Myer

We're making final arrangements for our upcoming trip.
We'll be spending 2 nights in Tours after arriving from Paris.
On the first afternoon we'll visit Chenonceau, etc, etc.

My question has to do with the local trains.
In order to save time I might want to purchase some of the tickets (especially for the first day) in advance.
On the OUI SNCF web site they always ask for specific date and time.
1) Are tickets good for any day or just for the date for which they were purchased?
2) Are tickets good for any train during the day?

Thanks.

PalenQ

Tours-Chenonceaux is regional trains - flat fare about and just buy at station - ask about validity time in buying return ticket. Ditto for any local train - just buy once in Tours. Lots on French trains - www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Paris-Tours of course buy ahead for nice discounts.

kerouac

Here is the specific site for trains in the Loire valley: https://www.ter.sncf.com/centre-val-de-loire

Local trains do not have reservations and the tickets can be used at any time within a certain period (I confess that I did not look it up). For local trains, people just buy the tickets out of machines in the station using coins or a bank card;

Christina

The website tells you the terms when you buy it, I thought. I just buy TER train tickets from the machines also, why would you buy them in advance. It only takes a few minutes to buy them from the machines. The TER tickets bought that way are good for a week, as I recall. But it says right on them. In fact, I used a TER to visit Tours from Saumur last summer, just bought it at the station from a machine. If you buy them online, I think they are good for that entire day. It says right on the website when you pick a ticket what the terms are. This ios what it says for Saumur-Tours TER

<<Valable sur TER uniquement pour la date de voyage choisie. Billet non-échangeable et non-remboursable.>>

But I remember when I bought it from the machine, it said good for a week.

PalenQ

And, you do have to compost (cancel) those open-ended tickets yourself before boarding train to have them valid? Always was that way - stick them in somedate-stamping machine at entrances to platforms.

PalenQ

Aller-et-retour -ask for a return ticket or buy one from machines to save time on other end coming back - and don't forget to cancel the return portion before getting on return train. Signs in stations admonish travelers to remember to "Compostez Votre Billet" - meaning stick it in a date-stamping machine because those tickets could if not cancelled be used again during its validity time period. If you forget find the conductor (if any) before he finds and maybe fines you for not having a valid ticket.