I went to the voyages.sncf website to check on the prices of the train from Paris to Nice and found that I can actually get it for 90€ first class (2 pax, with insurance 96€, non exchangable, non refundable) for 11 June. At the check out point, there seems to be a few options -
1- print own ticket
2- collect ticket
3- receive ticket through mail.

My best choice should be 1 right? (I am using a french translation website, hopefully i got all the words right??)
Is it too early to buy, will prices drop further...although it is beyond me why is it that cheap when the same date and time on 2nd class costs 236€...

Actually, there is a first class fare of 39 euro also (78 for two), for the same 07:46 departure (arr Nice 13:17), and unlike the 45 euro "PREM" which is fully NON-changeable, this fare is fully CHANGEABLE for a penalty of 10 euro. It does say << A saisir, dernières places disponibles ! >> (Hurry, only a few seats left).

I started at http://www.sncf.com/en_EN/flash and clicked on the bottom right hand corner which goes to TGV-europe.com - - and once you specify France as your country of pick-up, it takes you BACK to http://www.voyages-sncf.com

I have used "print own ticket" only for PREMs, but it seems like this fare would work the same way. It's pretty cool technology, and unlike printable "boarding passes" for US air travel, this one is quite unmodifiable - - your own name, origin, detination and date of travel is actually printed into the background of the PDF document (rather like a watermark) which serves as your ticket. It would be pretty impossible to forge or fiddle with it.

Best wishes,

Rex

Definitely select #1 - print your own ticket. You can pick them up at a SNCF boutique in Paris (I think), but why bother. I know that we just printed our own here in the US and took them with us.

Regarding the price - this is the cost for PREM tickets which go on-sale at SNCF's "discretion". Another reason for the low-cost, you picked the early morning trip (7:00 am), when many people might not like to be up and about?

If you need the tickets, I'd get them NOW! The PREMs might be gone in a flash of an eye!

Sam

thanks!

problem is we haven't settled our accomodation in Nice...
but this fare does cut down my original budget by almost 130€.
Since 'print my own ticket' option is a PDF doc, which I should be able to save and print out physically later?? (i don't have a printer right now...)

We did really well with PREM tickets. Bordeaux to Paris.

As far as I know they are the cheapest tickets available and when the allocation is sold, that's it!! From memory they don't always offer them for 1st class, but I could be entirely wrong about that.

wow... then i must definitely grab them now!

Hi 3,

At www.voyages-sncf.com, you can purchase your ticket 90 days out.

They are offering 25E 2cl/39E 1cl PREMS, which you print out at home.
You will get a confirmation number, that will allow you to print your ticket (once) at any time.

You can print your ticket on US standard letterhead in B&W. Use the high definition, since the conductor has to scan the ticket.

Enjoy your trip.

Ira,

Why do you say "once"? The SNCF website says that you can print them as many times as you like. I know I have reprinted lost tickets in the past.

<< Since 'print my own ticket' option is a PDF doc, which I should be able to save and print out physically later?? (i don't have a printer right now...) >>

This is correct. You save it, or e-mail it to yourself and print it whenever you want (and as many copies as you want, as Betty1 notes).

thanks rex... this was precisely what i needed to see... becoz i have no printer with me now, so being able to save it for printing at a later date is a must
NOW i can happily go ahead to buy the ticket

btw I cant seem to get find the 39euro fare, but i guess 45euro per person for 1st class is good enough for me, with departure at 9.46am and no need to change trains!
it is just that i would have to leave paris the minute i open my eyes in the morning....the rest of the timings seem to get me to Nice a little bit too late, since I will reach on Thur and depart on Sat after lunch.

Your confirmation email will have LINKS to the PDF tickets to print out. Don't just save the email but be sure to access and download the PDFs as well until you're ready to print them.

Rob

I have gotten the tickets...BUT, I couldn't get the 45euro on 0946, had to settle for the 0746 (my goodness, they really sell out fast!!)

