Euro Rail in France

mimi,

Just to clarify, you won't be using "Euro Rail", but rather SNCF which operates the rail networks in France. I'm not sure a Rail pass will be the most effective solution, but I'll leave that question to one of the others. Based on the fact that your journeys will be less than 3 hours each, I suspect a Pass will not provide the best value.

I normally buy second class tickets and have found those perfectly adequate, especially on the TGV high speed trains. As you'll mostly be taking shorter journeys, why spend more for first class?

You can easily buy advance tickets for trains in France at www.capitainetrain.com (don't believe they do Benelux yet, but I'm sure that will be an option in future).

The days when a eurail pass made for a cheap summer of travel are long long gone. The passes are almost never a good deal and they require expensive reservations for the fast trains. The best deals are pretty much always tickets bought 3 mos or so in advance. So before buying one of these marketing schemes be sure it will actually give you savings and convenience; usually it doesn't.

And as noted above, there is no such thing as Eurorail. They don't run trains, they are just a middle man for tickets.

The easiest way to book tickets for Americans without paying the extortionate Eurail rates is to use: https://www.capitainetrain.com/en

Thanks you all very much. The link is a wonderful help. I have wondered about the cost as well as the need for reservations.
I will take you advice.

Mimi Smith
South Carolina

Hi,

I've sat in both classes when riding the TGV. My suggestion is if your ride is 3 hrs or more on the TGV , then choose the first class reservation; it's worth the bit of difference in price.