TGV Tickets
 

My wife and I are planning to ride the TGV from Paris (CDG) to Nice. Is there a way to get tickets delivered to the US? From their website it looks like the only option is to pick-up in person or take delivery overseas. Anyone have experience in these matters?<BR><BR>Many thanks Posters!

In 1999 and 2000 I ordered tickets from Gare de Lyon (Paris) to Lausanne over the SNCF web site. I picked up my tickets both times at Gare Montparnasse because it was close to my hotel. I paid with credit card. <BR>I got my tickets.<BR>Why do you want US delivery? <BR>

Last summer I ordered tickets on the TGV from Paris to Bern, Switz. on the Rail Europe site. I know that many posters here are not big Rail Europe fans, and they do charge a surcharge, but for these tickets, I felt more comfortable having them "in hand" before we left. And, since we were travelling on a weekend, I thought there was a greater chance that the train we needed to be on could be sold out.

I haven't done it, only picked-up in Europe, but I know I've read posts from a couple people who have had them mailed to US. I believe they did it through the SNCF Eurostar phone number in Paris (that's what it's listed under in the phone book) which is a pay per minute number (area code 08, not 01 which is normal Paris) and which has English speakers. If you have enough time ahead of your trip, I guess you can. The phone number is on here somewhere if you do a search. Or, you can get it under Eurostar in the France Telecome online phonebook (www.pagesjaunes.fr)<BR><BR>I do agree with the last poster, depending on the price and how much time you might have on-site. If you were buying a lot of tickets, it might add up, but I only bought one and only saved about $20-25 doing it myself rather than using Raileurope but I spent about an hour of my time there picking them up (there was a long line at the station I was at, not always the case).

I purchased my train tickets via English speaking operator in Paris through Sncf. THe cost on RAilEurope was double. The tickets were mailed to my U.S. address within ten days. I gave the number in a previous post- any questions contact Sncf and they will e-mail you the phone number. Diane

I am having a great deal of trouble negotiating their web-site for tickets from Paris to Arras - any clues?

Hi Lin, do you have the correct spelling of the town you want to take the train to? I just tried Arras and nothing came up for that spelling.<BR><BR>Dave, FYI, I was able to purchase my TGV tickets for May online at sncf.com. It was very easy and all I have to do now is pick up the tickets at any ticket office in Paris (I'll pick mine up at the CDG ticket office) and show them my confirmation letter I received via email. The tickets were 187.40 Euros for the two of us, round trip to Avignon, so that's about $42 one way, pp. Pretty good for a high speed train. (It's $89 on raileurope.com)<BR>

Arras is the name of the city and it's on the TGV route between Paris and Lille. I don't know what you're doing wrong, I just stuck in Paris for departure and Arras for arrival town and got two trains within a few seconds (10:22 and 11:22 am on Wednesday). You have to select a certain time of day (I did 10 am -noon), although you can then go up in time. I just use www.sncf.com

This is great. I was actually looking into TGV tickets myself, and discovered that SNCF is significantly cheaper and has an easy to use web site versus Rail Europe. I'm traveling with friends from Paris to Narbonne (via Montpellier) but not until October. How far in advance have you purchased TGV tickets? <BR><BR>And do people recommend taking the TGV versus flying? I am unsure that flying will save me any time, due to airport locations in Paris and how soon you have to be at the airport. Any thoughts on this?<BR><BR>Dave - have fun in Nice!<BR><BR>Thank you!<BR>

Julianne, you can purchase your tickets up to 60 days in advance. Since my return trip to Paris is on the 19th of May, I had to wait till today to book (even though my outgoing trip is May 12th). For flying, call the airlines and compare prices. My TGV tickets are $42 one way, which is pretty inexpensive. Not sure you can get a better price with the airlines. In my research I had asked about driving versus taking the train and most people recommended the train since it’s faster, cheaper, and a lot more relaxing. Hopefully others can add to my comments for you.