IzabellaBella

Is train travel in France as difficult as it seems? There are so many stations. I'm thinking of purchasing a "Single country France rail pass" - read about it on Rick Steve's.
Here are the train trips I plan to take (not in this order - also may not take all these trips - I'm still in the planning stages)
1 Paris to Versailles
2. Paris to Loire Valley
3. Paris to Bruges. I read that even though I have a train pass, I would still have to pay an additional 40 to 50 euros, however I could take a longer route and make a stop in Lollie so that I can take the TGV and pay only 11 euros.
4. Paris to Lyon
5. Lyon to Avignon
6. Train travel in the French Riviera from Nice as our base.
7. Paris to Annecy
7. Paris to Strasbourg

I see how a pass can save me money, but where I'm confused is where do I go and purchase tickets. Is it here: http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/ or raileurope.com

When purchasing tickets, what do I choose to indicate that I have purchased a pass? I understand that I will still have to pay about 11 euros per ticket. Do I choose an option under "season ticket" or "loyalty program"? The directions on Rick Steve's does not mention this...

"Advance-purchase discounts: Buying tickets in advance can get you 50 percent off the full fare. International TGV, Thalys, and overnight trains also offer big advance ticket savings. The best deals have limited seat availability, sell out early, are not refundable or changeable, and aren't sold by US-based retailers. Here's a quick how-to:
1. Visit the SNCF's site once you feel comfortable committing to a travel date (tickets are on sale starting about three months out).
2. If asked to "choose a country" from a drop-down menu, select "France," then, when presented with choice of flags, choose "Other Countries (EUR)," which gets you the English version of the site.
3. After you've entered the arrival/destination cities and dates for your trip, use the drop-down menu to select "France" (yes, France) as your "Ticket collection country."
Select the cheapest, non-refundable category of ticket for your journey, such as "Prem's."
4. Choose the eticket delivery option (which you will print at home), and pay using a PayPal account.
5. After the non-refundable rates are sold out, you can buy other fare types on the French site only if you have set up the "Verified by Visa" or "MasterCard SecureCode" program for your US credit card."

StCirq

Tain passes in France are never worth the money. Point-to-point tickets are always much cheaper and guarantee you'll get a seat. For TER/intercités tickets, there is no advantage to buying in advance, and for TGV and overnight trains even if you have a pass you have to reserve a seat and pay extra, and the number of seats is severely limited. Don't buy a pass.

If you don't read French, use www.capitainetrain.com for schedules and purchases. Forget the SNCF site. And never use Rail Europe.

And Rick Steves is hardly the authority on travel in France. The Man in Seat 61 can tell you WAY more than Rick Steves will ever know about train travel.

Sassafrass

Based on your other threads and itineraries, I seriously doubt you would be going to most of those places, probably no more than one or two. Listen to StCirq. She really is an expert on France and travel in France.

In Provence, there are several local bus companies and more train possibilities than people seem to think. I do not read French, but soon figured out enough to buy tickets for both. It just takes a bit of time.

IzabellaBella

Stcirq, I found the man in Seat 61. Found that site first which lead me to SNCF. His site has a ton of info that I gave up to find an easier read, which led me to Ricks. I saw www.captainetrain.com there was also mention that the prices would the same as on other sites. I did not buy a pass for Italy, but I did not do as much travel as I think I will in France. In Italy we just did Rome airport straight to Florence, Florence to Venice, Florence to Naples to get to Capri and then Naples to Rome. I thought it was pretty easy and no pass or advance tickets were ever necessary

StCirq

No pass is necessary in France, either. But advance tickets are advisable to save LOADS if you're taking long-distance trains. If you gave up on the Man in Seat 61, that's a shame, as he has by far the most comprehensive information available on every form of train transport in Europe. Yes, Rick is easier to read - that's because he's kind of a dullard.

the capitainetrain.com site has exactly the same information and pricing and schedules as SNCF. It's just easier to use if you don't read French, and it accepts American credit cards more easily than SNCF. That's what you should be using.

Don't buy a rail pass of any kind. Could I be clearer?

Sarastro

Doesn´t the Rick Steves empire sell rail passes? Of course he will tell you to buy passes; he wants you to buy them from him.

Unfortunately, if you have purchased a French rail pass, you have wasted your money, particularly for the routes you have chosen. For any city pair that is crucial to your overall itinerary, perhaps Paris - Lyon - Avignon, I would purchase tickets as soon as possible.

greg

If you read Rick Steves, he also concurs that passes are most likely negative for most travelers due to low prices on slow trains and availability of deep discounted advance tickets on TGV routes, need to pay for reservations, and be pass capacity capped.

Look at each route of interest. If it is TGV, tray to get PREM tickets 90 days out. For example Paris-Strasbourg advance ticket is 38EU. If you used a pass, it costs about 40EU/day plus 11EU reservation is 51EU. Why would you even bother to pay more with a pass and be capacity capped?

Many people automatically think, pass=savings, without validating their assumptions.

IzabellaBella

Thanks everyone. No I have not purchased a pass. I researched a bit more and returned to the man in seat 61 literature(I think I was just tired of researching most of the day yesterday). The site has provided me with great info.