Train travel in France . . .

Europe

Europe by train

introduction

European

train tickets...

Eurostar

information...

Bangladesh

Cambodia

China

Indonesia

North Korea

Pakistan

 Country information

Above:  The Eiffel Tower, Paris.  One icon that lives up to expectations!

French trains are easily the best way to travel between major French town & cities, in comfort at ground level.  France's world-famous TGV travels at up to 198mph, from city centre to city centre.

On this page...

French train schedules & fares

Buy train tickets for France - at the station or online...

What are French trains like? - TGV high-speed trains, Corail Téoz, overnight Corail Lunéa trains

Travel tips - bikes, catering, luggage, places not served by train, language problems

How to use the French Railways website, www.voyages-sncf.com - step-by-step instructions

On other pages...

Train travel from the UK to France - by Eurostar & TGV or overnight train.

Left luggage facilities in Paris

General European train travel information - luggage, bikes, pets, maps, timetables & advice.

Sponsored links:

Above:  There's no check-in, you simply walk straight from the city centre onto the station concourse, glance at the indicator board to find your train & hop on, any time before departure.  Here, passengers board a high-speed TGV to Strasbourg at Paris Gare de 'Est.

You can check train times & fares for any journey in France using either www.raileurope.co.uk (for UK residents, fares in pounds) or the French Railways (SNCF) website, www.voyages-sncf.com.  www.voyages-sncf.com has more than its fair share of quirks, so before using it, see the step-by-step advice below.

• To understand the different types of train, see the What are French trains like? section.

• Map of the French railway network

Buying tickets at the station:

It's easy to buy tickets at the station, even if you don't speak French.  For local journeys such as Paris-Versailles or Nice-Cannes, you just turn up, buy a ticket and hop on, no reservation necessary.  You can buy tickets from the self-service machines at main stations, which have an English language facility.  For long-distance trains including all TGV, Corail Lunéa & Corail Téoz trains, it's compulsory to make a seat reservation, but there are usually seats available even on the day of travel and you can buy a ticket immediately before the train departs.  However, on the day of travel you'll pay the full normal fare, there are much cheaper fares if you pre-book.  It's also a good idea to pre-book at busy holiday periods.  Remember to validate your tickets by putting them into the small orange machines marked 'Compostez votre billet' at the entrance to every platform - there's a fine if you don't!

Buy French train tickets online:

• If you book well in advance on a 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans' basis, you can find some amazing advance-purchase fares called 'Prems'.  Prems fares start at just 19 euros even for a long-distance journey such as Paris-Nice.

• French train bookings open 90 days before departure.  You can't book before reservations open.

• You can buy French train tickets online direct from French Railways (SNCF) website, www.voyages-sncf.com.  However, www.voyages-sncf.com has more than its fair share of quirks, so before using it, see the step-by-step advice below.

• If you live in the UK, it's easier to buy French train tickets at www.raileurope.co.uk, which is now much simpler to use (and more reliable) than the SNCF site.  It's also backed by a UK call centre, 0844 848 5 848 (lines open 08:00-21:00 Mon-Fri, 09:00-18:00 Sat, 10:00-17:00 Sun).  It offers exactly the same fares & availability as voyages-sncf.com, including the amazingly cheap advance-purchase 'Prems' fares, but prices are converted into pounds.  You can save a few percent by buying in euros at voyages-sncf.com, but if anything goes wrong you'll be dealing with a French call centre, not a UK one.

• If you live in the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you can buy train tickets for France online at www.raileurope.com (USA), www.raileurope.ca (Canada) or www.raileurope.com.au (Australia & NZ).  Rail Europe is a subsidiary of SNCF, but you might save a bit by buying direct from voyages-sncf.com - see the advice below.

What are TGVs like..?

