Paris - Bayonne in July 2017: 3 hours 47 minutes

[hotelmedicis]

Hello all,

The French Railways (SNCF) has purchased new high-speed (TGV) trains capable of 320 km/h (200 mph) as opposed to the current trains (300 km/h or 186 mph) thus reducing the time from Paris to Bordeaux from 3 hours 14 minutes to 2 hours 4 minutes. The current fastest time to Bayonne from Paris on the TGV is 5 hours and 10 minutes. This time will be reduced to 3 hours and 47 minutes with an arrival in Hendaye in 4 hours 30 minutes. South of Bordeaux the railway line is not high-speed and consequently the TGV travels at a much slower pace.

Bookings can be made six months in advance on the SNCF website and the new times will be shown as the new TGV trains are gradually put into service.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hello all,

The French Railways (SNCF) has purchased new high-speed (TGV) trains capable of 320 km/h (200 mph) as opposed to the current trains (300 km/h or 186 mph) thus reducing the time from Paris to Bordeaux from 3 hours 14 minutes to 2 hours 4 minutes. The current fastest time to Bayonne from Paris on the TGV is 5 hours and 10 minutes. This time will be reduced to 3 hours and 47 minutes with an arrival in Hendaye in 4 hours 30 minutes. South of Bordeaux the railway line is not high-speed and consequently the TGV travels at a much slower pace.

Bookings can be made six months in advance on the SNCF website and the new times will be shown as the new TGV trains are gradually put into service.

Thanks for the advance notice. I will start looking at bookings for the end of April.

 

[Tuesday Wildchild]

Yes a new high speed track has been laid from Tours to Boardouex.

 

[Saint Mike II]

I have just been on to one of the various Eurorail Train booking sights - but was not successful. So have just (carefully) reread the original post . It appears that I am still outside of the 6 months window. DAH!!!

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hola - Just a note about advanced bookings. I have tried to book a seat from Paris to Bayonne for late April. The SNCF direct website is still telling me that bookings for this time-frame are still not available. They did offer the use of their registration facility (journey and date/time/email) and will let me know when the bookings open. So the 6 months advance booking function is not operating (at this time). But thanks @hotelmedicis. Cheers

 

[spursfan]

You should also bear in mind that all other non-TGV French rail timetables are changed only once a year from something like the second week of December - and that Eurostar trains from the UK to France can typically be booked 90 days or so in advance - so six months might be too optimistic (particularly on a new service)

 

[hotelmedicis]

You should also bear in mind that all other non-TGV French rail timetables are changed only once a year from something like the second week of December - and that Eurostar trains from the UK to France can typically be booked 90 days or so in advance - so six months might be too optimistic (particularly on a new service)

The French rail network (SNCF) allows passengers to book tickets six months in advance. Eurostar and other rail services not affiliated with the SNCF may differ. Today is 9 December 2016 and on the SNCF website I am able to book a ticket up to 1 July 2017 but not after that date. A bit more than six months. Check it out. Enjoy the trip.

 

[hotelmedicis]

Hola - Just a note about advanced bookings. I have tried to book a seat from Paris to Bayonne for late April. The SNCF direct website is still telling me that bookings for this time-frame are still not available. They did offer the use of their registration facility (journey and date/time/email) and will let me know when the bookings open. So the 6 months advance booking function is not operating (at this time). But thanks @hotelmedicis. Cheers

I checked the SNCF website and it seems that there are several days in April when booking tickets is not possible. However, many days are and in fact I'm able to book tickets right through June and up until 1 July but not after that date. If you choose "my dates are flexible" it should give you an overview of the entire month and then you can flip from month to month and see which days are available. Unfortunately, it looks like bookings on many days in April are not possible for whatever reason. I will have a look and see what's up. Let me know if you are having trouble, send me a direct message and I can try to help you sort it out. But in any event, you can book six months in advance on the SNCF rail network. This is standard in France unlike other rail services in other countries or private enterprises.

