Train from Paris to Bordeaux
 

Is the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux worth the extra cost?

buy PREM tickets three months in advance (non-exchangeable and non-refundable) on www.sncf.com and you can't beat the price.

Actually, the site you wan to use is: www.voyages-sncf.com

Otherwise you will be directed to Rail Europe, where there are no PREM fares.

The extra cost of what? If you plan ahead you can sometimes get from Paris to Bordeaux for about 19 euros with a TGV PREM fare.

What alternatives were you looking at that you thought might be cheaper? I can pretty much assure you that they aren't.

Question:

Is the rack price of a TGV higher than a stopping train?

Clearly there are going to be cases (though I didn't know Paris-Bordeaux was one of them) where there are still subsonic trains stopping every 50 miles or so. And obviously, ticket prices are constantly fluctuating.

But, even in theory, does SNCF charge a premium for TGVs?

It is a long enough trip that a fast train is worth whatever premium might be required.

I could not see any trains on this route that were not TGV so perhaps the OP was considering the bus rather than train.

Here are some tips about using the TGV website and how to avoid being redirected to RailEurope.

The official French rail site where you can checks schedules and prices and book tickets is www.voyages-sncf.com. It is in French so you may prefer to use the site www.tgv-europe.com, which has an English language option.

If you use the TGV website don't forget to uncheck the box marked "Direct Trains" to see all possible options. If the TGV site redirects you to the RailEurope website then try again and enter "Antarctic" as your ticket collection country. Other countries may also work (Great Britain?) but just try to find a country that doesn't get you redirected to RailEurope. The RailEurope website often doesn't show all the trains and generally has higher prices but you can check just to compare. For trains that require reservations you can buy tickets up to 3 months or more in advance and the earlier you buy them the cheaper they will be. The discounted tickets are known as PREM tickets but these are non-refundable and can't be exchanged.

Here is a website that will tell you how to navigate the TGV website:

http://www.nickbooth.id.au/Tips/FrenchTrain.htm

An excellent website to learn all about train travel in Europe is www.seat61.com.

There aren't any trains from Paris to Bordeaux that aren't TGVs, to my knowledge. Of course you could always take a circuitous route, say, from the Gare d'Austerlitz to Limoges or Angoulème on a regular train and then switch to another train to Bordeaux, but it would take forever and probably cost the same or more, so why?

I don't know what the question is about, but if it were related to time, you have to answer that yourself as to what your time is worth, no one else can say.

Do you know why it takes about 4 hours to go from Paris to Bordeaux, but the return trip takes more than double that time?

The return trip takes almost exactly the same as the trip down - between 3 1/4 hours and 4 hours. Same each way. More, of course, if you're traveling to/from CDG instead of Montparnasse.

I checked on line at bahn.de and also their office in person and the shortest time on 10 May, a Sat, is 10 hours. But the next day, it is indeed possible make the trip in the afternoon a little over 3 hrs. Can't figure out why. I would rather come back home on Sat.

There are at least 4 trains listed that day on the SNCF site, taking between 3 hrs and 16 minutes and 3 hrs and 19 minutes, BUT they cannot be reserved as of now (non ouvert).

There is also a big caution about track work taking place around that time that is expected to impede travel on several of those lines, including south and north from Bordeaux. It says that schedules will be modified and interruptions are expected. That is likely why those trains can't be reserved - they likely won't be running..

Trains on May 11 appear to be running normally as of now.

bahn.de is the German rail website, they don't always have up-to-date rail schedule info on French railways, you should use the French one as that's what it is

Thanks, StCirq for taking the time to help with my query. Will plan on taking the return trip to Stuttgart on the 11th. One more day around Bordeaux will certainly not be a hardship.