Has anyone ever traveled by train in france?

Question

I have to do a project for my french class. we are study about the train station so i have to plan a trip by train in france.

So i am just wondering if anyone could share their experience and give me a website that would be useful in planning a trip by train in France.

THANKS : ]

Answer 1

Other people gave you some good sites.  The French train system is decades ahead of the US.  Their are discounts for seniors and students, they go all over and it is linked to the trains in the EU.  It is a very well organized, clean, timely system.  I hope you get to try it some day.  People in France USE the trains.  They need to be of a high standard.

In contrast, you hear about Amtrack possibly being dissolved about once a year in the US.

Answer 2

Well everyone provided all the good travel and web site info and the how to buy ride and all.. but.. I noticed it's a school project for French class.. soo..

you got the train logistics covered. If I were you, taking my first trip on a train in France, I think I would consider a trip to one of the favorite areas like Loire, or Provence, maybe Burgandy... three of the number of places I have been lucky enough to visit.. SO any who..     *

Gare du Nord is the hub for trains traveling from the U.K., Northern France and Northern Europe. The Eurostar train arrives at Gare du Nord from London.

    * Gare de Lyon is a destination for trains from Lyon, Aix en Provence, Marseille, the French Riviera, Geneva, and Italy. Many of the trains arriving at Gare de Lyon are bullet trains. For example, you can get from Lyon to Paris in 2 hours and from Marseille to Paris in 3 hours.

    * Gare d'Austerlitz serves destinations in southwestern France (Toulouse, Bordeaux), the Loire Valley, and Spain.

    * Gare Saint-Lazare serves Normandy (central Northern France) and England (non-Eurostar).

    * Gare de l'Est is the hub for trains coming from Eastern France (Strasbourg, Alsace), parts of Germany, Luxembourg, and central Eastern Europe.

    * Gare Montparnasse is mostly reserved for bullet trains serving Nantes and Bordeaux.

For instance a trip I took to Axe en Provence... I rode a bullet train from Paris Gare de Lyon  to Lyon and on to Marseilles.  IN Marseilles that train terminated and I had to switch trains to a local smaller train which took us back north to Aix en Provence...

Google images for any of these places can give you a great visual of the place.. for instance google images for Gare de lyon and you'll get a whole array.

Good luck on you imaginary trip. I say plan one you'd really like to do and make it a goal for some day.

Answer 3

www.tgv.com - it's in French but will give you links in other languages (high speed train)

also check out www.sncf.com

Answer 4

As everyone else said, the French railway website is http://www.voyages-sncf.com/leisure/fr/l... , the French national railway company being called SNCF. Here is an English version: http://www.tgv.com/EN/

The train is by far the best means of transportation in France, the network being very dense and trains good quality. Traveling by train is a pleasant experience, especially on the TGV: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV

The TGV connects major cities but between smaller towns there are normal trains.

Here are several things you may want to know:

- You can book your ticket online, at a train station or at any of the SNCF agencies found all over France. If you book 60 to 90 days ahead you get the best deals. Booking online also gets you the best deals. There are some cards entitling their holders to some discounts (young people, senior citizens, frequent travellers).

- When traveling on the TGV and other high speed trains, you have to reserve a seat ("réservation obligatoire") and you sit on that assigned seat, like on a plane. On other trains, you just need to buy a ticket and then you can sit wherever you want on the train.

- All trains are now non-smoking. (Until a few years ago people could choose to be in a smoking or non-smoking section).

- Once you have your ticket, you must "punch" (it actually doesn't make a hole, it just prints a code) it in one of the machines just before boarding the train. It's called "composter le billet", otherwise it's not valid and you can get a fine on board. Unless you have an e-ticket in which case you just need to show it on the train with a piece of ID.

- Trains always leave right on time (so you musn't arrive late).

- Once on the train, someone in uniform checks that you have a train ticket. This person is called "le contrôleur". If you don't you have to pay a fine.

- You may choose to travel in 1st or 2nd class. Not that much difference between the two but because ther are fewer people in the 1st class it is usually quieter. But comfort is good everywhere. Each seat has a table.

- In the middle of the train, there is a bar/snack bar where you can buy or have drinks, breakfast, lunch or dinner. There are usually no seats though.

- If you want to take your car with you on vacation but don't want to drive for a whole day or overnight, you can put your car on the train. It is called "auto-train". You bring your car the day before at the nearest station (not all of them have this service, only a few major towns in France) and the car will travel overnight on special trains. Then you take the normal passenger train the next day and pick up your car upon arrival.

- In the fall of 2007, the SNCF experimented offering Wi-fi connection on their eastern TGV line. This service should be available on most trains soon.

Now that the trains are very fast, there are fewer and fewer night trains, but there are still a few, to go to other European countries, for instance (I know there is night train from Paris to Venice, Italy).

Answer 5

Well you have only one website:

www.voyages-sncf.com/

Travelling by train is very easy...