How To Travel France By Train | France Travel Tips | France Travel Vlog

The best way to travel France is by train, especially if you want to travel France cheap! French trains are modern, clean and efficient and they are the perfect way to see the country up close. In this France Travel Vlog we show you how to travel France by train. We provide everything you need to know about France train travel, including France train costs, train amenities in France, how to book trains in France as well as plenty of France travel tips so you can plan an amazing France trip for yourself! We also provide our first hand experience of Southern France travel so you can see what it’s like traveling in France. This France travel video is a must watch for anyone considering travelling in France, particularly for train travel France but also for budget travel France and France backpacking.
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▶ WHAT’S IN THIS VIDEO:
0:00 Introduction to France travel vlog: How to travel france by train
0:32 Bucket List Travellers train travel around the world
1:23 Traveling through southern France by train: Our France train travel stats - cost of train travel in France, distance travelled
1:54 How to travel France by train: Types of SNCF trains in France - TVG, Intercités, Ouigo, TER France
3:08 Europe train travel tips: What to expect at France Train Stations
4:31 France travel advice: TER France Trains
5:53 France train travel tips: How to book France train tickets
7:31 France 2022 trip report: Pros and Cons of trains in France
10:10 France Travel: How to travel France by train 2022
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#FranceTrainTravel #FranceTravelTips #TrainTravel

[@BucketListTravellers]

Are you a fan of train travel? What has been your experience with trains in Europe? Let us know! Here is a link to the trainline France site that we recommended in the video: bit.ly/BucketListTravellers-TrainlineFrance ▶ WATCH NEXT: France Covid Travel Requirements - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKqpd42Kq8uFqJo\ France Travel Playlist - kzbin.info/aero/PLGs80_Z4Qa-hlFHZVcI6BTlktwuM2DnWS Introducing Bucket List Travellers - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGeocoScp81oqqM

[@henriettachew]

Thanks for sharing so generously. I am planning a train trip around France in June and this is so helpful.

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi @henriettachew, we are so glad to hear that you found our video helpful. Thanks for watching and have a great trip! - Jon

[@TimeTravelWalk]

Wonderful video thank you! I always enjoy coming back to watch. 😉🙏😎

[@BucketListTravellers]

Awesome, thanks so much for your support!

[@rajshenoy]

I am your 100th liker! Awesome video straight to the point!

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Rajesh, thanks for watching and we are glad to hear you liked it!!

[@labrostraveller]

Thanks for this informative video. It's so useful for us

[@BucketListTravellers]

You are welcome, we are glad to hear that you found it useful.

[@GladysandKenny]

This video was very helpful. We are planning to visit France! We have been on a few trains as well! And are exciting to be exploring France 🇫🇷

[@BucketListTravellers]

Glad you found it helpful! Traveling by train in France is so easy and fun. You will have a great time!

[@ayseg253]

So helpful and comprehensive thank you

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi there, glad to hear you found the video useful. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!

[@chasingadeline]

Traveling in trains is so much fun!!! Good info

[@BucketListTravellers]

It certainly is! Thanks for watching!

[@one-eyedwanderer6769]

Very informative, thank you. :)

[@BucketListTravellers]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!😀

[@PrimeTimeTravelers]

Great tips for France. Lots of information

[@BucketListTravellers]

Thanks for watching and glad you found it useful!

[@randomlymeander2467]

Thank you for the informative video

[@BucketListTravellers]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@marthaaguilar7803]

Thank you very much for your information.

[@BucketListTravellers]

You're welcome Martha, thanks for watching!!

[@souvenirjpgr]

Well done guys!!!

[@BucketListTravellers]

Thanks for watching Michael!

[@aneskintveit2015]

Thanks 👏 for tge travel video.

[@BucketListTravellers]

You're welcome Ane, thanks for watching!

[@dorusrudisill2162]

Big help for dyslexic travelers! ThankS

[@BucketListTravellers]

You're welcome, glad to hear we were helpful!

[@henrysteppel2031]

Yes indeed, Europe in all is a train paradise so to speak. I guess with this is the future for transportation within Europe. Gracias BLT for this video!! 👍👍

[@BucketListTravellers]

De nada Henry! We wish Australia was this good with its train travel. It was sad to research that Nicaragua also had train lines in the 20th century, only to have been dismantled by the 90s. That would have been really awesome too.

[@henrysteppel2031]

@@BucketListTravellers Yes, there was a train going from Managua to Leon and some other towns as well. But they disappeared, sad!. Safe travels BLT 👍👍

[@viceieva]

Awesome 😊❤️

[@BucketListTravellers]

Thanks for watching!

[@realdamageboy]

That Guy is from movie Trainspotting ! thank You for good tips !

[@BucketListTravellers]

Choose life, choose bucket list travellers! 😜Thanks for watching!

