as data may not be loaded for the new timetable yet.  If you are travelling more than 92 days from now (or on a date after a timetable change) then by all means check times & prices for a date within the next 60 days (or before the timetable change) to get an idea, they probably won't change that much.  On the plus side, SNCF has been known to open bookings earlier than 92 days ahead for the busy summer period in July & August.

If you live in the United States...

Here's the problem:  French Railways (SNCF) wants to protect its Rail Europe subsidiary in the United States.  So if you use www.voyages-sncf.com and select 'USA' as your country of residence, the search results will open on the Rail Europe's US website www.raileurope.com and you'll pay higher prices with postage or booking fees on top.  And in some cases I've seen Rail Europe in the States charge a whopping $184 for a date and train when a $45 fare was available direct from SNCF (and, for the record, from the UK Rail Europe).  So you can save lots of money if you make the effort to book direct with French Railways at European prices with no postage or booking fees to pay.

To avoid being 'bumped' to Rail Europe, buy tickets directly from SNCF using one of these two options:

• Buy tickets in English at SNCF's English-language website www.voyages-sncf.com, but selecting 'Great Britain' or 'Canada' or even 'Afghanistan' as your country, not the United States.  If your journey starts in France, you'll usually be offered the option to self-print or collect your tickets at the station, so nothing is actually sent to you other than by email.  If you succeed in booking in English this way, do let me know!  Obviously, as tickets can only be collected in France, don't book an international journey starting outside France as you won't be able to collect tickets at a non-French station, and self-print isn't an option for international journeys.

• Buy tickets in French using the main French version of the SNCF website www.voyages-sncf.com - just select 'France' top right.  Use this option if for any reason the above option doesn't work.  Don't panic if you don't speak French, just follow the easy step by step instructions below.  Most of the booking process involves dates, times & places which are pretty much the same in any language.  At the end of the booking it will give you the option to collect tickets at any staffed French station, or in some cases (domestic French journeys only) print out your own ticket.  Obviously, as tickets can only be collected in France, don't book an international journey starting outside France as you won't be able to collect tickets at a non-French station, and self-print isn't an option for international journeys. 

How to use Voyages-sncf.com in English   

General advice...

Booking tips...

• Un-tick the 'direct services only' box:  On voyages-sncf.com, this box is ticked by default.  That's fine if you are certain that there's a direct train.  But remember to un-tick it to see results which involve a change of train (or to see any results at all if the journey always involves a change of train).

• If it prompts you with a choice of stations, it's generally best to select the one with the 2-letter code for the country in question after the place name, for example 'Milan (IT)' for Milan, 'Vienna (AT)' for Vienna, 'Berne (CH)' for Bern and so on.  If it's in Germany, pick the one which includes 'Hbf' (=Hauptbahnhof or main station), for example 'Cologne Hbf (DE)'.  For Venice, select Venice Santa Lucia, the main station in Venice.  For Paris, select 'Paris - all stations (TGV-FR)'.

• 'Season Ticket' & 'Loyalty program':  I dare say you haven't got a French Railways loyalty card or season ticket, so just leave these boxes well alone.

• When booking overnight trains, it will only offer fares for couchette or sleeper accommodation in the class you've selected.  So leave '2nd class' selected if you want to book berths in 6-berth couchettes or 4-berth or 3-bed sleepers all of which are technically 2nd class, but select '1st class' if you want to book 4-berth couchettes or 1 or 2-bed sleepers, these are all technically 1st class (the range available will of course depend on the train in question).

• When the search results appear for overnight trains, it will show prices but unfortunately  won't explain which type of couchette or sleeper those prices are for!  Don't worry, simply select the cheapest fare, and the word 'Choisir Ma Place' or 'Choose my place' will appear.  Click this, and a drop down box will appear which allows you to switch between different types of couchette and sleeper in that class.  Make quite sure you book the right type of couchette of sleeper.

• Check on the confirmation page that you've booked the right type of couchette or sleeper.  The translation from French is very poor:  '2nd class sleeper' actually means you've booked a 2nd class couchette in 6-berth compartments.  'First class sleeper' actually means you've booked a couchette in a 4-berth compartment.  'T3 cabin' means you've booked a berth in a 3-bed sleeper, 'First class double' means you've booked a berth in a 2-bed sleeper, 'First class single' means you've book a single-bed sleeper.

• If you are booking a City Night Line train between Paris and Germany, I strongly recommend using www.bahn.de as amongst other things this handles the German child age limits on these trains correctly.

