In early September, a friend and I will be visiting friends in Southern France near Nimes, then in London, and would like to take the TGV train, one-way, between the two and see the countryside. This will be our first time doing this and (I love trains!) and I would like to hear from those more experienced. We have some flexibility about when we can leave, both day and time of day. I'm not sure what questions to ask, but these come to mind: Our travel agent(who cannot purchase train tickets for us) recommends getting our ticket directly to Lille - a good idea? How to get the best price on tickets? Should we purchase now before we leave the US? Bring food or eat on the train? How to have the best experience overall. I appreciate your insights!
Posted by
near Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
521 posts
The reason your travel agent suggests travelling directly to Lille is to avoid having to change in Paris (arrive Gare de Lyon, transfer to Gare du Nord and catch the Eurostar from there to London). You still have to change trains at Lille Europe, but obviously that is much easier than changing stations in Paris. The disadvantage of this approach is that there are fewer departures to choose from, but as you say you have some flexibility that may not be an issue for you. I went to the French railways website http://en.voyages-sncf.com/ and searched for direct journeys between Nimes and London on 4 September. Here is a screenshot of some of the services it offered from 07.00 - http://imgur.com/Sr9bapa. That shows some trains via Paris and some that go direct to Lille Europe, such as the 07.29 departure from Nimes - http://imgur.com/2LplrIH. Note there is a wait of 1 hour 30 minutes at Lille. Sometimes it can be cheaper to book the Eurostar ticket separately on http://www.eurostar.com/ but that €82 fare all the way from Nimes to London is going to be hard to beat. The only problem is that if you buy the Eurostar tickets from the SNCF website as part of a single journey, you can't print them or your TGV ticket at home, you will have to collect from a French station. Have a look at the journey planner on http://en.voyages-sncf.com/ and specify your ticket collection country as France. Also note the check box to specify direct journeys. Buy tickets on line as soon as possible to get the lowest possible price.
Posted by
OP
Richmond, Virginia, USA
3 posts
Thanks for your comments, Kevin. We did book the TGV train tickets through Voyages.snfc and got a pretty good deal (not as good as yours!), and then separate Eurostar tickets. Looking forward to a relaxing train ride with beautiful views!
Posted by
near Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
521 posts
Barbara, that sounds great. Thanks for taking the trouble to come back here to let us know, and I'm sure you will have a great trip.