I have read somewhere that seats muz be reserved, but from the ticket, I see that my seat has already been allocated...
it says

TGV 6171
PREM'S - NI ECH/NI REMB. VALABLE SU

Classe 1
Voiture 2 Place 34 (my husband has 33)
ASSISE NON FUMEUR
COULOIR

Can anyone enlighten me what kinda seats are these?
Also what time would I have to be at Gare De Lyon?
Anything else that I need to know about the trains?

TIA to all!

I jus realised that seats can be facing another pair of seats... anyone knows of any site where i can find the seat layout?

I've lost my link to seat arrangements... someone else will doubtless post a link.

As for what time to be at the station... your track info is usually only posted on the board about 20 minutes before departure so anything earlier than that isn't really needed.

If you're worried once you're there you'll see there is a large information booth with multilingual staff who can help.

Rob

i have been told that the nearest metro station to my apartment is Ecole Militare. Went to the ratp website and they map my metro journet from EM to Gare de Lyon as 26 min, with a change at Opera to an RER at Auber.
Do i have to purchase separate tickets for metros and RERs?

i was just familiarising myself with the metro station map, and i have a question...
is it possible for me to take the metro from EM to Madeline and change to the line heading towards Olympades? Doesn't this bring me to Gare de Lyon as well?

Hello, 3sica. First, congratulations on getting your tickets on the SNCF site. That can be difficult even if you speak French.

About your seats, it is likely that you and your husband will be seated side by side facing the same direction. Your ticket says "couloir" (aisle). Does your husband's say "fenêtre" (window)? I suppose it's possible that you could both be facing 2 other people - this arrangement is called "carré" - but I think they tend to assign those to 4 people traveling together. I could not find a way on the SNCF site to see where particular seats are located. Maybe someone else can.

For your trip to the Gare de Lyon, I went to the RATP website and put in your itinerary, specifying using "le plus rapide, ferré (Métro, RER, SNCF, Tramway)" and choosing June 11, 6:55. You can do all that by selecting "recherche avancée." I got a "feuille de route" showing 24 minutes travel time, Ecole Militaire to Madeleine (correspondance) to Gare de Lyon - exactly the route you were asking about. It arrives at GdL at 7:23 which should be early enough for your 7:46 train. You may have gotten a different itinerary if you did not choose the date and time.

The same tickets are good for metro, bus and RER within the city. I tend to avoid the RER if I can as I find it a bit confusing and the correspondances can involve a long walk. There is also a bus from Ecole Militaire to Gare de Lyon (#87)but it looks like there would be a bit of a walk from the bus stop to the train station.

I would go with the metro itinerary above or, actually, I'd probably take a taxi. Of course, that would be more expensive.

Hope this helps. Have fun in Paris and Nice!

Hi Betty1!
thanks so much for the detailed help... just what I needed...
i had some trouble with the website initially, but all worked out in the end although I have to leave 2 hours earlier...
Yes i jus checked and his ticket DOES say fenetre.
weird that the website doesn't have another seating charts.

Another question, when I switch Metro, I would probably be just crossing to a different platform? no need to buy new tickets right?

That's right, 3sica. If you take the itinerary suggested above, you would get off the first train at Madeleine, look for a sign that says "correspondance" then "direction Olympiades" and follow that to the next platform. I dont know how far you need to walk at the Madeleine station to get from line 8 to line 14 but that same "feuille de route" estimates 2 minutes. I hope you don't have a lot of luggage since there might be stairs or escalators involved. No need for a new ticket as long as you stay underground.

thanks again Betty1!
was a little worried initially about getting to GdL at such an early hour and was considering ordering a taxi.
Shall see how it goes, since Nice is the last 3 days of my trip and after spending the previous 9 in London and Paris, i have no idea how much extra luggage would have been accumulated!
Hope i can tap on ur expertise again...i anticipate many questions...it is harder in Paris than London for me, since language is definitely going to be a problem!

Glad to help,3sica, although I'm certainly not the resident expert here on RATP! Check back on Monday to see if any others have weighed in on this.