My husband and I are taking the French national rail (SNCF) from Stuttgart to Paris in June. According to the railroad website https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/help/coronavirus, we need to show "evidence of a test or exam 24 hours before travel." This, despite the fact that the French Interior Ministry site says proof of up-to-date COVID vaccination is sufficient for coming from European Union countries (and the U.S., for that matter.) We are vaccinated and twice-boosted and will be bringing our CDC cards. I got no explanation of the discrepancy from SNCF (or even a reply) when I emailed them. Has anyone else traveled recently on SNCF to France from a EU country and had to get a COVID test to ride?
Posted by
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
1446 posts
I hope someone answers. I would like to know the same thing.
Posted by
Paris
9567 posts
That is not right at all, and hasn't been for a long time. It's a bit unnerving that the official SNCF website could be that wrong / out of date.
Edit to add: I checked out the link. As of today, masks are not mandatory either. But at least that bad information on their site is only out of date by half a day (so far)!!
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2545 posts
The information from the SNCF is correct as it originates from the Ministère de l´Intérieur.
https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/covid-19-international-travel
However, I doubt you will be checked, but if you are, all you need is your CDC cards showing a mRNA booster.
Posted by
City of Seattle
1768 posts
My experience with European train travel last Summer was that you just get on the train and get off the train where you want to, and it's not a problem. It doesn't matter where you came from or where you're going, nobody is checking for anything that has to do with COVID-19.
Your mileage might vary but in my experience not a problem
Posted by
Paris
9567 posts
Vaccinated and twice-boosted do not need to show proof of a negative test, as the Interior Ministry says :
For travelers vaccinated within the meaning of European regulations, no more tests is required on departure. Proof of a complete vaccination schedule becomes sufficient to arrive in France, regardless of the country of origin, as was the case before the distribution of the Omicron variant.
I don't know why the SNCF site says you need a test. You don't. Their information is out of date.
Edit to add: the SNCF has updated their website since this morning. They now have it up to date, although confusingly in the part about vaccination, test, or proof of recovery, they have left out the critical word "or"!!!!
Posted by
California
303 posts
Agree with Hank’s evaluation which is similar to the experience I’ve had traveling by train (and tour bus) over the past 6 weeks between 7 countries (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria). There were no checks related to Covid.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you, everyone, for confirming what I had hoped to be the case (i.e., no test required). It's an interesting coincidence that the SNCF site was changed so soon after my posting. The power of the Rick Steves travel blog! :-)