Trains in France

Why the train is usually the answer

France has one of the world's best high-speed networks, built around Paris like the spokes of a wheel. The TGV runs at up to 200 mph (320 km/h) and links Paris to Lyon in two hours, Bordeaux in a little over two, and Marseille in a bit more than three. City center to city center, that beats flying on almost every domestic route, and France has banned the shortest flights the TGV competes with.

Unlike Amtrak, French trains are frequent, mostly on time and part of everyday life. You'll share the carriage with commuters, students and families, and you don't need a car for most city-to-city travel. Where you do want one (the Luberon, the Dordogne, Normandy's beaches), a common move is to take the TGV and pick up a rental car at the station. See Driving in France.

The trade-off is that the system has its own logic: several brands of train, prices that rise as departure approaches, and big Paris stations that each serve a different part of the country. This page untangles all of it.

Which train is which

SNCF, the state-owned railway, runs almost everything, under several brand names. A few private and foreign operators now compete on the busiest lines.

Booking on SNCF Connect

SNCF Connect (website and app) sells every SNCF train in France, including Ouigo, plus many international routes. The site works in English and takes US Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards. Your ticket goes into the app as a QR code, or you can download a PDF and print it or keep it on your phone. Conductors scan it on board or at the gates.

1. Create an account on SNCF Connect and download the app. Use your name exactly as it appears on your passport.
2. Search your route and date. Results mix TGV INOUI, Ouigo, Intercités and TER; check which brand each option is before you compare prices.
3. Pick a fare. Note the exchange and refund conditions shown under each price.
4. Choose seats if offered (window, aisle, upper deck on double-deck trains), pay, and the ticket appears in the app.
5. On travel day, have the QR code ready offline or as a screenshot; signal in stations can be patchy.

Ouigo also sells on its own site, ouigo.com, with the same prices. Third-party sellers such as Trainline also sell SNCF tickets and sometimes have a friendlier interface, but usually add a booking fee. For regional TER trips, the regional app or the station machines work fine, and you can usually buy on the day for the same price.

When tickets go on sale

SNCF opens TGV and Intercités sales in large seasonal blocks and announces each opening on SNCF Connect. On September 30, 2026, for example, it opened sales for travel from the December 13, 2026 timetable change through early July 2027 on many routes, depending on destination and operator. Night trains often open only two to four months ahead. Holiday periods sell fast: summer weekends, the Christmas break, and the French school holidays in February and April. If your dates are fixed, book as soon as your dates are on sale. For midweek trips outside peak season, booking a few weeks ahead is usually enough to get a reasonable fare.

How prices work and what you'll pay

TGV and Ouigo prices work like airfares: there are several price levels, and the cheap ones sell out first. A Paris–Lyon seat might be €25 two months ahead and €110 the day before. TER and most regional trains have fixed fares by distance, so there's no need to book those early.

These are rough ranges in euros, from the cheapest early-booked seats to typical last-minute prices; fares change constantly, so treat them as a guide. The cheapest Ouigo seats are limited and sell first. First class on a TGV INOUI usually costs 20 to 50 percent more than second and can be cheaper than second on some departures, so compare both.

Discount cards

SNCF sells "Avantage" cards for €49 (about $55) a year, and visitors can buy them too; no French address is needed. You buy it on SNCF Connect, it lives in your account, and the discount applies automatically when you book. Each card gives about 30 percent off TGV INOUI and Intercités fares, and also caps the price of second-class tickets, with the cap rising with journey length.

• Carte Avantage Jeune: ages 12 to 27. Discount on any trip.
• Carte Avantage Adulte: ages 27 to 59. The discount applies to the cardholder and up to three companions, on trips that meet the card's conditions (check the current rules on SNCF Connect).
• Carte Avantage Senior: 60 and over. Discount on any trip.

The card pays for itself if you take two or three long TGV trips, or travel as a group with an Adulte card. It doesn't apply to Ouigo, and on TER trains each region sets its own discounts.

Should you buy a Eurail pass?

Eurail, the rail pass sold only to people who live outside Europe, offers a France Pass for 1 to 8 travel days within a month, and a Global Pass covering 33 countries. Youth (12 to 27) and senior (60+) versions are cheaper, and children 4 to 11 travel free with an adult pass holder if you add a Child Pass when buying. The pass covers the fare, but TGV INOUI, Intercités with reservations, night trains and Eurostar also require a seat reservation for pass holders, at an extra fee per trip (Eurail's reservation pages list current amounts), and SNCF sets aside only a limited number of pass seats per train. On popular TGVs those sell out well before regular tickets.

