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How far in advance to make reservations on Caen-to-Paris train?

Posted by (Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA) on

Four of us are taking the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. We arrive at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, 1 Sept. and we will pick up a rental car for our stay in Normandy. After that, we will take the 3:00 p.m. train to Paris on Wednesday, 2 Sept.

My husband and I purchased a France RailPass, as we will be doing some traveling on our own. Our companions, who will be with us in Normandy and Paris, only need a one-way rail ticket from Caen to Paris. I have two related questions:

  1. Do my husband and I even need a reservation for Caen to Paris at that time of day? If so, is it OK to book it on the morning of 1 September? Or do we need to buy it further in advance (online from home)?

  2. How far in advance do our traveling companions need to purchase their one-way ticket to Paris? Can they just buy it the day before as well, or should they purchase it online before leaving from the U.S.?

Thanks!
Kim

Posted by
8700 posts

  1. Seat reservations are recommended but not required on that train. If you wish to play it safe, make them on 1 September. However, the train is not likely to sell out so you could skip the reservations and save a few euros.

  2. The standard 2nd class fare is 31.20 EUR. Your friends could safely wait to buy their tickets on 1 September. However, if they book today at www.tgv-europe.com, they can get a Prem's fare of 18 EUR. (The discount fares for that train are nearly gone.) To keep the site in English and to keep from being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, they should choose Great Britain as both their country of residence and the country in which they will retrieve their tickets. If they succeed in getting Prem's fares, they print their own tickets. For any other fare they can pick up the tickets at any SNCF station in France, even though they originally chose Great Britain. Prem's are non-exchangeable and non-refundable. If there is any chance you might take either an earlier or later train that day, then don't book Prem's.

Posted by
27 posts

Thank you so much! My friend went ahead and booked their tickets as per your suggestion. She was thrilled about the discount!

Posted by
8700 posts

You're welcome. Have a great trip!

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