[@Poutrel]

1:33 Just a heads up for anyone who would think that train travel in France is cheap: as they said in the video, they only took slow trains for small trips. High-speed long distance train trips in France are **expensive** as hell. Doing a Paris-Southern France trip can easily reach 100 euros. However, if you need to do Toulouse-Paris, I'd advise to take the night train. A couch will only add about 10-15 €. Also don't worry, SNCF websites have a long history of being frustratingly awful to use even for us French 😂

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi @Poutrel, thanks for sharing your insights. Glad to know locals are as frustrated as we were with the SNCF websites!

[@mariaordonez695]

Gracias por la información, pienso viajar, y me vendrá bien vuestros consejos, gracias os quiero sois geniales 💙❤️❤️❤️👌👍🙏💞

[@BucketListTravellers]

¡Estamos muy contentos de haber sido de ayuda, María! ¿Dónde va a ser su próximo viaje?

[@mariaordonez695]

@@BucketListTravellers Está entre dos lugares Lyon o Monte Saint Michel, este segundo es emocionante, por que depende de la marea,

[@verengaming9868]

Thankyou❤️

[@BucketListTravellers]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@tiny_blue-dot.]

Superlike!!!

[@BucketListTravellers]

Superthanks for watching!!😁

[@paulpadilla8553]

Nice trip 👌 🙂 be well 🙏🤗

[@BucketListTravellers]

Thanks Paul, we hope you are well too!

[@chasingluminance]

very helpful

[@BucketListTravellers]

Glad to hear you found the video useful, thanks for watching!

[@chelseanett5452]

Great video!! Just curious if the ticket you had to change your departure time on was purchased through trainline?

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi @chelseanett5452, yes it was purchased through Trainline. I missed the email sent to us about the change a couple of days before the ride, so that is something to check before you travel if you have booked beforehand!

[@mccoy79productions66]

Great share enjoyed

[@BucketListTravellers]

You're welcome, glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@BucketListTravellers]

We are glad to hear your enjoyed our vlog, thanks for watching!

[@ericdavenport6706]

Good job, guys. Great intro information. A question I do have is, are Eurail passes or other prepaid/discount passes available and how do you rate them if they are? Thanks

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Eric, Thanks for watching. Eurail passes are available and the main benefits are that you can use them across different countries and not have to purchase multiple tickets. However, unless you are planning to travel across a number of countries in short succession, we think it is better value to purchase individual tickets.

[@gonzaloespeche1499]

Hey! Thanks for the video. About the luggage, what do you recommend to avoid pickpocket? I mean, put a lock in your luggage when you leave it in the luggage area of the train (not visible to us)? Or maybe travel carrying the luggage with us

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Gonzalo, thanks for watching. The luggage compartment directly above the seats are generally very spacious, so you could fit suitcases in them. We travel with a lock on our bags and also travel with carry on sized bags only and that makes it much easier to keep an eye on them.

[@khoohsienyew5358]

Nice video! Have you considered using the SNCF advantage adult card for more discount on tickets for 2 adults?

[@BucketListTravellers]

Ohhhh, no I don't think we considered this. Thanks for the tip and we'll have to try it for next time!

[@Cynthiaelizabeth811]

❤

[@BucketListTravellers]

🙏

[@NaomisAdventures]

Nice

[@BucketListTravellers]

Thanks for watching Naomi!

[@baritonebynight]

I found Gare du Nord to be very confusing with no signs.....I ended up missing my train when I had to transfer from Gare De Lyon. Thankfully they booked me on the next train ...I was warned by my French friend that it was awful.

[@BucketListTravellers]

Oh no, what a horrible experience for you, glad to hear it turned out ok in the end. We had one of our trains get cancelled and we turned up to the station only to find that our train wasn't on the schedule! In our instance, we had neglected to check our emails and didn't see the cancellation email the day before. Thankfully the trains were regular, so we just had to wait a couple of hours for the next one.

[@JohnandCaraRetiredTravellers]

Another helpful video guys! We make a costly mistake by purchasing the very expensive Euro pass train ticket package prior to our Europe trip. ($1,400) Once we arrived in Europe we realized we could have saved so much money buying individual trips. The trains looked very nice! Looking forward to traveling in France by train! Excellent video guys! ~Cara 😊

[@BucketListTravellers]

Oh wow, that is very expensive! The trains were very comfortable and such a great way to get around. Do you have any overseas trips planned now that things are finally looking like they are settling down? -Jon

[@AntonAtan]

I think it was about 5 years ago and I went to Italy thinking train tickets are cheap till I landed and went to the main terminal in Rome. I almost got heart attack in my late 20s lol. That might of been partially my fault bc I was short on time and wanted to cover as many cities as I can so "bullet" trains were my only option. What I noticed is that prices increase by the day and if you buy same ticket prices are sky high. Rail pass would of probably save me some money.

