As noted by others, I've found itrelatively impossible to navigate the http://www.voyages-sncf.com site. Maybe someone (anyone!!) can help me plan my train travel.

My boyfriend and I would like to travel from Paris to Aix-en-Provence on June 20 (we plan on renting a car in Provence so are happy to go to Avignon first if it's easier for travel and rental purposes).

After that, the plan is to go from Marseillie to Barcelona (June 25).

And finally from Bilbao to Madrid (July 4).

Is it best to try and get a pass for these trips? I know it is advisable to book in advance, I just don't know how!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Cheers

TTT

I had a hard time using the site. I finally used a french dictionary and used the french version. I elected to pick up tickets at the train station and that was fine. Since your trip is so soon it might be easier to buy tickets when you get to Paris. There are numerous SNCF boutigues around the city.

A pass wouldn't make any sense for a couple trips like that, they are too expensive. The cheapest one is around $400, I believe, for a couple bordering countries.

The SNCF website is fairly easy if you can read French. I assume you cannot, and I think it would be difficult for anyone else to help you using the French version, in that case.

If you want to book TGVs, go to the TGV europe website and claim you live in the UK (Great Britain). The fares are the same as in France, from what I checked, and please do not try to get them to mail you tickets. Say you will pick them up if that is the only option other than mailing, or print them if possible (on that Aix ticket, I don't think you will get PREMs, so probably that will not be offered).

Now you will not be able to actually use the automatic ticket machine if you don't have a CC with a chip, but you should be able to pick them up from the clerk. In theory, you are probably violating the terms (I didn't read them, you have to say you did to buy) by claiming you are living in the UK when you are not. I wouldn't really worry bout that too much myself, actually. The Paris-Aix ticket is around 100 euro, the Marseille-Barcelona around 73 euro. Raileurope isn't really too outrageous for those tickets if you decide to go with them, but their prices are around $15-20 higher per ticket than buying direct. That doesn't include the delivery costs, which I am not familiar with (from Raileurope).

Raileurope charges a $18 mailing fee for orders under $450 - other agents (who work thru Raileurope may not) - prices are always the same with a RE product but handling/mailing fees can vary. the only railpass you would consider is the France-Spain Eurailpass - a two-country pass Christina talks about and which starts at $312 p.p. on a 4-day first-class Saver Pass or $275 p.p. for a 4-day Saver Pass or $235 for a solo youth pass: http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id...frsp%20prices; also find useful info at www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com

The Paris-Aix ticket is around 100 euro, the Marseille-Barcelona around 73 euro. bilboa-madrid should be i'd think about the same as Marseilles-Barcelona

so if these fares are what you would end up paying in europe it would be about 240 euros - in 2nd class vs $275 for a 4-day unlimited train pass - seems the pass would be a great deal if you cannot snag the cheap online fares at either the sncf or renfe.es web sites. (240 euros x 1.4 = $336in 2nd class and for $312 with the first class pass you'd still be cheaper going with a 1st class pass than 2nd class normal fares??? And you'd have a 4th unlimited rail travel day to play with as well.

According to www.voyage-sncf.com, there are no PREM discount fares available for June 20. I think the travel date is too close to get a discount ticket. There are PREM fares on this route, but the first one I found was not until July. As other mentioned, the best Paris-Aix ticket this close to departure is 99EU.

A rail pass would not be a good idea for these journeys. All require seat reservations and probabably a supplement as well. In France, the rail pass might not even get a discount on a TGV - the SNCF sells only a limited number of tickets for rail pass holders.

Have you thought about clicking the little flag on the lower left to navigate the SNCF site in English?

In France, the rail pass might not even get a discount on a TGV - the SNCF sells only a limited number of tickets for rail pass holders.>

this is why i suggest making your mandatory TGV reservations when purchasing your pass - and a condition of purchasing the pass

at the fares Crhistina gave and i extrapolated a railpass is a no-brainer IMO - but make your TGV reservations when you buy the pass so as to not suffer the fate Geoff cautions about.

kerouac,

Clicking on the British flag on the SNCF site results in being taken to the tgv-europe site mentioned by Christina.

Christina, it is perfectly legal to claim one is a resident of Great Britain on that site to keep from being bumped to the Rail Europe site. If you get a Prems fare, you print the ticket yourself. For any other fare you can pick up your ticket at any SNCF station or boutique (ticket shop) in France, even though you originally chose Great Britain.

I claimed to be from the UK, picking up my tickets in France, and that site gave me exactly the same proposals as the site in French.

After all you don't need to prove residency or show a passport to use these fares i believe - sncf is obviously trying to throw business to their direct subsidiary Rail Europe, of which they own 75% i believe - the Swiss Railways grabbing the other 25%

I just used B.E.T.S. in Ann Arbor, Michigan for our train trip from Amsterdam to Paris. They are very informative and can give you the best options. The tickets came in 1 weeks and their charge is $15.00.

1.800.441.2387 or 1.800.441.9413
www.budgeteuropetravel.com

Paying $15.00 extra is never the best option, you know, and not even disguising one's advertising is rather amateurish.

Hi atalanta934,

You might not need a car in Aix...the center of town is walkable and there is very little parking. I lived there in '06.

I had a very recent bad experience with RailEurope (they sold me a non-existing seat and didn't tell me until I called them and found out after two very rude phone calls from representatives in India). So, I cannot recommend using RailEurope.

If I were you, I would by all the point-to-point tickets in Paris. You already know where/when you are going, and you're traveling together, and it looks like you don't plan on taking the train consecutively every day... so, buying just the tickets (not the pass) is probably a better deal for you.


Et bon voyage... Aix-en-Provence has a very special place in my heart.
I remember shedding a tear as I touched the cool smooth stone walls of my school near the Cours Mirabeau...I didn't want to leave.

by = buy