Can we book TGV train tickets via some sites for travel from Zurich to Paris ? What are the require,ents.....half fare card ? Swiss Pass ? will any of these help in anyway ?
Any info will be helpful.
Thanks,
Manish
Hallo All,
You can book international train tickets and reservations at the main station. I assume you can buy tickets without a passport but identification papers are still advisable on the trip of course...
The half fare card will get you the usual rebate to Basel and likely a 25% reduction for the French part of the journey. At least that's how it works with some of the other neighboring countries.
Swiss half price or AG only gives discount in Switzerland, you need French rail card to benefit. Booking well in advance is profitable usualy, i went in March to Paris from Lausanne, Sfr 165.--...................for 2 tickets of course !
True that... All information is on the Swiss rail website, in English too:
There's also the TGV-Europe website .
Hi Irmanish,
Try the French TGV website (menu in English) to check prices... Book in advance to secure seat as they fill in quickly and prices go up accordingly :-(
Good luck !
If you book on the TGV site, you will probably have to go to Geneva to pick up your ticket.
We bought a ticket online at the TGV europe site under the impression that we could print it out, but once we bought the ticket, we realized that we could not print the ticket out at home. No, that's only if you live in France. You have to go to one of the TGV botiques (in Geneva). So we ended up buying another ticket from the Swiss railroad... exact same price and applying for a refund from TGV. The person at the TGV "customer service" (in quotes because their level of customer service absolutely sucks), told me that many people travel to Geneva to get their tickets, but I was persistent and after many emails and sending them various other documents, I got a refund. It took six months.
I'd buy the ticket in Switzerland.. worth a trip to the train station.
You don't need to do that. There is the option of receiving the tickets by post. Ours usually arrive in a few days.
I've done many trips zurich to paris and I always reserve it on line at www.tgv-lyria.com and put the option to receive teh tickets by post. Few days later I receive them in good order. No hassle no visit to train station.
You can also choose the halb-tax option which gives a discount on swiss part of the journey. you will have to show it when someone checks your ticket on the train. other than that nothing is required.
of course if you reserve early, you will find tickets much cheaper
bon voyage
Although you can buy TGV tickets online and have them mailed to you, you can only do this if you book more than 7 days in advance. If it is shorter than that, then you need to book at your local train station. Unfortunately, your local train station can't always give you as good of a price as you can get on the French TGV website, which I found quite frustrating. I didn't know about the option of taking a trip to Geneva, but it doesn't sound very worthwhile.
I really wish they'd make buying international train tickets easier. People should be encouraged to use the train instead of flying, but buying an airline ticket is SO much easier than buying a train ticket, I hope the situation improves soon.
There is one central website that includes lots of info about taking international trains in Europe, and about buying tickets: seat61.com . Unfortunately, it has a UK focus, but a lot of the info about getting around Europe is still pretty useful.
There is another option Here
Hi
we want to travel from geneva to bourg en bresse. have tried the tgv sites but it kept coming bk with no trains available. also tried raileurope.com website but its an american one and it doesnt seem like we can print the tickets online but they nd shipping. we are arriving in geneva on 13th june so not sure if theres enough time for shipping as we dont live in america. does anyone know if its possible to just arrive and book a ticket to france from geneva airport? is it much more expensive than booking on the internet...if only i could! greatly appreciate tips and help! we are party of 8 travelling with 3 adults, 3 youth, 1 kid and 1 senior. THANK YOU.