• Booking Eurostar:  It's usually best to book a Eurostar ticket between London & Paris as a separate journey.  Use the recommended Eurostar times shown on the relevant pages of this website as a guide, but feel free to choose an earlier Eurostar from London, or a later Eurostar returning from Paris, if these have cheaper seats available than the recommended Eurostar connection, or if you want to stop off.  Don't forget that on your return journey, your departure date from Paris to London will be the day after your departure date from Italy to Paris!  .

• Don't worry if your seat numbers aren't consecutive!  The system does normally book all of the passengers on one booking in seats next to each other!  For example, seats 62 & 68 in a 2nd class car on a high-speed Frecciarossa are in fact side by side. And in a 2-bed sleeper, berths 21 & 25 are in the same compartment, with 22 & 26 in the compartment next door.  For seat numbering plans for European trains, see the train seating plans page.

• Important:  UK postcodes:  It may not accept UK postcodes.  Try adding your UK postcode as part of the address (so the postman can read it) then use '123456' or a French postcode or whatever it takes to get the system to accept the postcode.  Feedback appreciated!

• Names on e-tickets:  Remember when entering you name that the the first box marked 'name' = your surname, the second box marked 'forename' = your first name.

• Tickets are sent from France but normally arrive at UK addresses within a couple of days.

• Payment problems?  Some banks are now so worried about fraud that they put a 'hold' on your credit card the moment any unusual foreign transaction goes through.  So if your credit card doesn't work, it could be your bank's fault not the website's.  Try contacting your credit card company to confirm that you're making a legitimate transaction and ask them to unblock your card.  It's also reported that the French Railways website will only accept one booking per day from any one foreign credit card, with a maximum value of €150 per day or €300 a week.  Obviously, it's therefore handy to have a second card if you want to exceed these limits!  Also, if a card is rejected for any reason, their website may automatically reject that card again if it is used within the next 24 hours.  So even if you have called your bank to 'unblock' your card after a first failed transaction, you may need to wait 24 hours before using it again, or try another card.  Feedback on this issue would be appreciated!

• You'll need the original credit card to collect the tickets!  If you're booking a journey that starts in France, you can choose to collect tickets at any main French station (you cannot collect from stations outside France, so bear that in mind!).  You need to show the same credit card that you used to make the booking. 

• Chip & PIN credit card necessary?  NO!  Their website says that only cards with Chip & PIN are accepted for collecting tickets from the self-service machines, but you can select this option without a chip & PIN card and simply collect your tickets from the staffed ticket counter instead, quoting your booking reference and showing the original (non-chip & PIN) credit card used to make the booking.  The confirmation email you get after booking actually says this, even if the website doesn't!

• iDTGV payment problems:  iDTGV a special brand name and fare structure SNCF gives to a couple of daily TGVs on a handful of routes designed to compete head-to-head with budget airlines, with booking opening 120 days ahead.  In many cases an iDTGV will operate coupled to a regular TGV, which is why you'll often see two trains in your search results with exactly the same departure time but different prices and logos, one a normal TGV, the other a cheaper iDTGV.  Note that none of the Rail Europes, either UK or overseas, can sell iDTGV, you can only buy iDTGV tickets online at either www.voyages-sncf.com or their own website www.idtgv.com.  Now the important bit, failed payments for iDTGV:  Bookings involving these cheap iDTGV trains often fail at the payment stage, far more often than problems occur when paying for normal TGV trains.  That is because iDTGV has been set up as a separate company and has its own separate payment processing system, which has clearly been set up with fussier card acceptance parameters than the normal SNCF voyages-sncf.com system.  However, if you email them with the last 4 digits of your credit card number, they will unblock your card, or so they have told at least one seat61.com correspondent.  You can find their contact details at www.idtgv.com or try information@serviceclient.idtgv.com.  Feedback would be much appreciated!

How to use www.voyages-sncf.com, in French

General advice...

• To use www.voyages-sncf.com in French, simply select 'France' using the selector top right.

• Book multi-leg journeys in two stages, not one:  For example, if booking from London to Rome, first book the journey from Paris to Rome, then click 'add another ticket' and book your Eurostar from London to Paris and back as a second separate journey, making sure you allow plenty of time to change trains in Paris.  You can pay for both bookings together at the end of your session.