 

[hotelmedicis]

I have just been on to one of the various Eurorail Train booking sights - but was not successful. So have just (carefully) reread the original post . It appears that I am still outside of the 6 months window. DAH!!!

A note about third-party train booking sites: These websites may or may not allow for six months bookings. Please go directly to the SNCF website which allows for six-month advance bookings. DM me if you need more help.

 

[spursfan]

I checked the SNCF website and it seems that there are several days in April when booking tickets is not possible.

April - Probably around Easter?

 

[hotelmedicis]

April - Probably around Easter?

I don't know when Easter is but here is a screen shot (see attached file) of what I found on the SNCF website and wow, lots of days are just not available, whereas in June 2017 every single day is available. I'm a bit perplexed about the number of blank days in April.

 

[hotelmedicis]

OK, I found more trains. On the IDTGV website (run by the SNCF but touted as low-cost but they are the same TGV trains) I found trains available on the dates that the SNCF site says there are none. Please have a look at this website and you can click on EN for English at the top right of the page if you need to. If you tick the box "my dates are flexible" you'll be show options and prices for the entire month.

Tickets are available all the way until the end of June 2017

http://www.idtgv.com/

I hope this helps.

 

[Saint Mike II]

I checked the SNCF website and it seems that there are several days in April when booking tickets is not possible. However, many days are and in fact I'm able to book tickets right through June and up until 1 July but not after that date. If you choose "my dates are flexible" it should give you an overview of the entire month and then you can flip from month to month and see which days are available. Unfortunately, it looks like bookings on many days in April are not possible for whatever reason. I will have a look and see what's up. Let me know if you are having trouble, send me a direct message and I can try to help you sort it out. But in any event, you can book six months in advance on the SNCF rail network. This is standard in France unlike other rail services in other countries or private enterprises.

I received an email from SNCF today and tried to make the bookings - but there was an issue with the interface between SNCF and my bank. Not sure what. I will try again tomorrow.

 

[Dunny Ramsay]

The U.K version of the Voyages SNCF states that tix can be purchased three months in advance; six months en advance for the Eurostar only (Belgium etc.).

Also the idtgv only offers tix from/for certain destinations; doesn't seem to include CDG/Roissy airport, for one.

 

[whariwharangi]

You cannot get a reliable and complete schedule from SNCF more than 90 days in advance. Sure, the schedule may be populated by some trains and you may be able to purchase tickets for those routes ... but, if you want to avoid frustration ... wait for the 90 day window.

 

[hotelmedicis]

The U.K version of the Voyages SNCF states that tix can be purchased three months in advance; six months en advance for the Eurostar only (Belgium etc.).

Also the idtgv only offers tix from/for certain destinations; doesn't seem to include CDG/Roissy airport, for one.

The French are obviously having a good time with the British. Yes, on the UK version of the Voyages SNCF website you can only book 3 months in advance. They even tell you that! But on the French version it's six months. And on the European version (little EU flag), in English, it's six months. I have just confirmed this.

IDTGV offers limited service because it does not serve all stations of destinations. Fortunately it does serve Bayonne from Paris. From the airport it's advisable to take a train into Paris.

 

[hotelmedicis]

You cannot get a reliable and complete schedule from SNCF more than 90 days in advance. Sure, the schedule may be populated by some trains and you may be able to purchase tickets for those routes ... but, if you want to avoid frustration ... wait for the 90 day window.

This is incorrect. On the French and European versions of the Voyages SNCF website complete schedules are available six months in advance. The Paris - Hendaye line is undergoing a major overhaul and many trains are not available. Some services have been canceled completely. A more complete population of trains on the website does not occur the closer one gets to the departure date.

 

[whariwharangi]

This is incorrect. On the French and European versions of the Voyages SNCF website complete schedules are available six months in advance. The Paris - Hendaye line is undergoing a major overhaul and many trains are not available. Some services have been canceled completely. A more complete population of trains on the website does not occur the closer one gets to the departure date.

You may well be right. I can't find any SNCF policy about its schedule posting. My statement is based on observation and may not be factual.