I'm planning on riding the Little Yellow Train to Latour de Carol on a Monday in late June. I'm looking for first-hand experiences from readers who have actually ridden it themselves. I'm told it's a regular SNCF regional train. By itself, that would not indicate any sort of seat resv would be required. I'll be using a Eurail Global Pass. But I'm also told, online, via other messages posted here and elsewhere over the past few years, that it's often booked solid. Since it's supposedly a regular, regional train, I'm not sure how it can be booked at all, per se. Can anyone please give me precise information on how to make sure I get a seat on a particular day? Finally, I'm thinking about splitting it into two legs, with a break midway somewhere, for lunch, potty break, etc. I wonder if, even if I had a seat on the 1st leg, I'd get shut out of a later leg, leaving later in the day, on the same route. Again, if anyone has precise, real experience, please share it with me. Thanks. Tom
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Decorah, Iowa, USA
345 posts
We rode Le Petit Train Jaune in October, 2011. We had tried to ride it on an earlier trip but there was a train strike. In June, I do believe there would be more tourists riding. We were lucky enough in October to just go up to the ticket window and buy tickets on the day before our ride. We started in Villefranche-de-Conflent (the print is really small on the map) and rode to the end of the ride. There was a stop for lunch at the end of the line for about 1 1/2 hours. You will have to walk a ways into the little town. I don't remember the name of the town. The other map of France is downstairs. After lunch, the train returned to V-d-C. There were restrooms on the train but they weren't working too well. The scenery was really neat but in October, everything was somewhat brown. I think June would be very green and lovely. I also thought that winter would be a good time because even though the ground would be white, there wouldn't be leaves on the trees to get in the way of seeing things. There were lots of twists and turns in the road and it was difficult to get "good" pictures of the viaducts. There were also reflections on the glass that made getting a picture difficult. My pictures aren't great but OK. If you want to send me a private message, I can give you more information and even send some pictures to your private email. We enjoyed the trip a lot even though the day was long. The seats weren't terribly comfortable so if that might be an issue for you, take a cushion or pillow. Later????