  Why is this?  There are several reasons for booking the Eurostar and the onwards train from Paris separately:  (1)  The French system is incapable of mixing-and-matching cheap inflexible fares for one leg with semi- or fully-flexible fares for the other.  So if you try to book from London to Rome all in one go and the only tickets left for your Paris-Rome journey are semi-flexible, it will add this to a £200 semi-flexible Eurostar ticket to produce a silly-money total fare even if a £39 inflexible ticket is available for the London-Paris leg.  But if you book each leg separately, you can nab that £39 in flexible fare for London-Paris, add it to your basket, then book the semi-flexible fare for Paris-Rome;  (2)  It's also incapable of mixing-and-matching classes, for example, 2nd class Eurostar London to Paris then 1st class 4-berth couchette or 1st class 2-bed sleeper on the Paris to Rome leg.  You can only do this if you book each leg separately.  Indeed, on some routes it's not unusual to find a cheap advance-purchase 1st class fare still available that's cheaper than the cheapest remaining 2nd class fare, and you can only take advantage of this cheap 1st class deal for the beyond-Paris leg if you book each leg separately.  (3)  it allows you to search for an earlier Eurostar connection from London, or a later one back from Paris on your return, if there are no cheap seats left on the recommended Eurostar connection, or if you want to stop off in Paris for a while.

• If necessary, use other websites to book onwards connections within another country:  For example, www.voyages-sncf.com can book Eurostar from London to Paris and your sleeper train from Paris to Rome or Madrid, but it may not book onwards connections from Rome to Naples or Madrid to Malaga.  Even if it can, it won't offer the cheapest price for a domestic journey in a country outside France, only the full-fare tariff advised by that country to the French railways.  So book the last leg using the relevant national rail operator website for that country.  For example, for connecting trains within Italy, use www.trenitalia.com (tickets can be picked up at the station, or there is a ticketless option for the best Italian high-speed trains, see this advice for using trenitalia.com), for connecting trains within Spain use www.renfe.com (self-print tickets).  See the How to buy European train tickets page, or there is a list of national railway websites on the useful links page, and many of these will have online ticket sales for journeys within that country.

• If you've kids, check it's not cheaper to book 4 adults than (say) 2 adults and 2 children.  Why?  Because an adult 30 euro 'prems' fare for anyone of any age is often cheaper than a full-price child (or senior) ticket.  However, the system isn't always clever enough to revert to the adult price if it's cheaper than the child price.  If you've kids, check the price booking your children as adults just to make sure.  If it's cheaper, there's no problem with a child travelling on an adult ticket, just not the other way round!

Step 1:

• Go to the www.voyages-sncf.com home page and change the country/language to 'France' top right. 

• Residents of the USA should NOT select 'United States' as their country because the search results will open on the more expensive raileurope.com website in the USA and you will not see the cheap prices available direct from SNCF.  SNCF is trying to protect raileurope.com, which it owns.  So you'll need to use the main French Railways website www.voyages-sncf.com in French, which allows anyone to book and collect tickets at any staffed station in France.

• So go to www.voyages-sncf.com and leave it in French if you want to avoid being redirected to other websites.  Note that tickets can only then be collected in France, or in some cases printed out on your own PC printer.

• Fill in the booking form on the right of their home page (see the picture to the right).  It's not difficult to understand, even in French!

• Want a direct train?  The 'Trajets directs' ('direct trains only') box can be very useful if (for example) you're trying to book the direct Paris-Florence or Paris-Barcelona sleeper trains and don't want all the confusing alternatives with umpteen changes of train to appear in the results.  Obviously, if there aren't any direct trains, you won't see any trains at all in the results!

• Add more than one passenger, select ages to search for 'youth' or 'senior' fares:  Click the 'Qui participe à ce voyage' link to add more than one passenger.  If you're over 60, or under 26, make sure you select the right age range for each passenger, as any youth or senior fares will then show up.  'Ans' = 'years'.  Enfant = child, jeune = youth.

• Leave the 'cartes et abonnements' & 'cartes de fidelité' selectors blank, as you probably won't have any French Railways railcards or loyalty cards!

• Want to specify a particular route?  If you want a particular route (for example, London to Marseille changing in Lille rather than Paris), click 'Recherche avancée' (advanced search) link at the bottom of the form and you get an expanded form with a useful 'trajet via' box added.  In the case of London to Marseille via Lille, you'd type 'Lille' in the 'trajets via' box. 

