Paris to Bayeux train tickets - buy in advance?

You'll have no problem if you buy your tickets on your day of travel. However, if you book your tickets well in advance (up to three months allowed) at www.tgv-europe.com, you can get a discount fare. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as your country of residence.

We did Paris to Bayeux last August and I booked them through Rail Europe because 1) we got seat assignments so it was less stressful - when we got to station it was crowded at station. 2) We had kids and I wanted to just get them on the train, stow the bags and head out.

Also, they had a contact here in the Chicago area so if I had any trouble I had a safety net.

Booking at RailEurope will cost you more. Booking through TGV-europe.com will give you a reservation, although they're not required on your route.

thank you all for your help. I have been to the www.tgv-europe.com web site. for me it is not an easy site to use. there are 4 of us traveling and I can only get quotes if I do not identify the ages of the travelers. will it matter if the tickets are for someone 26-59, if they are actually younger or older?

I was told by a Rick Steves' travel consultant, that we did not need to buy train tickets for Paris to Bayeux in advance. One person said when they got to the station it was very crowded - we are planning to make this trip in August, and I have not purchased tickets. Do we need to worry about not getting on the train this time of year?

Buying tickets in advance can be half the cost. I paid 25 euros for a return ticket to Rouen,, when I went to station to get my actual tickets the agent even commented on the "bon prix"( good price).

There was a long line for me to wait in to get my actual ticket( as opposed to just the paper you print from an online ticket) . I was staying close to station and went in day before to get ticket and was glad I did as my train was for 8:20 am and I would have had to go so early to get ticket and I am not a morning person.

If you choose to buy ticket at station go early in day, and if you can, its better to pick up day before. Just easier I think. I like to make things less stressful.

If you click on "More criteria" on the tgv-europe.com home page, you'll see a drop-down menu that allows you to enter more ages than 26-59.

Tim - I did click on more criteria and entered teh ages. at that point I was never able to get quotes. It kept putting me back to the beginning of the process and i had to re-enter the info.

Does anyone know if the ages of the travelers are critical? I dont think there is a differenc in price

Sorry, but I don't know what you're doing wrong. Did you pick a country of residence (Great Britain)?

I just chose an arbitrary date in August and entered information for two adults, one child 12-25, and one child 4-11. I would have been able to complete the booking.

The system gave me Prem's fares (the lowest discount fare) for everyone at certain departure times and a Discovery Plus fare for the child 4-11 at other departure times.

Brenda,

You asked if the ages were critical in buying a train ticket...in France at 60 one qualifies for a senior discount, the same as with the Euro-Star, and with Deutsche Bahn. That's why they ask for age for the adult tickets.

I would purchase in advance, especially if traveling in the summer. For our June trip from Paris to Bayeux, the train was packed. RS office said I really didn't need to, but I bought them a few months ahead anyway...saved money and, since I had my itinerary pretty tightly scheduled, I was very glad I had tickets ahead of time. The only time I purchased tickets "the day of" was a day trip we made from Paris to Rouen. There were empty seats on that train, but not on the journey to Bayeux.

All, Thank you for your help and suggestions. I have my tickets to Bayeux!