Making Reservations on French Trains | Eurail.com

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Many French trains need to be reserved in advance, and seats can be limited at times. Make your train trips in France comfortable and reserve your seats before the journey even begins! Most French high-speed trains and night trains can be reserved up to 2 months in advance.

The video below tells you more about train travel in France and making reservations.

French trains with limited seats for Eurail Pass Holders

It’s good to know that the number of seats available for Eurail Pass Holders is limited on the following trains:

TGV high-speed trains international routes (except TGV Lyria)
Thalys high-speed trains
Renfe-SNCF en cooperación high-speed trains
InterCité trains
InterCité de Nuit night trains
ICE high-speed train on the routes Paris-Frankfurt, Paris-Munich and Paris-Stuttgart.

We highly recommend you reserve these trains as soon as possible. If you leave booking these reservations too late, there’s a big chance the allocation of seats to Eurail Pass Holders will be full. Reservations on the above trains can be made up to 2 months in advance.

Regional trains in France

Regional train crossing a bridge in France

The train you want to take may be fully booked, or you may want to avoid having to pay the additional reservation fees. In these cases, we recommend using regional trains that don’t require a reservation.

This can mean a few more train transfers and longer journey times, but it also gives you the chance to see more of the beautiful French countryside. It’s not always possible to avoid trains with reservations, but it’s always worth checking on the Eurail timetable.

For more information, visit France by train.

Alternative routes for French trains

If the French train you want to take is full, you‘ll need to find a different way to make your journey. We’ve researched the 10 most popular French train routes, domestic and international. We show the fastest option using trains with limited seats for pass holders, as well as some alternative options.

Please keep in mind that train durations stated are approximate and include the time it takes to change trains.

Paris to Amsterdam ↓

Fastest route

Paris Nord to Amsterdam Central - High-speed Thalys* - 3hr 20min

*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with a Eurail Pass.

Alternative route (with some reservations)

Paris Nord to Amiens - InterCités* - 1hr 20min
Amiens to Lille Flandres - Regional TER - 1hr 20min
Lille Flandres to Antwerp Centraal - InterCity - 2hr 5min
Antwerp Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal - InterCity - 1hr 15min
Rotterdam Centraal to Amsterdam Centraal - InterCity - 40min

Total train travel time: 7hr 40min

*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with a Eurail Pass.

Paris to Barcelona ↓

Fastest route

Paris Gare de Lyon to Barcelona Sants - High-speed TGV* - 6hr 30min

*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with a Eurail Pass.

Alternative route (with some reservations)

Paris Austerlitz to Port Bou - Intercité de Nuit* - 10hr 33min
Port Bou to Barcelona Sants - Regional - 2hr 36min

Total train travel time: 13hr 9min

*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with a Eurail Pass.

Paris to Brussels ↓

Fastest route

Paris Nord to Bruxelles Midi - High-speed Thalys* - 1hr 25min

*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with a Eurail Pass.

Alternative route (no reservations)

Paris Nord to Amiens - TER - 1hr 20min
Amiens to Lille Flandres - TER - 1hr 20 min
Lille Flandres to Tournal - InterCity - 20min
Tournal - Bruxelles Midi - InterCity - 1hr

Total travel time: 4hr

Paris to Frankfurt ↓

Fastest route

Paris Est to Frankfurt Main - High-speed ICE / TGV* - 4hr

*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for passholders

Alternative route (no reservations)

From	To	Train type	Travel time
Paris Est	Chalons en Champagne	TER	1hr 35min
Chalons en Champagne	Metz Ville	TER	1hr 40min
Metz Ville	Strasbourg	TER	1hr 45min
Strasbourg	Offenburg	TER	30min
Offenburg	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	InterCity	1hr 45min
			8hr 40min

Marseille to Geneva ↓

Fastest route

From	To	Train type	Travel time
Marseilles St Charles	Geneva	High-speed TGV*	3hr 40min

*Reservation type: Mandatory

Alternative (no reservations)

From	To	Train type	Travel time
Marseilles st Charles	Valence Ville	TER	2hr 25min
Valence Ville	Geneve	TER	3hr 15min
			5hr 55min

Paris to Milan ↓

Fastest route

From	To	Train type	Travel time
Paris Gare de Lyon	Milano P. Garibaldi	High-speed TGV	7hr 10min

Alternative route (with some reservations)

From	To	Train type	Travel time
Paris Austerlitz	Nice Ville	Intercité de Nuit*	11hr 25min
Nice Ville	Ventimiglia	TER	50min
Ventimiglia	Milano Centrale	InterCity**	3hr 50min
			17hr 30min

*Reservation type: Mandatory; limited seats for pass holders
**Reservation type: Recommended

Alternative route (no reservations)

From	To	Train type	Travel time
Paris Bercy	Lyon Part Dieu	TER	5hr 50min
Lyon Part Dieu	Marseille St Charles	TER	3hr 35min
Marseille St Charles	Nice Ville	TER	2hr 35min
Nice Ville	Ventimiglia	TER	50min
Ventimiglia	Milano Rogoredo		4hr 20min
			25hr 45min

Traveling 25 hours might not be something everyone is willing to do. However, instead of making the journey in one go you could also decide to make a stopover on the route and continue traveling the next day. How about having an early breakfast in Paris then have dinner in Marseille, continue your travels to Nice. Spend a bit of time discovering the beach city of Nice before continuing on to Milan.

Paris to Zurich ↓

Fastest route

Paris Gare de Lyon to Zurich Hb - High-speed TGV* - 4hr 5min

*Reservation type: Mandatory

Alternative route (some reservations)

Paris Est to Belfort Ville - InterCités

From	To	Train type	Travel time
Paris Est	Belfort Ville	Intercités*	4hr 5min
Belfort Ville	Mulhouse Ville	TER	35min
Mulhouse Ville	Basel SBB	TER	25min
Basel SBB	Olten	InterCity	25min
Olten	Zuerich Hb	InterCity	30min
			8hr 20min

*Reservation type: Mandatory; limited seats for pass holders

Paris to Bordeaux ↓

Fastest route

Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux St Jean - High-speed TGV* - 3hr 15min

*Reservation type: Mandatory

Alternative route (some reservations)

Paris Austerlitz to Vierzon Ville - InterCités - 1hr 40min
Vierzon Ville to Limoges Benedictins - TER - 2hr 5min
Limoges Benedictins to Périgueux- TER - 1hr 20min
Périgueux to Bordeaux St Jean - TER - 1hr 25min

Total travel time: 6hr 30min

Paris to Marseille ↓

Fastest route

Paris Gare de Lyon to Marseille St Charles - High-speed TGV* - 3hr 20min

*Reservation type: Mandatory

Alternative route (no reservations)

Paris Bercy to Lyon Part Dieu - TER - 5hr 5min
Lyon Part Dieu to Marseille St Charles - TER - 3hr 35min

Total train travel time: 8hr 40min

Paris to Nice ↓

Fastest route

Paris Gare de Lyon to Nice-Ville - High-speed TGV* - 5hr 40min

*Reservation type: Mandatory.

Alternative route (with some reservations)

Paris Bercy to Lyon Part Dieu - TER - 5hr 5min
Lyon Part Dieu to Marseille St Charles - TER - 3hr 35min
Marseille St Charles to Nice Ville - TER - 2hr 35min

Total train travel time: 11hr 10min

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