• Important:  The advanced search box has a drop down box for you to select a country in which to collect or receive tickets, although the standard search form assumes that this is France..  To pick up tickets at any staffed station in France or have them sent to any French address, leave 'France' selected in the box at the bottom.  Your own country of residence is irrelevant, that's not the question you are being asked.  To have tickets sent to addresses in the UK, change 'France' to 'Grande Bretagne'.  To have tickets sent to other countries, for example, Spain, Italy or the Netherlands, select that country.

• If you're from the USA, do not, repeat do not under any circumstances, select 'Etats-Unis' (United States) because it will then bump you to www.raileurope.com, which is SNCF's American subsidiary with more expensive fares.  So if you're from the US, leave 'France' selected to pick up tickets at any main station in France, including all the main Paris ones.  If you're Osama bin Laden, no problem, SNCF will deliver to any address in Afghanistan if you select that country on www.voyages-sncf.com.

• When you're ready, click 'Rechercher' ('Search')

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

• Your booking is confirmed.  Check the ticket is what you want (if not, click 'supprimer'), untick the insurance box and click 'Continuer'.

• Don't worry if your seat numbers aren't consecutive.  The system does normally book all of the passengers on one booking in seats next to each other, but for example, seats 62 & 68 in a 2nd class car on a high-speed Frecciarossa are in fact side by side. And in a 2-bed sleeper, berths 21 & 25 are in the same compartment, with 22 & 26 in the compartment next door.  For seat numbering plans for European trains, see the train seating plans page.

• If a 'technical error' message comes up instead of the screen below, you may need to give up and book by phone.  This seems to happen occasionally, especially with international trains to Spain & Italy.

Step 5:

• Mode of ticket delivery or collection:  Choose mode of ticket delivery.  'Print your own' is the ideal option, but this is only allowed for certain ticket types, usually the cheapest ones such as 'prems'.  The option to collect at the station (shown as 'Borne Libre Service' or 'Gare ou Boutique') is available for all ticket types and allows ticket pick up at either the self-service machines or the ticket office at any staffed station in France.

• Chip & PIN credit card necessary?  No!  Although their website refers to collecting tickets from the self-service machines and says that only cards with Chip & PIN are accepted (by the machines), if you select this option without a chip & PIN card you can simply collect tickets from the staffed ticket counter instead, quoting your booking reference and showing the original (non-chip & PIN) credit card used to make the booking.

• IMPORTANT:  When collecting tickets at a station, you must show the same credit card you used to make the booking.

Step 6:

Good luck!

• Feedback is always welcome, especially as things change from time to time.

Guidebooks

Paying for a guidebook may seem an unnecessary expense, but it's a tiny fraction of what you're spending on your whole trip.  You will see so much more, and know so much more about what you're looking at, if you have a decent guidebook.  I recommend the Lonely Planet or Rough Guides as the best ones out there for independent travellers.  Click the images to buy the books - if you buy anything at Amazon through these links, Seat61.com gets a small commission (at no extra cost to you) to help support the site.  My own book is an essential handbook for train travel to Europe based on this website called "The Man in Seat 61".

Click the images to buy at Amazon.co.uk...

The Thomas Cook European Timetable

The Thomas Cook European timetable has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency & climate information.  Published since 1873, it costs £14.99.  It's essential for any serious traveller and an inspiration for armchair travellers.  Still not convinced you need one?  More information on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains.  You can buy the latest monthly edition online at www.thomascookpublishing.com with worldwide delivery or buy it in person from selected UK branches of Thomas Cook (ask at the bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria station in London.  Or buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:  Winter/Spring 2012/13 edition (Dec 2012 to June 2013) or (when available) Summer/Autumn 2013 edition (June to Dec 2013)

The Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe is the best and most comprehensive map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south.  High speed & scenic routes are highlighted.  Highly recommended!  Buy online at www.amazon.co.uk (worldwide delivery).  See an extract from the map.

Tailor-made tours of France

Tailor-made tours of France by train...

If you want to tour Spain by train, with all your train reservations and hotels sorted for you to your own specification, contact rail travel specialists Railbookers and they'll create the best rail holiday for you, hassle-free.  Unlike some overseas travel agents, they really do know all about train travel in Italy and right across Europe, and they know some excellent hotels, too.  They take good care of their clients and it's not surprising they get a lot of repeat business, so I have no hesitation in recommending them.

  UK call 020 3327 0761, www.railbookers.com. 