[@MysteriousBeingOfLight]

You got scammed nobody use that lol it's the biggest scam ever 🥲

[@shoshannacorner8753]

Another question- as an American can I get tickets using the SNCF App on my phone? Or do I need to use something like train line to buy tickets?

[@BucketListTravellers]

We had problems trying to use the SNCF app on both our laptop and phone. We would recommend using the trainline app instead.

[@MysteriousBeingOfLight]

Mon coin de pays est vraiment trop magnifique ça me manque grave sah 😍

[@BucketListTravellers]

Le sud de la France était magnifique et nous y retournerons certainement ! Merci d'avoir regardé!

[@MysteriousBeingOfLight]

merci à vous pour votre vidéo :) je vous le souhaite hehe @@BucketListTravellers

[@user-in1by8dg4q]

Thank you for the tips and news. This was helpful. I understand that the Eurail Pass and the Interrail Pass are both accepted on French trains, and the TGV trains require seat reservations which are an additional charge to the passes themselves. Do TER and Intercite trains require seat reservations or pre-arranged bookings with the passes? Just a clarification: La voie = track. The word for platform is le quai, but they are very similar words. There can be multiple "voies" to one "quai." Congratulations on your journeys and your research. You have helped many of us decide our plans. Safe travels to you both.

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi there, thanks for the clarification on track vs platform! The TER trains that we took didn't require seat reservations, however the Intercite trains did. That said we booked each individual ride through Trainline, but would expect something similar regarding seat reservations if you used the Eurail Pass/Interrail pass. We are really happy to hear that you found our video helpful. All the best with your trip!

[@user-in1by8dg4q]

@@BucketListTravellers , thank you for the information.

[@BucketListTravellers]

@@user-in1by8dg4q You're welcome!

[@aneskintveit2015]

Train.travellers.yeah that's cool.so 💯 cool.great to travel with train.

[@BucketListTravellers]

We love train travel, it is such a relaxing and fun way to see the world!

[@mariavalencia9986]

Interesting information, do you know if there are a train between Ventimiglia and Genova Italy ?

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Maria, there certainly is a train between Ventimiglia and Genova. We took that train when we visited Italy, it is a really scenic ride!

[@BucketListTravellers]

We put together an Italy train video as well, you can find it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5zSloyMrJKSrpY

[@JNM202]

Voie is the track; quai is the platform.

[@BucketListTravellers]

Thanks for clarifying.😀

[@shoshannacorner8753]

Can you do an episode on what the conductors are saying in French as I could not understand what they were saying on any of the trains I took.

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Shoshanna, thanks for the idea.

[@timdelaney2507]

Hi guys, thanks so much for this very timely vlog. We are travelling to France in June. I usually book the long haul train journeys a month beforehand and print out the tickets. Regarding purchasing the tickets online after we have arrived in France (which we will need to do for our shorter trips) is it easy to do on a phone as we won't have our laptop with us? Also can you pay with your travel card or will it need to be paid with a credit card? Sorry if this is a silly question:)

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Tim, glad this was helpful for you! Yes it is very easy to do on your phone. We downloaded and used the trainline app. Not sure about the travel card though, we have never used them before. HAve a great trip!

[@timdelaney2507]

@@BucketListTravellers sorry, just a further question if I may. If you download the app do you enter your credit card details to pay?

[@tatan4ik]

That is very helpful, thank you. I have couple of questions: can I buy train tickets on the eurail app without buying the pass itself? I just need to use train only 3 or 4 times during one week in France, and I installed quigo app, but it doesn't have all the trains/times so then I found and installed eurail app, but I am now confused whether I am allowed to ride the trains which this app shows me without buying the pass itself. And my second question is if the app would allow to use these trains/buy tickets without buying the eurail pass, then how I can buy tickets for the 3 of us (my child and my husband), currently when I search for trains in the app, I can't find how to indicate the number of people in my group. Thank you

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi There tatan4ik, yes you don't need the Europass, especially if you are just travelling in France. We found the trainline website to be really helpful and user friendly, so you should be able to book where you want to go with your family included. Here is the link for you: bit.ly/BucketListTravellers-TrainlineFrance (it is an affiliate link, it helps us at no extra cost to you!)

[@tatan4ik]

@@BucketListTravellers thank you so much!

[@geopapa80]

I'm going to travel from Marseilles to Avignon with a TER train and I'm frustrated on whether to book in advance. In the trainline website/app it says "Ticket non-exchangeable. Refundable until the day before departure on the purchase channel". Does that mean that if my flight to Marseilles gets delayed, I won't be able to change the ticket to a later time?. Thanks in advance guys! Keep up the good work!

