I plan to travel from Paris to Nice by train Saturday, June 28. I'll be in Paris as early as June 15. Should I buy the tickets for June 28 in advance? If so, can I purchase them directly from SNCF? Looking around on the Internet, I've read that it is less expensive to buy tickets directly from SNCF; however, the site at www.voyages-sncf.com transfers me to the French language site as soon as I enter that I want to pick up the tickets in France. I don't read French. I can claim to be a resident of Great Britain who plans to pick up his pre-paid tickets in France, but I've also read that the ticket machines don't necessarily recognize US credit cards. Should I just go ahead and pay the markup to purchase the tickets through Rail Europe? I would be grateful for any advice.
Posted by
Copenhagen, Denmark
70 posts
It's true that the ticket machines do not accept any foreign credit cards, you have to go to a manned booth at the train station to pick up the tickets if bought on the internet. If you switch the language to English (by clicking the British flag) the website redirects you to an english website, where you enter your travel details and you have to choose that you will pick up your tickets in France. Then the website redirects you back to the French website although with all fields pre-entered. So you have to manage some French to be able to pick up your tickets in France and get the best deals!
Posted by
Powell River, Canada
359 posts
Eric, we did the Paris to Nice run a few weeks ago (and then on to Venice on the nite train). We ordered all our fast train/overnite tickets (several), in advance, through our local travel agent dealing with RailEurope. With a 1st class, 3 country, Eurail Pass, the Paris to Nice tickets/reservations cost us $13 each and we had the tickets before leaving home. Don't know what the charge would be without a pass, but I felt better having the tickets in hand.
Posted by
Marietta, Georgia
157 posts
Eric,
We did the same thing as Geoff a few years ago. Ordered and had the TGV tickets to Nice in hand before we left for Paris.
Just seemed to make things so much easier.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
If you claim to be a resident of the UK and are only given the choice of picking up your ticket at a machine, you still can get your ticket at the window in Paris. And yes, US credit cards will not work in French ticket machines because they don't have an embedded chip.
However, according to www.voyages-sncf.com, the lowest discount fares are already gone for your date. You can still get a Loisir fare and save a few euros.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
2 posts
Thanks, all!