Call toll-free 1-800-408-3280 or www.us.railbookers.com.

Australia call toll-free 1300 971 526, www.railbookers.com.au. 

  New Zealand call toll-free 0800 002 034 or see website.

Find hotels in Paris or anywhere in France

Hotels in Paris or any city in France...

It's easy to book hotels online to go with your train tickets.  Try www.venere.com, who have a wide selection of hotels on a well-presented website.  They're also good because the price you see is the price you pay, no hidden extras, and you simply pay the hotel when you get there.  After you've booked, you can change or cancel your reservation in line with the hotel's own change and cancellation policy.  Use the links below:

Paris   Lille   Avignon   Marseille   Cannes   Nice   Nîmes   Montpellier   Perpignan   Bordeaux   Strasbourg   Toulouse   Other French towns & cities

Alternatively, if you want a reliably good quality hotel at a reasonable price, rather than unique character, try the Ibis, Mercure & Sofitel hotels run by Accor group in almost all French cities, with online direct booking:  www.accorhotels.com.  A city-centre Ibis hotel booked in advance online can be a very good deal.  Finally, www.tripadvisor.com is a good place to browse independent travellers' reviews of the main hotels.

Hotels near the Gare du Nord & other Paris stations: 

If you need to stop over between trains, there are several good-quality Accor group hotels (including their mid-range Ibis brand hotels and the more upmarket Mercure brand) near the Gare du Nord, Gare de l'Est, Gare d'Austerlitz & Gare de Lyon.  Accor also run the most upmarket hotel, the Mercure Terminus Nord, right opposite the Gare du Nord.  Alternatively, try the Hotel Picardy Gare du Nord (opposite Gare du Nord, about €65 per night), the Comfort Hotel Gare de l'Est, from €67 per night, Campanile Hotel Gare du Nord (€95 per night) or the Art Hotel (130 euros weekdays, €95 Fri/Sat/Sun).

A special hotel for that romantic break in Paris...

There's the famous & flashy Paris Ritz in the Place Vendôme of course (over 490 euros a night) or the similarly-priced Le Meurice, but if you want a really special hotel for a luxury break or romantic weekend and can afford to splurge around 280 euros a night, I'd recommend the small, sumptuous and intimate L'Hotel.  It's on the bohemian left bank, walking distance from the Seine, the Ile de la Cité & Notre Dame.  Oscar Wilde spent the last days of his life here in room 16, and the hotel has been used by many famous people from Sinatra to Mick Jagger.  Rooms are on the cosy side, but they are beautifully decorated and have character that other hotels lack.

Backpacker hostels...

www.hostelbookers.com:  If you're on a tight budget, don't forget about backpacker hostels.  Hostelbookers offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in Paris and most other European cities at rock-bottom prices.

Travel insurance & health card

Get travel insurance, it's essential...

Never travel without insurance from a reliable travel insurer with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover.  It should also cover loss of cash (up to a limit) & belongings, and cancellation. An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheapest even for just 2 or 3 trips a year (I have an annual policy myself).  Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, though, see the advice on missed connections here.  Here are some suggested insurers, Seat61 gets a little commission if you buy through these links, and feedback from using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome.

In the UK, use www.confused.com to compare prices & policy features across major insurance companies.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over 65 (no age limit), see www.JustTravelCover.com.

        If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct's other websites.

   If you live in the USA or Canada, try Travel Guard USA.

Get an EU health card, it's free...

If you're a UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with the NHS.  This replaced the old E111 forms as from January 2006.  The EHIC card is available from www.ehic.org.uk.  It doesn't remove the need for travel insurance, though.

Get a spare credit card, designed for foreign travel with no currency exchange loading & low/no ATM fees

Taking out an extra credit card costs nothing, but if you keep it in a different part of your luggage you won't be left stranded if your wallet gets stolen.  In addition, some credit cards are better for overseas travel than others.  Martin Lewis's www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which UK credit cards have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when you use an ATM abroad.

You can avoid ATM charges and expensive exchange rates with a Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or their multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card, see www.caxtonfx.com for info.

Get an international SIM card to save on mobile data and phone calls...

Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're not careful you can return home to find a huge bill.  Consider buying a global pre-paid SIM card for your mobile phone from www.Go-Sim.com, which can slash costs by up to 85%.  Go-Sim cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide, and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries.  It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills when you get home.  It also allows cheap data access for laptops & PDAs.  A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone number' for life.