For most visitors with a fixed itinerary, buying point-to-point tickets early is cheaper. A pass makes more sense if you want to decide routes day by day, travel mostly on TER and Intercités, or combine France with several other countries on a Global Pass. Price your trip both ways on Eurail.com and SNCF Connect before deciding, and reserve pass seats as soon as you can.

Paris has seven main stations

There's no single "Paris station". Each terminus serves one direction, and connecting between them means crossing the city by Métro or RER, so allow at least an hour. Your ticket shows the departure station, often in abbreviated form, so read it carefully.

A few TGVs skip central Paris and stop at the airport station (Aéroport CDG 2 TGV), Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy near Disneyland, or Massy TGV in the southern suburbs. These are handy for going straight from the airport to Lyon, Bordeaux or Lille. See Flying to France.

Journey times from Paris

Fastest direct times on a typical weekday. Many trains are slower because they stop more often, and some destinations need a change.

Beyond France: London is about 2 hr 20 min on Eurostar, Brussels 1 hr 25 min, Geneva about 3 hr 10 min, Barcelona about 6 hr 30 min, and Milan about 7 hr. The Paris–Milan line through the Alps reopened in 2025 after a 2023 landslide closed it for more than a year and a half.

Luggage, classes and food on board

Luggage

On TGV INOUI and Intercités, each passenger can bring two large bags, each up to about 28 by 35 by 20 inches (70 by 90 by 50 cm), plus one small bag, and every bag must carry a label with your name. Free labels are available at stations, or use any luggage tag. SNCF introduced these stricter limits in 2025, and conductors can fine you for oversized, extra or unlabeled bags. There are racks at the end of each carriage and above the seats, but no checked-baggage service, so you'll lift your own bags up the steps.

Ouigo is strict. The base fare includes one carry-on and one small personal item, with size limits. A larger suitcase or an extra bag costs extra if you add it when booking, and much more if you turn up with it unpaid. Read the Ouigo baggage rules before you book, and weigh the add-ons against a TGV INOUI fare.

First or second class

Second class on a TGV is comfortable by American standards: reclining seats, power outlets, decent legroom. First class gives you wider seats in a 2+1 layout, a quieter carriage and more space for bags, and it's worth paying a little extra for on long trips, especially when the price gap is small. On double-deck TGVs, the upper deck has better views.

Eating on board

TGV INOUI trains have a café-bar car (Le Bar) selling coffee, sandwiches, salads, hot dishes, wine and beer. Prices are higher than in town and the bar can close early or run out. Ouigo, TER and most Intercités have no food service. Picnicking is normal on French trains: buy a sandwich, cheese and fruit at the station or a bakery before you go.

At the station and boarding

Departure boards (Départs) list your train by time, number and destination. The platform (voie) usually appears only 20 minutes before departure, so don't panic if it's blank. Big stations have ticket gates; scan your QR code to get onto the platform. Many TGVs are two trains coupled together, so check your carriage number (voiture) on your ticket and the platform map showing where it stops.

• Arrive at least 20 minutes before a TGV INOUI, and 30 minutes before Ouigo, which checks tickets and bag sizes at the boarding gate.
• Doors close 2 minutes before departure, and the train won't wait.
• Paper tickets for TER may need validating (composter) in the yellow or blue machines before boarding. E-tickets don't.
• If you miss a TGV INOUI on a flexible fare, you can usually exchange it for a later train. On Ouigo and cheap fares, you'll likely have to buy a new ticket.
• If your train is late by 30 minutes or more, SNCF's G30 policy and EU rules entitle you to partial compensation. Claim on SNCF Connect.

Strikes and disruptions

Rail strikes are a fact of French life, usually announced days in advance and concentrated around pension or pay disputes and holiday periods. By law, SNCF must tell passengers about strike disruption at least 24 hours ahead, and it usually publishes the reduced timetable the afternoon before each strike day. If your train is cancelled, you can exchange or refund your ticket free of charge.

1. Check the SNCF Connect app or the operator's traffic page the evening before you travel.
2. If your train is cancelled, SNCF usually moves you automatically to another train or tells you to exchange for free.
3. If not, try an alternative operator (Trenitalia on Paris–Lyon–Marseille, a bus such as BlaBlaCar Bus or FlixBus), a rental car, or a domestic flight for long distances.
4. Keep your plans flexible on announced strike days, and avoid tight connections to flights.

Planned maintenance also closes lines on some weekends and nights, especially in summer. The app shows replacement buses (car de substitution) where they run.

Other operators

France opened its high-speed lines to competition in the early 2020s, and a few rivals now run alongside SNCF. You can book most of them on their own sites and on Trainline.

