I know that this question has been asked at least a few times, so I apologize for the duplication. We are traveling on July 8th from Portsmouth, UK to Cherbourg on the morning ferry and planning to take the train to Bayeux immediately from there. After an overnight in Bayeux, we plan to take a Saturday afternoon train to Paris on July 9th. Is it advisable to purchase these tickets in advance or just show up at the station and purchase on the spot?
I appreciate the advice.
Cherbourg to Bayeux can be done on a regional train (TER) or an Intercites train. For TERs there is one ticket price no matter when you buy. For Intercites, the less expensive (and less flexible) tickets sell out earlier so buying ahead of time can save you money. But at this point, it is so close to July 8th that I don't think that there will be much of a price difference between tickets bought now and on July 8th, but you can check that at sncf.com/en. The cheapest tickets are probably all sold out but there could still some lower priced tickets available on some trains.
Bayeux to Paris is 15 Euro bought three months ahead when print at home PREMs are available but at this late date probably nothing like that left.
It's fine to buy in the station; expect to pay about 40 euros per person. Since these trains don't require seat reservations, they can never sell out.
