freezin10
Traveller
5 comments
Posted 14 years ago
I appreciate it is difficult to be specific but how long before departure is reservation necessary for the busier routes? I will be taking in 13 stops in a 5 week period and wanted to make all my reservations together but cannot do so because I am having difficulties with particular connections. As an example I begin with a journey between Paris and Nice - would 2 weeks before be adequate to reserve a seat for an early morning departure on a Friday morning at the end of July?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Well, it is difficult to make a general statement regarding reservations... However, since there is only a limited number of reservations available on each train for InterRailers in France the sooner you get your reservation the better - especially if you need to go from A to B on a specific day.
I think you should be fine if you make that Paris - Nice reservation 2 weeks in advance although I cant give you a guarantee. ;) But there is about one connection per hour to Nice so if one train is full you may still get a seat for the next train. And if all direct trains would be full you can still get to Marseille with TGV and change there to a free TER. Just have a look at the schedule planner for possible connections (do two separate searchs for Paris - Marseille/Toulon and Marseille/Toulon - Nice). :)
Flo 8)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
Often you can find connections without the need of a reservation.
And like you said, there is not a number of days which is the perfect to reserve in advance.
I have a personal number which I like. It is: 3.
:)
If you are talking about the direct TGV:
Paris Lyon Dep: 0746
Nice Ville Arr: 1324
... it is good to book a bit earlier.
Also read this topic: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/tgv-sncf/42[/u]
In case you don't get a reservation anymore, you can use this free connection ... all trains are [b]FREE Regional trains[/b]
Paris-Bercy Dep: 0720
Dijon Ville Arr: 1015
Dijon Ville Dep: 1023
Lyon Part Dieu Arr: 1235
Lyon Part Dieu Dep: 1327
Marseille-St-Charles Arr: 1655
Marseille-St-Charles Dep: 1759
Nice Ville Arr: 2032
Especially the last part of your trip from Marseilles to Nice is nice. Have a bottle of wine with you and enjoy this route.
Peter :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
[quote]
Especially the last part of your trip from Marseilles to Nice is nice. Have a bottle of wine with you and enjoy this route.
[/quote]
And try to get a seat on the right-hand side of the train. ;)
freezin10
Traveller
5 comments
Thanks guys
freezin10
Traveller
5 comments
Just attempted to reserve a place on the 09:42 departure on the TGV to Nice on 16/07 but all the interrail places are gone. I reserved the next available at 11.46 which is still fine for me but just wanted to post this as an example of the need to book early if you have very specific travel requirements.
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
I have an update as well.
For the French night trains Corail you can book now online - at least it seems to be like that.
And maybe this should work as well with the TGV.
Just read here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/tgv-sncf/42[/u]
And here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/france/fr[/u]
Peter :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
How much did you pay for the reservation?
freezin10
Traveller
5 comments
€6 via the Deutsche Bahn UK telephone booking system
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
OK, thanks - just wanted to check since someone reported in another thread to have paid ~18€ or so for a TGV reservation. I just checked today myself at the station and it is still 3-10€...I guess you had to pay some extra charges (booking fee, delivery), hence the 6€. :)
Flo 8)
freezin10
Traveller
5 comments
Flo
I had made an initial enquiry some weeks back with Rail Europe and was quoted €17 for the Paris-Nice TGV direct - I can only assume Rail Europe add their £8 fee to the first requested journey and then quote the rest at the standard reservation fee as €17 did seem quite expensive. This may be where the reference to €18 came from on the other post you refer to.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Yeah, that seems understandable. Thanks. ;)