TGVs or 'Trains à Grande Vitesse' run at up to 186mph (300 km/h) on long distance routes covering most of France.  In fact, they run at up to 198mph (320 km/h) on the new TGV-Est route from Paris to Reims, Strasbourg, Metz, Luxembourg & Basel, opened in 2007.  Smooth & quiet even at high speed, it's a very relaxing way to travel.  Seat reservation is compulsory on TGV services, and all TGVs are completely non-smoking.  All TGVs have a wheelchair space & wheelchair-accessible toilet.

1st class on all TGVs has spacious seats with armrests and power-recline, arranged one-abreast on one side of the aisle, two abreast on the other side of the aisle.  Each seat has either a drop-down table big enough for a laptop (face-to-back seats) or a fixed table with table lamp (face-to-face seats).  All first class seats have power-points for laptops & mobiles with European-style two-pin sockets.  There are luggage racks above the seats and at the end of the car for larger items.  There is a small bench seat outside each main seating saloon if you need to make a private mobile phone call.  When making a reservation, two seats facing each other across a table are referred to as 'Club duo', four seats around a table are 'Club Quatre'.  Two seats side by side facing seat backs in front are 'Duo', and single seats facing a seat back in front are 'Solo'.  Top tip:  Ask for (or select) 'Club Duo' if travelling as a couple for an intimate table-for-two, or 'Club Quatre' if three or four of you are travelling together so you can sit cosily around a table.

2nd class on all TGVs has comfortable seats with armrests, arranged two-abreast on both sides of the aisle.  There are drop-down tables big enough for laptops (at face-to-back seats) or fixed tables (at face-to-face seats), although laptop/mobile power sockets are not generally fitted in standard class.  There are two toilets for each pair of coaches, and baby changing facilities in the second class coach at the end of the train.

Cafe-bar:  All TGVs (except a few running very short distances, for example Lille-Paris in just an hour) have a café-bar serving hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, a few hot dishes such as quiche or lasagne, small bottles of wine & spirits.  The café-bar is located in the centre of the train, between the first and second class cars.  The coffee is good, and credit cards are accepted as well as cash.  There is a standing area where you can eat and drink your purchases, or you can take them back to your seat.  Alternatively, on European trains including TGVs you are free to bring your own food and drink (including beer or wine) on board if you like.

TGV seating plans:

There are several types of TGV, but you can find plans of the seating layout on various TGV types on the internet if you search. 

• TGV Duplex seating plan (most Paris-Lyon, Paris-Marseille, some Lille-Marseille services)

• TGV Réseau seating plan (most Lille-Southern France services)

• TGV Mediterranée seating plan (Paris- Nîmes, Montpellier, Perpignan services)

On board a typical TGV....

TGV 1st class.  There are two 'club duo' seats on the left, a bay of four 'club quatre' on the right, and many rows of 'solo' and 'duo' seats behind.		TGV 2nd class.  Most seats are face-to-back, but there are some bays of four face-to-face seats, ask when booking.

TGVs are being refurbished with interiors by designer Christian Lacroix.  All TGVs from Paris to Reims, Strasbourg, Metz, Luxembourg, Basel & Zurich are already refurbished, but others are following...

TGV 1st class, refurbished...		TGV 2nd class, refurbished...

TGV Duplex:  double-deck TGVs...

Most Paris-Lyon services, many Paris-Marseille services, most Paris-Nice and even some Lille-Marseille services are now run by impressive 186mph TGV Duplex double-deckers.  You can tell if your train will be a TGV Duplex, as a 'TGV Duplex' logo will be shown for that train when you book using www.raileurope.co.uk or www.voyages-sncf.com.  You board the train at the lower level, but walk along the train from car to car at the upper level.  The café-bar is also at the upper level.  When booking, you can choose a seat on either upper or lower decks.  If you have problems with stairs or very heavy luggage, the lower deck might be best.  But for the best views (over the top of the occasional sound barrier along the high speed lines!), choose an upper deck seat.  For couples, an upper deck first class 'club duo' table-for-two is easily the best option.

