Making Reservations on French Trains
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.
- Eurostar high-speed train from Paris to London
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
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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: RecommendedAlternative 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
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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
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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
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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
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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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