Hi all,
I'm about to finalise my itinerary for France and i will be visiting Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseille.
I need to ask which train company is the best/fastest that should i be taking to travel from Paris to Bordeaux to Toulouse and finally Marseille?
Or based on fastest, i should visit one of the cities before the other in another order instead so that i can save time on travelling.
Thanks all!
Much better, and cheaper...see
Man in seat 61... A fab train info site
Suggest you spend most time in Paris ...it's the best
Bordeaux is baby Paris with some things to do
Toulouse is very fun small city with many college and tech folks
Marseille is a rambling port city
That could be dangerous...
Do more in Paris
ESP Cluny Museum Amd Paris Plague...
Like written in #1 in France you have only the SNCF and the quickest is if taking the high speed trains (TGV) if possible.
The Museu du Moyen Age, museum of the Middle Ages , is at intersection of Blvd St Michel and St Germaine , hosing the incredible Cluny Tapistries rescued by Georges Sand, it is commonly referred to as Cluny, not to be confused with the ruins in Burgundy.
The building in Paris was the headquarters of thr Order, one of the most powerful corps of 1300,
And built over the Roman baths you can now see in the basement..
Much better than wasting time being lost in the Louvre.
In summer the banks of the Seine are transformed wit sand and trees in several places, most notably at canal de st Martin
Abientot
Bien sur min amie, but SNCF charges a fee to people in North America
See Man in seat 61 to get better prices!
Abientot
Direct purchases from SNCF carry no fee for North Americans (bank fees for foreign exchange are a different issue.)
However, the SNCF site will want to bump you to Rail Europe, which can be more expensive. To avoid this nuisance, specify ticket pick-up some place other than NA. I like Antarctica. Print the tickets out at home or pick them up at an SNCF station. Some people say the agency www.capitainetrain.com/en is easier to use and about the same price as SNCF.
The OP has planned stopso ly in large cities; is there any reason that you've selected Marseille, for example, rather than, say, Arles or Aix-en-Provence? You might read a very recent discussion on LP about Marseille!
As others have said, SNCF is, for intercity travel,the only rail company you'll need to deal with.
If you find the site called "SNCF voyages" you can find schedules and prices, and buy tickets online. You'll be asked about your country mainly because you'll need to specify where you'll take possession of the physical tickets. You can say "France", and then you'll receive a code with which, along with your name and credit card used for the purchase,you can receive the tickets at any SNCF office in France. In some train stations, the lines at ticket windows can be very long, so don't plan to get your tickets at the last moment before departure!
TGV means high-speed train, and you'll absolutely need a reserved seat on those trains ( for example, between Paris and Bordeaux). For other trains ( depending on which day, and season of the year, seat reservations may not be needed, so you can achieve more flexibility in your travel plans.). If your planned travel will be in July or August, it'll be very important to reserve a seat, and less important during the Autumn.
