I have been trying to book train tickets from Gare St Lazare to Bayeux for the middle of October. The raileurope site keeps giving me a departing station as Montparnasse instead of St Lazare. How do I obtain tickets our of St Lazare where the travel time is about half the time of the other route and can be direct with no train change?
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
No problem using the SNCF's own link:
https://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/
It shows Intercites service direct from St-Lazare, every couple of hours. Not high-speed but with a seat reservation included.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I think that's Rail Europe's work-around to some possible construction issues, which can especially affect weekend travel. If SNCF is selling the schedule you want, then it should be running. You could also wait a while. The advance-purchase discount is not huge, since this ticket is not very expensive at full fare (about 40 euros per person in 2nd class) .
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32352 posts
You could also try buying tickets at www.trainline.eu, as they sell tickets for SNCF at the same prices. One other option would be to just stop at an SNCF Boutique in Paris and buy tickets a few days before travel.
Posted by
18 posts
I was looking for the same, but in reverse, Bayeux to St Lazare. I couldn't find the direct trains to St. Lazare when I looked 3 months in advance, but when I looked 5 weeks in advance, many more routes were available, on both websites.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
One of the big problems with RailEurope is that it gives you the schedule they way IT wants. It's really misleading to people who may not know the particular train stations they want to travel to/from.
Just stick to purchasing your train tickets from national rail carrier like SNCF or SBB or DBAHN, etc. There are other websites like trainline.eu that are also good. Save RE as a last resort.