Above:  TGV Duplex at Nice station.		Above:  TGV Duplex 1st class, upper deck.  That's a 'club duo' on the left & a 'club quatre' on the right.

Above:  TGV Duplex, 2nd class, upper deck.  There's a mix of face-to-back & a face-to-face seating.		Above:  TGV Duplex, café-bar...

What are Corail Téoz trains like?

Although merely 125mph trains rather than TGVs, most Paris-Limoges-Brive-Toulouse & Nantes-Bordeaux-Marseille-Nice trains now use stylish air-conditioned 'Corail Téoz' coaches like this, with a unique interior design.  Below centre:  1st class.  Below right: 2nd class.  Watch the video

What are overnight trains like?  Corail Lunéa...

Above:  Sleep your way to the South of France on a Corail Lunéa sleeper train.

It can be the most time-effective way to travel, effectively faster than flying.  Sleep your way to the south of France in a comfy couchette, from Paris to Nice, Cannes, Antibes, Monaco, Biarritz or Perpignan for as little as 35 euros (£25) each way booked at www.raileurope.co.uk or www.voyages-sncf.com.  French overnight trains have been relaunched as 'Corail Lunéa', and have couchettes (simple sleeping berths)  in 1st class 4-berth compartments & 2nd class 6-berth compartments.  Most Corail Lunéa trains also have 2nd class reclining seats, but a safe and comfortable couchette is recommended for an overnight trip.  Sleeping-cars with 1 & 2 bed compartments were withdrawn from all French overnight trains in 2007, but you can now book a 4-berth couchette compartment for single or dual occupancy.

Couchettes are simple padded bunks, each supplied with a pillow and special lightweight sleeping-bag (a great idea, replacing the traditional sheet and blanket on Corail Lunéa trains).  Men and women are mixed in couchettes, as you don't normally fully undress, but on Corail Lunéa trains women travelling alone can ask for a berth in a ladies-only compartment if they prefer.  If you have children, you can ask the train staff for an additional child safety rail for their bunk.  There are washrooms and toilets at the end of the corridor.

Corail Lunéa couchette cars are being modernised with bright interiors, new carpeting and soft fabric bunks.  Each couchette passenger gets a small bottle of mineral water, earplugs and tissues.  There's a security lock on the door which cannot be opened from outside even with a staff key, and plenty of staff are on duty if you need them.  Only passengers with tickets and reservations are allowed onto the platform, and there are minimal stops between midnight and 06:00 to ensure a smooth and secure journey through the night.   I prefer the top bunks up in the roof space as these give the most privacy, though if you've any mobility problems you should ask for a bottom bunk.  Bottom and middle bunks can also be cooler than top bunks, if that's an issue for you.

2nd class couchettes have 6 bunks in each compartment, with upper, middle & lower berths on each side of the compartment.  Lower bunks are easier to get into, but top bunks up in the roof space give you more privacy.

1st class couchettes have 4 berths per compartment, arranged as upper and lower on each side of the compartment.  They are much more spacious than 2nd class couchettes, with 4 people instead of 6 in in a similar size room.  Great for travelling as a family or with friends.  It's now possible to reserve a whole 4-berth 1st class couchette compartment on Corail Lunéa trains for sole or dual occupancy.  Sole or dual occupancy can't be booked online (though online booking may be enabled later in 2008), so phone Rail Europe to book.

Above:  A Corail Lunéa couchette car on the Paris-Nice overnight train...		2nd class 6-berth couchettes		1st class 4-berth couchettes

Most Corail Lunéa overnight trains also have reclining seats, and you can also find overnight TGV trains on some routes which of course just have seats (non-reclining, at least in 2nd class).  However, a couchette allows you to sleep properly lying down in a securely locked compartment, so is the recommended option, well worth the small extra cost.  Travelling overnight in a seat is not recommended except as a last resort.

