Good site for trains in france

[ghady]

Hello,

A friend of mine told me about www.voyages-sncf.com for reserving train tickets and the like in france..

check it out, is it any good?

i found train tickets from paris to lyon at 76 eu.. is that a good price?

should i stay on the safe side and reserve things from now or should i wait till july till im actually there?

and....how do they KNOW that i'm less than 26 yrs old? im 20, but i really could be lying to them!

[julers]

I'm a student in France right now (in Grenoble, quite near to Lyon), and I only use SNCF for all of my ticket needs. I actually usually just check the site for the place and time I want, then i go to the SNCF boutique in town to actually buy them. I honestly do not know of any other way to go about buying train tickets.

That price sounds about right, the TGV to Paris is usually around 60 or so (again, according to my SNCF knowledge only), although it should be a little cheaper if you're under 26.

As far as reservations go, you are required to make a reservation when you take TGVs but not for the TERs. Paris to Lyon is a TGV, so you'll need to make a reservation. As for the TERs, I've never made a reservation for them, but it probably would not hurt if you'll be travelling during the height of tourist season.

When they check your ticket they may also ask for id, and that is how they check. I do not know how stringent they are, I suppose it depends on who is checking the tickets. I can only imagine that you could be liable for some sort of fine, although I've never heard of anyone being fined for that. I personally use a Carte 12-25 which gives bigger discounts for those between the ages of 12 and 25, and they always check my carte with my ticket to make sure.

[ghady]

oh ok, great!

is booking things 2 months in advance the right thing to do, or is it...insane?

also, what's the diff between TGV and TEG? Isn't buying a ticket on SNCF the same as reserving a seat on the train?

thanks for your help!

[julers]

I wouldn't see anything wrong with booking 2months in advance, especially in July. I usually don't, but that's because I can just stop by the SNCF boutique whenever. I believe that you can reserve trains in advance without paying for them immediately, but there is some sort of deadline for cancelling them without losing money. I'm really not positive on the specifics, and I'm not sure if that even works on reduced tickets (such as tickets for those under 26). Perhaps someone else has the answer!

TGVs are the high-speed trains and the TERs are more like regional rails that move slower and make more stops. If you're going to Lyon from Paris, that's always a TGV and reservations are obligatory.

[ghady]

ok, thanks..

but the whole reserving vs buying a ticket is still confusing me.. in my head, buying an online ticket for 70 or so euros is the same as reserving a place on the train. true or false?

[ghady]

like for example.. i just checked the site and found 2nd class tickets from lyon to marseille.... but they say "no reservation." what does that mean?? will i get to the train and find that it's full even though i payed for the ticket?