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi George, we can't say for certain in your instance unfortunately. From your wording it sounds like you won't be able to change it. How frustrating! From Marseille to Avignon, there are plenty of trains throughout the day and you should be able to find one if you just book on the day. The only downside is that you won't get the benefit of a lower price through booking ahead. You could also consider what compensation the airline might give you if you have a significant delay. We hope everything turns out ok for your trip.🤞

[@geopapa80]

@@BucketListTravellers Oh thanks for the reply. It seems that the price is kinda fixed so I'll probably just buy a ticket on site whether it is using the app on my phone or using a machine.

[@MrHahajoe]

Fantastic, you made me decide to go France instead of Croatia due to the commute convenience

[@BucketListTravellers]

🤣🤣. It is true that getting around France was soo easy with the trains, however Croatia wasn't too bad either, just a lot more buses instead. Don't check out our Croatian island Hvar and Korcula vlogs, you might change your mind again!😜

[@MrHahajoe]

@@BucketListTravellers thank you so much! We will be arriving Paris soon and spend 7 days in France and come back. Do you have a recommendation? I checked many cities and they can only be reached by bus. I prefer train only since they come with toilets..

[@MrHahajoe]

@@BucketListTravellers also we visited Lyon,nice and canne before and we are trying to stay away from them, than you!

[@BucketListTravellers]

@@MrHahajoe That's one of the reasons why we prefer trains too! We stuck to South France when we were there. Our favourites were Avignon and Montpellier. We've also got destination guides for each of the places that we visited in France on our website that might help (go to the bottom of the page for each city guide): jjbucketlisttravellers.com/destinations/france/

[@MrHahajoe]

@@BucketListTravellers you guys are amazing! Thank you so much!

[@Justin_Leah]

More trian companies than I would have expected. Helpful to know about the alternative app vs the train company's app. Lots of good info in this one. We might be in Europe sometime in the next year or 2. ~JB

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hey JB, glad you found it useful! Yes, the trainline app was really handy. Thanks for watching!

[@susiehoyle6113]

Can u post the website you used please

[@HacksawJimThuggin]

I disagree with you about the SNCF website, maybe at the time of filming the site was different. But the current version of the website is super easy to navigate and search.

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi @HacksawJimThuggin, we did this video in early 2022, so we are glad to hear that the SNCF website is easy to navigate and search now. Thanks for watching.

[@brodieatkinson4206]

We’re looking to travel from the airport in France Paris to the south of France in orthez and we were wondering the cheapest way to do this especially since we will need to return to Paris to fly home

[@BucketListTravellers]

If you only have a couple of routes to travel, then it may work out cheapest if you book those individually a couple of weeks in advance (as prices are lower further out from the date of travel). You should also look into getting a rail pass if you are planning to do a lot of travelling around South France.

[@17topaz]

Do you need to sign your train ticket in English or pay a fine of 40 euros ? My son had to pay the fine .

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Sara, that is unfortunate. We booked our tickets online and so didn't need to validate them, however if you purchase the ticket at the station you need to get it validated using the yellow ticket machines. If you forget to before you board, you will need to find the conductor before he/she finds you. It is a little confusing and a bit unfair if you are a foreigner who isn't used to this system.

[@BarronBarca]

Is there still a mask mandate for speed trains ?

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi there, mask mandates on trains have been lifted from May 16th 2022.

[@charissakwong4423]

We are trying to look out how to book a train,how to onboard. What's the point of telling the stations are centrally located? Has fast food? Can't we see it from map ourselves?

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi Charissa, thanks for watching. Regarding your centrally located comment, we had been in the USA the month previously and no stations were centrally located. That was sooo frustrating. It was a big relief to have French stations in convenient locations. This is generally true for most of Europe.

[@lepetitchat123]

Trainline charges a booking fee. Not sure how it's calculated. It's 0.6 euro for a 15.4 euro ticket

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi there, thanks for sharing this info. From our experience, it was so much easier booking online through trainline than SNCF and we loved that you could see the cheapest trains of the day, so any commission is well earned!

[@PipinhoSnow]

:)

[@BucketListTravellers]

😀

[@gpnchannel6352]

Cara pergi ke prancis

[@BucketListTravellers]

Terima kasih telah menonton!

[@sumrandomaccount2851]

Country lacks trains how to do?

[@BucketListTravellers]

Hi sum random account, not sure what you mean. Thanks for watching though.

[@pjourneys5337]

Du lịch bàn tàu

[@BucketListTravellers]

Cảm ơn đã xem.

[@sunilmallick7578]

1540 - 6 - 1 France train (1) France train (2)

[@BucketListTravellers]

Thanks for watching!

[@Sazonman]

Up to what time are the trains running, do they run all day and night.

[@BucketListTravellers]

I believe there are a few overnight intercity trains running, most notably Paris to Nice. Best to check the trainline website for timings - bit.ly/BucketListTravellers-TrainlineFrance