• Ticket validation:  All French train tickets must be validated immediately before you board your train, by putting them into the small orange machines marked 'Compostez votre billet' at the entrance to every platform.  There's a fine if you don't!

• Language problems:  First-time visitors often think this will be a problem, but it hardly ever is.  At stations, signs are usually in English as well as French, or easy-to-understand pictograms are used.

• Food & drink on French trains:  Most long-distance trains have a cafe-bar, serving tea, coffee, wine, beer & snacks.  French domestic trains no longer have restaurant cars, though a few key Monday-Friday business services offer pre-bookable at-seat meals in first class.  However, feel free to bring your own food and drink (even a bottle of wine, if you like) onto the train, there's no rules against that on the rails!

• A meal at the Gare de Lyon?  If you're passing through Paris via the Gare de Lyon, consider dining at the famous 'Train Bleu' restaurant inside the station.  It was originally the Gare de Lyon's grand buffet, opened in 1900 and decorated in a sumptuous art nouveau style.  It's not the cheapest restaurant around, as the set menu costs around 48 euros, but the food is superb and the surroundings are perhaps the most spectacular you will ever eat a meal in.  It's an experience in itself, and well worth it!  The restaurant's website is www.le-train-bleu.com, just email them to book a table.  You can also use their bar section to wait for your train while you have a coffee or beer, far better than waiting for your train at one of the draughty cafe tables downstairs on the concourse!

  Luggage:  There are no baggage fees or weight limits, and you don't check your bags in, you simply take them with you onto the train, placing them on the racks at the end of each car, or above your head.

• Left luggage:  Major French stations including Paris Gare du Nord, Paris Gare d'Austerlitz Est & Paris Gare de Lyon have left-luggage lockers in various sizes, up to suitcase-sized.  Lockers cost 4-9 euros per locker per 48 hours. Expect to have your bags X-rayed before entry to the locker area.  More information on left luggage lockers.

• Bicycles:  You can take a bike with you free of charge on suburban & regional trains.  On Corail Lunéa overnight trains & TGVs on a few routes, you can take them for a small fee, about 10 euros.  On other TGVs, you'll need to place you bike in a zip-up 'bike bag' & they then travel free.  For more information, see the bicycle section on the Europe page.

• Dogs & pets:  Dogs can be taken on all French trains, sometimes free, sometimes for a small fee.  For more information, see the dogs & pets section on the Europe page.

Railpasses for France...

• By all means check out the InterRail pass for France (for European residents) or Eurail passes for France (for non-Europeans) at the seat61 rail shop.  However, passes have lost their convenience factor, as all TGV, Corail Téoz & Corail Lunéa trains now require a seat reservation before boarding, and a reservation fee and sometimes a peak supplement will need to be paid on top of the pass price.  If you're prepared to pre-book on a 'no refunds, no changes to travel plans' basis, you bcan find ultra-cheap 'Prems' fares that bl;ow railpass costs out of the water.  Indeed, one might say that the situation has reversed in the last 20 years.  It's now the point-to-point passenger who buys cheaply online and breezes onto the train with their no-hassle 'print your own' ticket, while the railpass holder has to queue up at the ticket office to make a reservation and pay a surcharge for just about every long-distance train.

How to change trains & stations in Paris...

• See the changing trains & stations in Paris page.

• Paris metro & bus website

Which station in Paris?

• The Gare du Nord serves trains to the north:  Lille, Amiens, Boulogne, Calais, Dunquerque, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, Moscow.

• The Gare de l'Est serves trains to the east:  Nancy, Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Reims, Basel, Zurich, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart.

• The Gare de Lyon serves TGV trains to the south-east:  Lyon, Avignon, Marseille, Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Nîmes, Montpellier, Narbonne, Perpignan.

• The Gare d'Austerlitz serves Corail Téoz trains to Limoges, Toulouse, & Corail Lunéa overnight trains to Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Toulouse, Perpignan, Narbonne, Lourdes, Biarritz, Madrid & Barcelona.

