Your Eurail France Pass is the key to the world's most popular travel destination. Explore the romantic capital Paris, relax at the beach in the French Riviera and visit beautiful castles in the Loire Valley. Traveling by train through France is a guarantee for beautiful and varied scenery.

Please keep in mind that French high-speed and night trains always need reservations in advance and often have limited seating for Eurail Pass holders.

Train types in France

Route map
Domestic trains
High-speed trains
Night trains
Border stations

Regional and intercity trains in France

TER

Connects most French cities and towns, with frequent services.
Reservations not required.

InterCité (InterCity)

Connects major cities and towns in France.
Reservations are not required for most InterCité trains.
The SNCF website has a map of InterCité trains that do require a reservation (in French only: yellow=reservations required; green=reservations not required)

Paris: suburban RER trains

RER trains connect central Paris with suburban areas of the city. Please note these trains are NOT included in the Pass. Keep this in mind when you're travelling to these destinations in and around Paris:

Orly Airport
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Disneyland Paris
Versailles

Domestic high-speed trains

TGV

Connects popular destinations like Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Nice.
Travels at speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph).
Features luggage racks, power sockets and snacks or a restaurant car.
Reservations are required.

International high-speed trains

Eurostar

Connects Paris and Lille to London (Great Britain) via the Channel Tunnel, and Lille to Brussels (Belgium).
Reservations are required.

ICE

Connects Paris to Frankfurt and Munich (Germany).
Reservations are required.

Renfe-SNCF en Cooperación

Connects Paris and Marseille to Barcelona and Madrid (Spain).
Reservations are required.

TGV Lyria

Connects Paris to Geneva and Zurich (Switzerland).
Reservations are required.

TGV

Connects Paris to Luxembourg City (Luxembourg), Lille to Brussels (Belgium), Paris to Turin and Milan (Italy) and Paris to Figueres (Spain).
Reservations are required.

Thalys (THA)

Connects Paris to Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium) and Cologne (Germany).
Reservations are required.

Domestic night trains in France

Intercités de Nuit

Connects Paris to various destinations in the east, west and south of France.

Paris - Gap - Briançon
Paris - Toulouse - Rodez - Latour de Carol - Perpignan - Cerbère

Reservations are required for these trains.

Train stations of bordering countries

A Eurail Pass valid in France covers travel to some train stations of bordering countries:

Basel (Switzerland)
Geneva (Switzerland)
Portbou (Spain)
Ventimiglia (Italy)

Popular connections

Domestic routes
International routes
Ferry routes

France has an extensive high-speed train network, which will get you where you want to go a lot faster compared to the regional train system. However, for the high-speed trains you'll need to book a seat reservation. We'll explain you more about reservations a bit further down on this page.

View approximate train travel times between top cities in France with regional and high-speed TGV trains:

From/to	High-speed train	Regional train
Paris - Nice	5hr 47min	12hr 28min
Paris - Bordeaux	2hr 09min	8hr 31min
Paris - Lyons	1hr 57min	5hr 06min
Paris - Marseille	3hr 23min	9hr 10min

Route	Which train?	Travel time	Reservations
Lyon to Geneva (Switzerland)	Regional	2 hours	None
Paris to Amsterdam (Netherlands)	Thalys	3.5 hours	Required
Paris to Barcelona (Spain)	Renfe SNCF	6.5 hours	Required
Paris to Brussels (Belgium)	Thalys	1.5 hours	Required
Paris to Cologne (Germany)	Thalys	3.5 hours	Required
Paris to Frankfurt (Germany)	ICE	4 hours	Required
Paris to Geneva (Switzerland)	TGV	3 hours	Required
Paris to London (Great Britain)	Eurostar	3.5 hours	Required
Paris to Milan / Genova (Italy) (via Ventimiglia)	Regional and InterCity	4 / 2 hours	Optional
Paris to Milan / Turin (Italy)	TGV	6 / 7.5 hours	Required
Perpignan to Barcelona (Spain)	Renfe SNCF	1.5 hours	Required

International ferry connections to and from France

Great Britain to France
Get a Eurail discount of 30% off Irish Ferries journeys from Rosslare in Ireland to Cherbourg (19.5 hours) or Roscoff (18.5 hours) in north-west France.

Reservations

Many French trains require an advance reservation, including TGV high-speed trains, all international high-speed trains, and night trains (prices depend on desired sleeping accommodation). You can make reservations up to 3 months in advance.

Please note that the number of seats available for Eurail Pass holders is limited on TGV, Thalys trains, certain InterCité trains, Eurostar trains and the Paris-Frankfurt ICE train. We advise you to reserve these trains as far in advance as possible.

How to make reservations for French trains

You can make reservations for domestic and international high-speed trains and night trains:

Through our Reservation Service.
At a ticket desk or self-service machine at local train stations.
By phone through one of the railway call centers.

Find out more about reservations

Get your Pass for France

France Pass

This Pass allows you to explore all of France!

Standard prices from $ 69

Book now

Global Pass

Be free to visit France and up to 32 other European countries.

Standard prices from $ 191

Book now

Tips and tricks for France

Quick facts

Capital: Paris
Population: 65 million
Language: French
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Dialing code: +33

Ferry travel

Discounted ferry travel to Ireland is an extra benefit of a Eurail Pass valid in France on these routes:

Roscoff – Rosslare (Ireland)
Cherbourg – Rosslare (Ireland)

Other benefits

Eurail Pass holders also get discounts on several hostels, city cards and even Disneyland!

French hub stations

France has several hub stations in Paris including:

Lyon
Nord
Austerlitz
Bercy
Est
Montparnasse

From these train stations it's possible to connect to trains to most of France's main cities.

Station facilities

The main train stations in France usually have excellent facilities, often including:

Luggage lockers
Foreign exchange desks
Restaurants and cafés
Tourist information offices
ATM cash machines
Elevators and escalators
Access for disabled passengers

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