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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Posted 13 years ago

Hi..
I am planning an interrail trip through France in August/September.
My current plan is to get the one country pass for France (4 days/month).
I looked up the train connections mostly I would have to use TGV trains.
Does anyone know how high the reservation fees usually are? And is there any way to avoid them?
If you could recommend any connections between the cities named above that would be much appreciated :D
Guess going to Brest makes things a little complicated but I am visiting a friend, so I definitely want to go there.
I'm not that sure about Bordeaux and/or Perpignan yet.
Is there any other city or place on the way you could recommend?
And would it be possible to go from Bordeaux to Perpignan, stay there a couple of hours and then move on to Marseille within one travel day? Guess it would be quite exhausting but Perpignan seems a very nice place so I'd love to go there.

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Zhelva
Traveller
6 comments

replied 13 years ago

[quote]Does anyone know how high the reservation fees usually are? And is there any way to avoid them?
[/quote]
For TGV reservation fee follow TGV | Peak period | Limited seats for Rail Pass travelers ( [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/tgv-sncf/42[/u] ). There is more info for making reservation or avoiding it. In short: 6 EUR per one way, 18 EUR if TGV spacial places for InterRailers is fully booked.

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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

replied 13 years ago

okay.. thanks a lot, that was really helpful!
So the best thing would be to ask for an reservation right at the train station a couple of days before leaving I guess.
I have decided on my route now..it will be
Paris-Brest-Bordeaux-Marseille-Strasbourg
Is there any part of the trip where I can avoid supplements? Or would that take too long?

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Hetman
Traveller
364 comments

replied 13 years ago

routes without supplements:
Paris - Brest - 8 hours/ 2 changes
(TGV 4 hours)

Brest - Perpignan
it's a long way so better take more direct train or add Toulouse or Bordeaux to your plan and then regional train will have more sens

Perpignan - Marseille
there are some direct regional trains or with one stop in Narbonne or Montpelier

Marseille - Strasbourg
reservation of a seat in direct night train is the most economic and fastest option but if you would like to admire this part of France there are also some possibilities of use regional train. travel takes more than 10 hours.

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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

replied 13 years ago

thanks for the quick answer :D
sorry for the stupid question but where did you get that information?
I tried to look up the connections myself but somehow I always end up with TGV trains being involved :p
I think I'll definitely consider the option of taking a slower train - great way to save some money and take in the scenery.
If I am using a regional train can I just hop on and take a seat or do I have to make reservations nontheless?

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Hetman
Traveller
364 comments

replied 13 years ago

plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/query.exe/en?L=profi& and chose in the list below,where you already have all means of transport, without HST/trains with surcharge
HST is High Speed Train where usually you need reservation.

unfortunately it is not so easy (and fast like i did it) because there sometimes go out trains with reservation. but try it! :)

and if you use train where you do not need reservation just hop on like you said

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anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

replied 13 years ago

thanks sooooo much, this is perfect!!
exactly what i was looking for ;D