• The Gare Montparnasse serves TGV trains to the southwest: Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Biarritz, Lourdes, Brest, Rennes.

• The Gare St Lazare serves Dieppe and the immediate north.

• The Gare de Bercy serves sleeper trains to Italy.

Places not served by the main rail network...

• Mont st Michel has no station, so you must either take a train to 'Pontorson-Mont St Michel' station which is about 5 miles away (bus and taxi available) or take a train to Rennes and a connecting French Railways bus from there.  If you enter 'Mont St Michel' as your destination into www.raileurope.co.uk or  www.voyages-sncf.com it will offer you both 'Pontorson-Mont St Michel' and 'Mont St Michel'.  If you select the latter, it will offer combined train+bus times and fares direct to Mont St Michel via Rennes.

• The Nice-Digne railway is a private and very scenic line linking Nice (CFP station) with Digne.  Highly recommended, see www.trainprovence.com.

• Corsica:  Corsica can easily be reached by ferry from a variety of ports in Southern France, for example Marseille, Toulon or Nice.  The principal ferry operators are SNCM (www.sncm.fr) and Corsica Ferries (www.corsicaferries.com).

In this section:

Which site should I use, in which language?  

How to use voyages-sncf in French

How to use voyages-sncf.com in English

What tickets does voyages-sncf sell?

www.voyages-sncf.com (and its English-language version www.tgv-europe.com) is the official French Railways (SNCF) website.  It can sell train tickets incorporating all necessary seat, couchette or sleeper reservations for almost any journey within France and for direct international journeys (plus some indirect ones) to or from France (for example, Paris to or from London, Barcelona, Madrid, Switzerland, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels).  All the cheap deals are shown.  That makes it very useful indeed for any European train traveller or visitor to Europe.  It can sell international tickets in either direction, with ticket collection at any French station (if starting in France, obviously) or posted to any address you choose in any European country.

What tickets can't it sell?

It can't make 'reservation only' bookings if you already have a ticket or railpass.  For 'reservation only' bookings to go with a railpass, try the system linked from the seat61 Railshop page instead.  It will also struggle with tickets for non-direct international journeys, for example Paris to Barcelona is no problem, but it can't book Paris to Alicante with a change at Barcelona.  You often need to book onwards tickets separately at the relevant train operator's website (in this example, you'd book Paris-Barcelona at voyages-sncf.com, then Barcelona-Alicante at the Spanish Railways website, www.renfe.es).

Who can use voyages-sncf.com?  How are tickets delivered?

Anyone from any country worldwide can buy tickets online at www.voyages-sncf.com.  Tickets can be collected at any French station (if starting in France, obviously) or posted to any address you choose in any European country and most other countries worldwide, including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Outer Mongolia and North Korea, but excluding the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Tickets cannot be collected at stations in countries outside France.  Using voyages-sncf.com to book direct with French Railways can be far, far cheaper than using agencies in North America, Australia, etc., who may charge higher fares then charge postage and/or booking fees on top.

If you live in the UK:

If you live in the UK, you can buy the same tickets at the same fares more easily using UK-based website (and subsidiary of SNCF) www.raileurope.co.uk.  This is a good option, as www.raileurope.co.uk is in English, prices are in pounds, it's much easier to use than voyages-sncf.com and it's backed by a UK call centre if you need any help.  However, there's a small price advantage in buying direct from www.voyages-sncf.com if you don't mind grappling with all its quirks, as buying in euros and letting your credit card company convert it to pounds works out around 4%-6% cheaper than buying the same ticket from Rail Europe, where it will have been converted into pounds at Rail Europe's own exchange rate.  The other advantage is that tickets can be sent to addresses in other European countries, not just the UK, if that's useful for you (maybe you've a second home somewhere), or collected at any main French station, useful if you're travelling at short notice.  On the downside, if anything goes wrong, you'll have to deal with a French call centre in France.  It's your decision!

