I am considering a very inexpensive OUIGO train from CDG to Aix-en-Provence. I understand that one carry on suitcase and one personal item, both with specific size limitations, are allowed with no additional charge. I also understand that, for 5 euros paid in advance, an additional bag may be taken. My question is: does this excess baggage fee apply to an oversize bag? Will I be able to pay that fee and take my 24" suitcase on board?

Thanks

Probably, yes. The SNCF personnel who will check your tickets before you board the train will tell you whether you are in compliance with the rules or not. IME, no one has ever been fussy about the baggage you take on board a OUIGO train, but I've always been traveling super-light and no one has ever even looked twice at my luggage. In fact, come to think of it I've never even seen anyone checking luggage on a OUIGO train, but it would be foolish of me probably to tell you you can do what you want.

I WILL say that an "oversize" bag - and I would consider a 24" bag oversize, in fact huge - on any train in France is a PITA and likely to cause you issues navigating the train aisles and getting on and off. People get on and off trains fast in France, and almost everyone has baggage that is briefcase-sized or not much bigger to deal with. But of course a lot depends on the routes you are traveling and whether you need to make fast connections or are just traveling to a final destination in a big city, where it doesn't matter what kind of luggage you have.

Simple rules for train travel in Europe, if I had to distill it, is be able to get on and off quickly, be able to haul your bags up and down stairs if necessary, be able to stow them up above your seats without whining to other passengers to help you (though they often will kindly offer to help), be able to run them down the narrow aisles of trains easily, be able to run through stations to make connections (or plan for better connections), don't pack them with a weight that exceeds what the airlines will allow.

Do you have to travel with a 24" suitcase?

Short answer? I don't know...

On Ouigo trains, cabin baggage must not exceed 55 x 35 x 25 cm. My calculations make that a 22¨ bag.

It is my understanding that a 24¨ bag would be an oversized bag and could be carried for an additional 5€ as long as it did not weigh more than 30 kg or about 66 lbs.

Thanks Sarastro. I did find that information and have booked and paid the 5e fee, in case I find myself unable to downsize.

Took this route/train last year and paid the €5 just to be safe, though my bag is 22"
Didn't seem worth worrying about. I don't recall anybody really checking, though.

We had a trip last year to France and travelled on a variety of trains - though not OUIGO. Generally, there wasn't much space for luggage, even the luggage racks seemed small and were often full. You might really struggle for somewhere to put your large case.

Kay

We took at least 10 OUIGO train trips last year all over France, so are relatively familiar with the procedures.. You are probably going to have issues with a huge bag, and yes, 24" is HUGE by French train standards.

Update (that nobody cares about except me!): All packed for 16 days in my 21" suitcase, with room to spare! Thinking about all the ways to downsize has kept me up at night for 2 weeks, but it's done!

So excited to hit the road!

You'll be glad you were able to ditch the 24" bag, and not just on the train rides!

We once dropped newly married friends at the airport for their first European trip which happened to involve a few train rides. They had both just purchased complete sets of luggage (3 pieces of graduating sizes) and brought all 6 pieces! We could barely fit it all in our SUV! But when they came back, they readily admitted that was a huge (pun!) mistake, and they have learned to downsize their luggage on subsequent trips.

Congratulations iregeo2. I am down to 19" but my bags do bulge a bit.

Where else is your trip taking you? I'm planning for Provence now.

tuscanlifeedit, I'm glad you asked!

2 nights Aix-en-Provence (on my own)
2 nights Uzes
2 nights Aigues-Mortes
3 nights St. Remy
2 nights Bonnieux
2 nights Aix-en-Provence (with a friend)
1 night Nice

When are you going?

Good work, iregeo!

Jean, we once had guests here who brought more luggage than we and our extended families own. We could barely squeeze them and the luggage into our 7-person van. They had to hold some of their bags on their laps for the 45-minute drive. I had arranged a visit to a goat cheese farm, and the lady of the couple showed up at breakfast in a (beautiful) vintage Chanel suit, spike heels, and a Hermès pocketbook. She actually went to the farm sporting them. It wasn't pretty. The drycleaning bill would probably have paid for me to take a 2-week trip somewhere.

Congrats! (You'll likely find you don't even need / wear / use everything that's in that 21 inch bag).

From here on out, each time you travel you'll get better/more comfortable at paring things down.

Less is more on holiday. I tend to take clothes at the end of their life and use local laundries/rent AirBnB to use their machines etc and even just chuck the clothes to replace as I wish. Chanel?

I used to sail a lot and most yachties have a soft bag they can sling over a shoulder. One friend turned up with so many bags that we filled whole spaces with the silly things, still the nice clothes looked good on him when we threw him in.

The personnel are not standing there with tape measures or even those airport size frames.

I could never travel to Europe with a 19" bag myself, so that's something..

Having said that, I do travel with a 24" bag to Europe and take trains and buses all the time and somehow manage to handle it with no problems, have never noticed that French trains are different from other countries and don't know why a bag would be considered huge on French trains but not Polish, for example. I haven't taken Ouigo trains so don't know how they differ. I think there is a big difference between one 24" bag and taking a set of 3 pieces of luggage, for example.