train reservations - Paris to Rennes?
 

My son and I will be taking the train from Paris to Rennes on Friday morning 7/28/06. We have a Rail Pass but do I need advance reservations on that train (I don't think it's a high speed) and if so, can I make them in Europe. I'll be in Belgium and Germany from Sunday till Thursday of that week. Do I do it online or is there somewhere outside of France that I can do that?

Thanks.

JEFF SMITH

I would make reservations on Paris-Rennes. It IS a TGV (high-speed train)anyway and it will be a busy period. You can reserve online on www.voyages-sncf.com.

You can also do it once you arrive in Europe, usually at any rail station.

You actually cant make a reservation for a railpass at the sncf website. Its only for purchasing tickets. You can do it over the phone with Rail Europe before you leave the states.

Paris to Rennes is indeed a bullet train (TGV) so a reservation is required. Its a 2 hour trip and there are 20 tgv per day.

I'd try to do it in Brussels, though as Morgan says with 20 trains a day should not have too much a problem doing it before the train - but there have been reported problems with railpasses getting TGV reservations - apparently an allotment - i've heard and first hand experience several times when with a railpass they said nada but would sell me a full price ticket for the same TGV train. Whilst this is mainly on the Paris-Nice and Paris-Bordeaux trains, it makes railpass reservations more iffy than they were.
Yes you could do thru RailEurope but you'd pay $11 a seat, a $15 handling fee and a $15 mailing fee...and apparently a $25 if you want to talk to someone on the phone - so do online. But i'd try to do it in Germany or Brussels or wait to Paris as the Paris-Rennes line is not nearly as busy in summer as are the north-south TGV lines i think. And cannot do in French station machines, have to go to ticket window. If you have first class pass you're chances brighten a lot - if 2nd class and that were full you may have to upgrade to first class at worst i suspect.

The Paris-Rennes trains are TGVs and you do need to reserve, as others have said. I did it once on a busy day and, booking the same day, I managed to get a seat on my second-choice train which was duplicated - there were two 20-coach TGVs leaving one after the other. You should be able to book seats from any station with a booking office - the German and Belgian railways are on the same computer system.

"Yes you could do thru RailEurope but you'd pay $11 a seat, a $15 handling fee and a $15 mailing fee...and apparently a $25 if you want to talk to someone on the phone - so do online. "

Yikes! I had no idea Rail Europe was such a rip off on reservations. Thats just absurd.

Hi MorganB
>Yikes! I had no idea Rail Europe was such a rip off on reservations. Thats just absurd.<

Live and learn. :)

((I))

Yes passholder reservations thru RailEurope are much higher than in Europe where there is typically just a 3 euro fee. But on point-point tickets RE now includes the reservation fee with any train ticket that requires reservations - whether they are embedding the normal $11 into the ticket price or not is not clear however. I've traveled with Eurailpasses annually since 1969 and have always made any necessary reservations in Europe without problem - though it helps to be a bit flexible in itinerary - i don't have to be on a certain train on a certain day. The only major problems i know with railpass reservations are on TGV trains in France, as i've noted before, especially on Paris-Riviera TGVs - in that case if you landing in Paris and soon taking a TGV to Provence or Riviera then you may want to bite the bullet and go thru RailEurope (or as i always suggest BETS - 800-441-2387 not only because of their expertise but won't charge the $15 mailing fee for orders under $200 as most railpass reservations would be. I think they charge a $5 fee.