If you live in the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand:

SNCF owns the 'Rail Europe' train ticketing agencies in North America & Australasia, at www.raileurope.com (USA), www.raileurope.ca (Canada) & www.raileurope.com.au (Oz & NZ).  Now do you see why they won't send to these countries?  You can buy tickets from these American/Australian websites/agencies if you like, BUT (and it's a big 'but') these sites often don't feature all the cheap deals available direct from www.voyages-sncf.com, and they often charge a booking or postage fee as well.  You can often save loads of money booking online direct at www.voyages-sncf.com, with no booking fees or postage costs.  Tickets booked at www.voyages-sncf.com can be collected free of charge at any station in France or posted free of charge to addresses anywhere in Europe, for example, your hotel or a friend's house.  The price saving can be huge:  For example, on a given date I found a ticket from Paris to Venice on the direct sleeper train being sold by www.raileurope.com for $184  when a cheap $45 deal was available at voyages-sncf.com (and also available, for the record, at the UK Rail Europe, www.raileurope.co.uk).  So it's worth persevering with voyages-sncf, with cheap deals that blow expensive railpasses or even budget airline fares out of the water if you're prepared to pre-book on a no refunds, no changes to travel plans basis.  But you can now see why SNCF make it difficult for US/Australian residents to buy tickets direct, and why they won't send tickets to these countries.  The voyages-sncf website tries every trick to bump you to Rail Europe, even to the extent of sometimes requiring you to book in French, but this page will explain how to avoid the traps and travel cheaply by train.

So is there a catch?  Do I have to book in French?

The only catch is this.  Go to www.voyages-sncf.com and it's in French.  OK, so you click the UK flag at the bottom to switch it into English.  It now assumes you must be British so transfers you to their UK mini-site www.tgv-europe.com, with tickets sent to UK addresses.  Change the country for ticket collection back to 'France' so you can collect tickets at the station in Paris or have tickets sent to a French address, and it assumes you must be French so switches you back to their French-language site.  Similarly, if you change the country for ticket collection to 'Italy' so that you can have tickets sent to your hotel in Italy, it assumes you must be Italian and transfers you to their Italian mini-site www.tgv-europe.it, currently only available in the Italian language.  And so on... Terrific, eh..?  You can go round and round in circles trying to book in English but with ticket collection in France, or book in English but with tickets sent to addresses in Italy, Spain, etc.  The brain-dead managers at SNCF can't seem to understand that the language you prefer to speak, and the country you want to have the tickets sent to, or collect them in, could well be different!

So if you're British and want tickets sent to a UK address, no problem, book at www.tgv-europe.com, in English, with tickets sent to any UK address (or book in pounds at the much easier-to-use www.raileurope.co.uk).  If your journey starts in France, www.tgv-europe.com may also offer the option to collect tickets at any French station or print out your own ticket.

If you're from overseas (USA, Canada, Australia, etc) first try booking at www.tgv-europe.com (click the UK flag on the European map, and later change 'France' to 'Great Britain' on the booking form) because although it's aimed at UK travellers it may also offer ticket collection at the station or 'print your own' ticketing, both of which will work for you if your journey starts in France.  However, if the collect-at-station or print-your-own options aren't offered at the end of the booking, abort the booking and return to the main www.voyages-sncf.com website.  On www.voyages-sncf.com, leave 'France' selected in the drop-down box as the country in which you wish to collect tickets, and use www.voyages-sncf.com in French.  Don't speak French?  No problem, simply follow these step-by-step instructions for using voyages-sncf.com in French.  Remember, although SNCF would rather you went to one of their overseas subsidiaries and paid a higher fare and so lead you (mislead you?) in that direction, there's no discrimination and you are just as entitled to buy any of the cheap advance-purchase fares at www.voyages-sncf.com as any French, British or other European citizen!

