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Taking the train in France is awesome and it can be a bit complicated.
You have six major train stations in Paris that are going anywhere from London, Amsterdam,
Bordeaux and Nice.
And then you have the TGV Eurostar, you have the Ouigo, you have the Inui, you have the
TER train, you have the RER and the Transilien which is an option that you may have to take
in France.
And they all have a specific purpose and a different price point.
So in this video, we're going to tell you the 10 things you need to know about taking
the train in France.
Allez, on y va!
In France, you have multiple train systems based on where you're going.
For long distance and international destinations, it's usually a TGV train which stands for
train à grande vitesse or a high-speed train.
And you have several types of TGV train.
For London, it's the Eurostar that departs from Gare du Nord to London on a daily basis.
And we have a bit more information on that later on in the video.
Then you have the TGV Inui which is the standard TGV line.
These are single-decker or double-decker trains and you will have a bar with refreshments
and beverages in those trains.
You also have the Ouigo TGV line with much cheaper rates.
Just like low-cost airlines, this is more like the very basic services and there is
no bar with refreshments on the train.
Now, many destinations will offer both the Inui and the Ouigo at different times of the day.
Then you have the TER which are the regional trains going much shorter distances like Giverny
or the Chantilly Castle.
And then you have the Transilien trains and those are your standard suburb trains that
most Parisians will take to go to and from work every day.
And then you have the RER which is an express train that goes from one of the far reaches
of the suburbs of Paris, slices through Paris and goes to the other side.
You'll take the RER to go to and from the airport, to go to Disney or to go to Versailles.
People ask all the time, how far in advance should I buy my train tickets?
And the answer is, it depends on the kind of train you're taking.
If you're headed to the suburbs or a nearby town like Versailles, Chantilly, Provence
or Disney, you'll be riding on a TER, RER or a Transilien line and it will say SNCF on it.
But for these trains, you could buy your ticket in advance, but you don't have to.
You can buy them on the spot and board.
The tickets are good for any departure and you can sit anywhere on the train.
There's no assigned seating.
They operate kind of like a metro, but they don't run as often.
When you're ready to board, be sure to validate your ticket because if you don't, there may
be a fine.
For longer train rides, you're going to want to buy those tickets as far in advance as
possible because you're going to buy a specific seat on a specific wagon on a specific timeline.
It's like buying an airplane ticket and just like taking a flight, you'll scan your boarding
pass to enter.
For those, you should buy them as soon as you know that you're going to be traveling
to that destination.
It has happened to us before that we waited to book and the prices just kept increasing.
Even worse, the train was fully booked and we had to change our date.
So whether you're headed to London or Amsterdam or Nice and Normandy, you're going to want
to buy those as far in advance as you can to avoid headaches later.
Purchasing your train ticket can be complicated and cumbersome because the French websites
can be really complex and those machines to buy tickets are not any better.
Even for me as a French native, I'm often frustrated with the official SNCF Connect
website.
Now, if you're looking to buy a single ticket for multi-day Europass, it's best to use a
site like Trainline.
The prices are usually identical, but the experience of booking is much better.
And I'm going to put a link in the description to both SNCF Connect and Trainline.
Now, be careful with the dates on your ticket in France because in France, they put the
day and then the month, as opposed to in the US where we start with the month and then
the day.
So it may show on your ticket that you're traveling on 12-04, but that's not December
4th, but the 12th of April.
So make sure your ticket have the correct dates.
And we use military time in France, so it takes a while to get used to.
Your 1800 train is not 8 p.m., but it's 6 p.m.
When boarding a train in Europe, you don't need to arrive far in advance like you would
for a flight.
Even though you'll scan your boarding pass to enter the platform, you can arrive 15 to
30 minutes before the train is scheduled to depart.
In fact, if you arrive before that, your departure platform won't even be posted.
And if you're running late, don't panic.
You can board right up to five minutes before departure.
Though if you're traveling with luggage, that's not advised.
