Return train Reims to Paris -do I need to book?
 

Hi there,

I have booked the TGV train from Paris to Reims in October (leaves around 8 am) but I am not sure what time we will be heading back. We have a private tour and tasting arranged at 2 pm at a champagne house so would like to just head to the station when we are finished and take the next available service. We are guessing around 6pm ?

Is this something that is reasonable to do or do the trains fill up and we may find ourselves in a taxi !!

Thanks for your help
Oneday

I would imagine you'd be okay. You're likely to get a better price booking early with non-refundable/exchangeable PREMs tickets though (I suppose they may call PREMs something else on the English-language site. Cheap advance tickets). Looking at the prices for October vs today you're talking about a saving of more than 50% (32€ vs 15€).

Have the champagne house advised how long the tour/tasting is likely to last? Depending on the day of the week it seems there may be a gap in the schedule of a couple of hours between a train around 6 (be careful, it leaves from the Champagne-Ardennes station and for some reason the SNCF website isn't showing me the transfer Reims-CA, so you'd need to get there first) and the next train leaving from the central Reims station after 8. So you may find yourself twiddling your thumbs at the station for a while... I would at least make a note of all the train times and twiddle my thumbs in a café or something if you want to stick with not booking.

Since the trains from Reims to Paris are TGVs, reservations are required, but if you buy full fare tickets, you can get the reservation just before departure time.

How long can a champagne tour take? Can't you just estimate, giving yourself some wiggle room, and get a cheap PREM ticket home instead of being forced to pay full fare? The trains aren't ever likely to fill up, but it seems likely you could look at the schedules now and find one you'd be certain to be able to make.

<i>The trains aren't ever likely to fill up, but it seems likely you could look at the schedules now and find one you'd be certain to be able to make</i>

Having read an article on how commuting has become a normal activity between Reims and Paris ever since the TGV line was inaugurated, I would not count on available seating.

I would buy a ticket at an expected time because the PREMs don't cost that much anyway, so even if you lost it, so what (about 15 euro), and there aren't that many departures, only about once every two hours. So I'd book the 6 pm-ish one because if by any chance it were full, I wouldn't want to wait 2 more hours. The difference in fare between a PREM and regular is only around 20 euro, anyway, though.

Thankyou all for your help. I think I'll play it safe and book