• Trenitalia France runs red Frecciarossa trains from Paris Gare de Lyon to Lyon (several round trips a day) and to Turin and Milan, and has expanded to Marseille. Prices are often lower than TGV INOUI, and the trains have several comfort levels from Standard up. Book on Trenitalia's own site or Trainline.
• Renfe, Spain's railway, runs AVE trains from Lyon to Barcelona and from Marseille to Barcelona and Madrid along the Mediterranean coast.
• SNCF's TGV INOUI also runs Paris–Barcelona direct, and TGV Lyria serves Switzerland.
• French start-ups including Proxima, Kevin Speed and Le Train have announced their own high-speed services on western and northern lines for the late 2020s. If you're traveling in 2027 or later, check whether any have started on your route.

Night trains

SNCF's Intercités de Nuit trains leave Paris Austerlitz in the evening and arrive the next morning, saving you a hotel night and a daytime travel day. Cars have seats or 4- and 6-berth couchettes with sheets and a pillow; you can book a whole compartment for privacy, and there are women-only compartments. There are no private sleepers with showers on French domestic night trains.

• Paris–Nice, nightly, with stops including Toulon and Cannes. Southbound it leaves Austerlitz around 9:30 p.m. and reaches Nice around 9 a.m.
• Paris–Briançon, for the southern Alps and ski resorts.
• Paris–Toulouse, continuing to Latour-de-Carol in the Pyrenees.
• Paris–Lourdes–Tarbes, running year-round and extended to Hendaye on the Basque coast in summer.
• Paris–Rodez and Albi, for the Aveyron and Tarn.
• Paris–Cerbère on the Spanish border, and Paris–Aurillac in the Cantal, mainly on weekends and during school holidays.

Some lines don't run every night, and schedules thin out outside holiday periods. Book on SNCF Connect; bookings usually open about two to four months ahead. On the Paris–Nice train, reclining seats start around €19, second-class couchettes around €29 and first-class couchettes around €59, and a private six-berth compartment starts around €150 for up to six people. That's often less than a TGV ticket plus a hotel night.

International night trains from Paris have been reshuffled. Austria's ÖBB ended its Nightjet trains from Paris to Vienna and Berlin in December 2025 after French public funding stopped. Since March 26, 2026, the Dutch-Belgian start-up European Sleeper runs a Paris–Berlin night train three times a week from Gare du Nord, via Brussels, leaving Paris at about 5:45 p.m. and reaching Berlin around 10 a.m. Book on its own site. For overnight travel to Italy or Spain, check current schedules before planning around them.

Eurostar to London, Brussels and Amsterdam

Eurostar leaves from an upper level of Gare du Nord. Paris to London St Pancras takes about 2 hr 20 min, Brussels about 1 hr 25 min and Amsterdam about 3 hr 20 min. Book on eurostar.com; fares rise sharply close to departure, so buy early.

For London, you go through French exit checks (including EES) and UK passport control in Paris before boarding, so arrive 60 to 90 minutes early in busy periods; check-in closes 30 minutes before departure. Americans need a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter Britain, including children. It costs £20 (about $27) on the official GOV.UK site or the UK ETA app, and decisions usually take up to three working days. Avoid look-alike sites that charge more. Trains to Brussels and Amsterdam stay inside Schengen and have no passport check. Eurostar allows two large bags and one small bag, and you carry them yourself.

Bikes, accessibility and regional passes

Bikes

Most TER trains carry bikes free in marked spaces, though some regions require a reservation on busy summer routes such as the Loire à Vélo trains. On TGV INOUI, you can take a bike free if it's folded or packed in a bag no larger than about 47 by 35 inches (120 by 90 cm). Otherwise, reserve a bike space for a fee, where available. Ouigo charges for bikes and requires them to be bagged. Check the rules when booking.

Accessibility

SNCF's free assistance service for travelers with disabilities or reduced mobility (long known as Accès Plus, now branded Assist'enGare) meets you at the station, helps with boarding and arranges assistance at your destination. Book ahead through SNCF Connect or by phone, ideally at least 48 hours before you travel. Wheelchair spaces are in first class on TGVs at the second-class price, and a companion can get a reduced fare. Many small stations have no staff and steps to the platform, so ask about step-free access when booking. More on traveling with a disability on Travel by interest.

Regional passes

Each region sets its own TER fares and offers. Many sell day or weekend passes for unlimited regional travel, often with big group or family discounts, and some run summer deals for young people. If you're basing yourself in one region (Alsace, Brittany, Provence, Occitanie), look up the regional TER site for passes before buying single tickets. Our region pages, such as Normandy, Alsace and Lorraine, Provence and Brittany, cover local transport in more detail.