The exception to that is going to London, and that's because they left the EU in Brexit.
Most places accessible by train from Paris are within the Schengen area.
So once you enter one country, you don't need to present a passport to go to other countries
in the area.
And if you're traveling between Paris and London, plan on arriving at least one hour
in advance to allow time to go through passport controls before boarding time.
Next, it's not reasonable to assume that there's only one train station in a major European city.
Paris, for example, has six major train stations, seven if you include Bercy.
Now when you're buying tickets to a place like Strasbourg or Nice or Bordeaux, make
sure you know which station you're traveling to and from.
Because these three destinations leave from completely different train stations that are
not near one another.
We recently produced a video on all the train stations in Paris, where they are located
in Paris, and what destinations they serve, both domestically and internationally.
We even included the average pricing for the top destination from Paris.
And I put a link in the description so you can click it and watch it.
The next thing to know about trains in Paris has to do with amenities.
If you're on an RER or a Transilien suburb train, you'll just have open seating and no
other amenities.
If you're on an SNCF TER train that goes to regional destinations, you'll have a toilet
on board and you may or may not have a power outlet.
But for the longer Grand Line trains, you will have toilets and power.
And in first class, you'll have Wi-Fi, and there will be a bar wagon with light bites
and beverages.
It's also perfectly fine to bring a lunch or some snacks on board with you, and there
will be boulangeries, restaurants, and often grocery stores in the station where you can
pick those up.
One of the things that threw me off when we first got here is that my final destination
wasn't listed on the big reader boards.
It can be confusing to know which train and which platform is yours.
It could be a train going to Toulouse that stops in Bordeaux, or a train to Nice that
stops in Marseille, Antibes, or Caen.
It's important to pay close attention to your boarding pass to know what hall in the station
you're going to and what the train number is.
I generally scan the departure times and look up for the little ticker tape style cities
that scroll along on the big screen.
But it's not always intuitive when you look up at the board to figure out where you're
supposed to be.
There are generally power outlets and Wi-Fi available on all the TGVs.
And if there are, it will be indicated on your ticket with a little symbol of an outlet
and a Wi-Fi symbol.
From my experience, in our latest trip to Antibes, the Wi-Fi is spotty and average at
best, but it's something.
You won't be able to stream Netflix, but you'll be able to send and receive emails.
Now for the power outlets in the train, make sure that you have one of those little things
which is a power adapter so you can plug in your phone or your laptop.
And I also always have a power bank like this one with me.
So in case the power outlet doesn't work, and it's often the case, then at least I know
I'm going to have power with me.
And I'm going to put a link to both of these products in the description below.
The next one is about taking luggage on the train.
It is possible to check your bags, but unless you have a lot of luggage, it's probably not
worth it.
Most Europeans don't.
You'll find luggage racks at either end of your wagon for suitcases and larger bags.
There's also some small open compartments above your seats where you can fit something
like a backpack.
And as a caution, there are some unscrupulous people who try to take a bag that's not theirs
when they're on an earlier stop than yours.
So don't freak out about it, but pay attention and check your bags from time to time.
Another option to consider are sleeper trains.
Now they stopped the services for a few years, but they're coming back.
Now this can be really practical if you don't want to waste a half a day traveling to your
destination.
You can now go to Nice in the South of France while you sleep.
They have an option with a recliner seat or in a cabin with six bunk beds in second class
or four bunk beds in first class.
Now most of these trains will leave from Gare des Talides, which is a train station across
the river from Gare de Lyon.
These trains are usually a lot slower than the TGV.
The regular Paris to Nice sleeper train departs at around 9 p.m. from Paris and arrives in
Nice the next day at around 9 a.m.
So it's 12 hours, but it could be a fun thing to do as a family.
The price varies depending on how early you buy your tickets, but rates vary from 50 euros
to 150 euros for a first class cabin.
In this video, you learned all about trains, and next I would watch this video on how to
buy metro tickets in Paris.
