TGV & idTGV Trains in France (Trains à Grande Vitesse)

All about TGV & idTGV high-speed trains in France: routes, tickets, fares & how to ride, by Tom Brosnahan & Jane Fisher.   TGVinOui&idTGVTrainsinFrance France'sTGV(TrainsàGrandeVitesse:High-SpeedTrains)areyourmostcomfortableconnectionamongmajorcitiesinFrance.ThealternativeisusuallyasomewhatslowerbutcheaperIntercitéstrain. Home Maps Paris WheretoGo BestItineraries GuidedTours Transportation WhentoGo WheretoStay WhatItCosts TravelDetailsFAQ RegionsofFrance Alps Alsace-Lorraine BasqueRegion Bordeaux Brittany Burgundy Champagne Corsica Côted'Azur(Riviera) Dordogne LoireValley Monaco Normandy North Paris-ÎledeFrance Provence-South Pyrenées Rhône-Alpes       TrainsàGrandeVitesse(High-SpeedTrains,pronouncedTEH-zheh-VEH),operatedbySNCF,zoomamongFrance'smajorcitiesandconnectwithotherEuropeanhigh-speedrailnetworkstospeedyouamongEurope'sgreatcities. TGVinOui InSeptember2018,SNCFintroducedTGVinOui,ahigherlevelofserviceonTGVtrainscontrastedtothelower-costOuigobrand. TGVinOuitrainsarefaster,morecomfortable,withmoreservicesthanOuigooreventraditionalTGVs.Seatsareroomier,theWifiandtoiletsarebetter,andservicessuchasluggageportersandtaxireservationsareavailable.BusinessPremièreclassisevenmorecomfortable. Faresarehigher,butyougetmore,andifyoureservewellinadvance,farescanprovideexcellentvalueformoney. TGVroutesconnectmostofFrance... World'sFastestTrains TGVisourpreferredmethodoftravelinFrance.Thetrainsarecomfortable,surprisinglyquiet,admirablyswift,andnon-smoking,regularlyreachingspeedsof320 km/h(200 mph)atsomepointsonsomelines,andthuscompetingwithflightsintermsofdoor-to-doortraveltime. Consideredthefastesttrainsystemintheworld,theTGVspeedrecord,setin2007,was574.8 km/h(357.2 mph). WhyWeLikeTGV —Departureandarrivalareusuallyfromthecitycenterornearby(closerthanmostairportsaretocitycenters). —AllseatsarereservedonTGVtrains,bothin1stclassand2ndclass. —Weatherisnotasmuchafactorwithtrainsasitiswithplanes. —Securityproceduresarefarlessonerousfortrainsthanforflights. —Althoughtherearesupposedlybaggagelimits,theyareonlylooselyenforced.Ifyoucancarryit,youcanprobablytakeitonboardwithyou. —ManyTGVtrainshaulcafécarsprovidingdrinks,snacksandlightmeals.WithTGVinOuiservice,youcanevenorderfromyourseatandhavemealsdeliveredtoyouthere. TGVfromCDG AnumberofTGVtrainsdepartandarriveatParis-CharlesdeGaulleAirport'sAérogare2,meaningthatyoucanconnectdirectlywithhigh-speedtrainsrightfromortoyourinternationalflight,withouthavingtouseoneofParis'smajortrainstations.More... TGV&idTGVTips —Faresvarybythedate,time,train,traveltime,demand,andmethodofpurchase.Thelowest-fareticketsaresoldbyiDTGVandOuigo,buttherearespecialrequirementsfortheselowfares.More... —Reserveyourseat(s)andbuyyourticket(s)online,andprintyourtickets,wellinadvanceoftravel,ifyoucan.Youwillgetthebestfaresthisway(particularlyifyoubuyfromiDTGV).More... —Ifyoudon'tbuyyourticketwellinadvance,leaveplentyoftimetobuyitatthestationbeforeyourdeparture.Youmayhavetowaitinline,ortheremaybecreditcardproblems,etc.More... —TrainstationsinmajorFrenchcities,especiallyParistrainstations,arehuge,verybusy,andcanbeconfusing.Youwillneedtimejusttofindtheticketmachinesorticketoffice,andtofindyourdeparturetrack/platform.NotealsothatTGVtrainssometimesusespecialstationsseparatefromthetraditionalstations.More... —Ifyouhaveboughtyourticketatatrainstation,youmayhavetovalidateit(compostage)beforeboardingthetrain.Itisnotpossibletocompostyourticketonthetrain,andifyoufailtovalidateitbeforeboardingyoumaybesubjecttoasubstantialfine.More... —EachTGVcar/wagonhasbaggageracksatbothends,butthisspaceislimitedandoftenfillscompletelywithlargeitems.It'sgoodtoboardearlysoastoclaimspaceforheavysuitcases.Smallitemscanbestoredintheoverheadrackaboveyourseat. —Atpointsoforigin,TGVtraintracks(voie)areannounced,andtrainsareavailableforboardingupto20minutesbeforescheduleddeparturetime.Youmustbeonboardatleast5minutesbeforedeparture,otherwiseyoumaybedeniedboarding. TERRegionalTrains IntercitésTrains OuigoTrains TypesofFrenchTrains TrainTravelinFrance OnboardaFrenchTrain HowtoBuyTrainTickets AirTravelto&inFrance CarTravelinFrance CarHire/Rental BusTravel TransportinFrance     TGVinOuilocomotiveatGaredel'Est,Paris.   ByTGVfromParisto: CITY Km/Mi Hr:Min Bordeaux 583/362 2:08-2:34 Calais 264/164 1:36-1:38 Geneva 540/336 3:06-3:20 Lyon 466/277 1:57-2:30 Marseille 775/482 3:18-3:33 Nancy 350/217 1:30-2:01 Strasbourg 490/304 1:46-2:14 Toulouse 679/422 4:21-5:26 Booking.comHotelSearchBox