France Rail Pass

1. "All manner of things went well."

John and Jenny
(Surrey Hills, VIC)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 5/5

The TGV to Aix en Provence, France from Paris went well. We had a 5 day Metro ticket to get us the Gare de Lyon and I would recommend that as well. We got another TGV to Toulouse and that went well also. Local trains were needed to get to and from the Lot, as we holidayed there with friends. Luckily they waited to wave us off, as the train was cancelled due to technical details up ahead on a local line. We were driven to the town of Brive to get a Paris bound train and were able to use ticket our France by Train ticket. We were grateful for our friends French language despite there being 7 uniformed staff to look at our ticket and decide our fate that Sunday evening. That evening train journey was one of my most enjoyable anywhere in the world! Great adventures getting to Charles de Gaulle airport on the Metro late that night - but that's another story!

2. "Very modern trains throughout France now, even on minor lines. "

Paul
(Nelson)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 5/5

Flexibility to change your mind and add or drop extra trips as you go is marvelous, although a Cook's Continental Timetable or easy internet access is probably essential (the German DB website is the best timetable source for any part of Europe). The TGV's are not quite so flexible, needing reservations. Having your own timetable access does however allow you to write out a list of reservation requirements and take them to the ticket office once rather than queueing for them one at a time. There also appears to be restrictions on the number of passholders allowed on selected TGV services eg., I tried to book a Tuesday 7.24am Paris Est to Strasbourg TGV seat a full week ahead of time but there was nothing available (took the 8.24am instead). So it must have been a peak business service. None of this detracts however from the fun and ease of using a railpass. Recommended!

3. "Great value"

Helen
(Hamilton New Zealand)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 5/5

Enabled us to use our time in France wisely.

4. "Pass great but language a problem at some stations"

Julie
(Nth Ringwood, VIC)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 5/5
Ease of use: 3/5
Suitability: 5/5

Overall very good but we did get stranded on a day trip to the Alps (Briancon) from Marseille where buses replaced trains due to track work and on our return trip the bus missed the last train to Marseille from Veynes. We stayed up all night in freezing temperatures on the train platform as we were kicked out of warm inside at 11:30pm when station closed.

5. "Great for last minute (literally) changes in travel plans"

Suzanne
(Balmain, NSW)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 3/5
Ease of use: 4/5
Suitability: 5/5

6. "Good product but expensive to book seats from Australia"

William
(Mentone, VIC)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 4/5
Ease of use: 4/5
Suitability: 3/5

I was disappointed that the number I was given when I booked my seats in Melbourne for the TGV from Avignon to Paris was not accepted by the SNCF machin in France. Fortunately the Customer Service Officer at the station was able to get the boarding passes for me. I noticed that the cost of each boarding pass was 3 Euro, 6 Euro for two, whereas I had paid $70 for these passes in Australia. I cannot understand why there is such a mark-up!

Moderator: "The reason for the higher cost is the fare that was booked by yourself on the website was not a passholder fare. It was a Book Early fare. To get a passholder fare you need to tick the 'I have a pass' box. Passholder fares are also limited and do sell out."

7. "Good value for money especially for longer trips."

Thomas
(Woy Woy, NSW)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 4/5
Ease of use: 5/5
Suitability: 4/5

Be consumer savvy - even with the pass, if you use the TGV's, you still have to have a reservation, which can be up to 30 euro's per person each way. So, for use on the regional lines it's a really economical option, but not quite so much on the TGV's. The other thing to be aware of is that only so many seats are allocated for rail passes, so sometimes even if you can get a reservation on a TGV, you still won't be able to get a seat! Train travel in France is very expensive, so you definitely need a pass for this means of transport.

Moderator: "High Speed and Premier trains require seat reservations. To obtain seat reservations we highly recommend that you pre-purchase your seats as far in advance of your travel date as possible. TGV reservations can be made up to 90 days in advance through Rail Plus’s website. Passholder seat reservations are limited and start from AUD$17.00 per person per sector first or second class"

8. "Good product but book the TGV well in advance"

chris
(karalee, QLD)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 4/5
Ease of use: 2/5
Suitability: 3/5

Great way to travel. French rail system is very good. When using the TGV be sure to book well in advance as there are limited seats allocated to the rail pass.

Moderator: "Rail Plus can book the TGV's 90 days in advance for you"

9. "Convenient"

H
(Wollongong, NSW)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 3/5
Ease of use: 3/5
Suitability: 3/5

The French Rail pass was good, especially as it allows you to enter Basel and Geneva in Switzerland, although the ticket inspector was not aware that I was entitled to enter Switzerland on the French Rail pass, which made it difficult.

10. " great to travel on trains "

paul
(norwood)

Recommend:
Overall rating:

Value for money: 3/5
Ease of use: 2/5
Suitability: 3/5

excellent trains system in France .. getting a rail booking is important early as there may be public holidays which make demand high. We found getting to a train stain of SNCF and make a booking the best

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