TGV reservation cost in France ?

anne15

Hi,

does anyone know how much it costs to reserve a seat in France on the TGV trains ?

i have a train pass for the ticket but know i need to reserve a seat too as it is compulsory.

thanks in advance.

Anne

angelil

It doesn't cost anything extra as far as I know, but I've never used a rail pass before (you're going interrailing I suppose?) so don't know if that makes a difference.

bert&ernie

try http://www.raileurope.co.uk/

This is SNCF's UK retail site. Click on the Rail Passes tab and select reservations.

I just checked for the PARIS-LYON TGV tomorrow afternoon - this will cost you £17 for standard class or £5.50 in First

alanrowell

Raileurope is notorious for overcharging for tickets and reservations.

OP will find the charge is far less if they go to a French train station and make the reservation. It used to be around €6 though some trains are €18.

The extra charges are the reason that railpasses are generally poor value.

bert&ernie

Agree that they don't seem to be all that hot on price, but I would still consider making a reservation before you leave the country if its a busy route as there are limited seats available for railpass holders. I don't think the OP will be losing much on a single reservation e.g. £17 vs €18

Personally, I bough my passes from raileurope as they were within a few pounds of the best price. I was travelling mainly in Italy and Germany, so made reservations through trenitalia and bahn.com. I booked my train into france from a Deutche Bahn station desk. It was supposed to be an ICE, but due to a 5 hour delay (yes, it can happen on German railways) I ended up on a TGV.

The_One_Who

http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/ That is the site you want. It will ask if you want to redirect to Rail Europe, but just say no. I found it to be a much better (and cheaper!) site.