Wherever you're from, if you want tickets sent to an address in other European countries, for example Italy or Spain, you'll need to go to www.voyages-sncf.com, select that country in the drop-down box, watch it transfer you whatever fiendish mini-site they've got with whatever languages are available, and book in the language you most nearly understand.  The guide to booking in French below should give you a pretty good idea of what the website is asking you even in Italian or Spanish.  Give it  go, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain!

Note:  For the record, www.sncf.co.uk isn't in fact SNCF, it's an alias for their UK subsidiary www.raileurope.co.uk.  And although www.tgv-europe.com is SNCF, www.tgv-europe.co.uk is in fact another alias for  www.raileurope.co.uk.  Good eh?

How to use www.voyages-sncf.com in French:

General advice:

• It's often better to book complex journeys in two stages, not one:  For example, if booking from (say) London to Rome, first book the journey from Paris to Rome, then click 'add another ticket' and book your Eurostar from London to Paris and back as a second separate journey, making sure you allow plenty of time to change trains in Paris.  You can pay for both bookings together at the end of your session.  There are 3 reasons for booking the Eurostar and the onwards train from Paris separately:  1)  if you try to book, for example, London to Rome all in one go, it will only show ridiculously expensive full fares because it won't take account of the cheap fares available from Paris to Rome;  2)  you may want to mix and match classes, for example, 2nd class Eurostar London to Paris then 1st class 4-berth couchette or 1st class 2-bed sleeper, on the Paris to Rome leg.  You can only do this if you book each leg separately;  3)  it allows you to search for an earlier Eurostar connection from London, or a later one back from Paris on your return, if there are no cheap seats left on the recommended Eurostar connection, or if you want to stop off in Paris for a while.

• If necessary, use other websites to book onwards connections within another country:  For example, www.voyages-sncf.com can book Eurostar from London to Paris and your sleeper train from Paris to Rome or Madrid, but it may not book onwards connections from Rome to Naples or Madrid to Malaga.  Even if it can, it may not offer the cheapest price for a domestic journey in country outside France.  So book the last leg using the relevant national rail operator website for that country.  For example, for connecting trains within Italy, use www.trenitalia.com (tickets can be picked up at the station, or there is a ticketless option for the best Eurostar Italia trains, see this advice for using trenitalia.com), for connecting trains within Spain use www.renfe.es (ticket pick-up at the station in Spain).  See the How to buy European train tickets page, or there is a list of national railway websites on the useful links page, and many of these will have online ticket sales for journeys within that country.

Step 1:

On the www.voyages-sncf.com home page, enter your journey details and click 'Continuer'.

Step 2:

Some extra fields now appear.

• The 'direct trains' box can be very useful if (for example) you're trying to book the direct Paris-Florence sleeper train and don't want all the confusing alternatives with umpteen changes of train to appear in the results.

• The 'Options via' box can also be very useful if you're trying to find a train via a particular route, for example to find London to Bordeaux services with one easy change at Lille instead of having to cross Paris, click this link and enter 'Lille'.

• Enter your age.  If you're over 60, or under 26, make sure you select the right age range, as any youth or senior deals will then show up.  Enfant = child, jeune = youth.

• Select the country where you want to receive tickets:  To pick up tickets at any staffed station in France or have them sent to any French address, leave 'France' selected in the box at the bottom.  To have tickets sent to addresses in the UK, change 'France' to 'Grande Bretagne' (which actually switches you back to English on the www.tgv-europe.com mini-site, but it's the same system with the same fares so you'll still make a modest saving by buying in euros).  To have tickets sent to other countries, for example, Spain, Italy or the Netherlands, select that country.  It may then switch you to the relevant TGV-Europe mini-site and switch languages in the process, like I said the SNCF managers seem to be brain-dead, but you can use the guide below to work out how to use it in other languages too.  But if you're American, do not, repeat do not, select 'Etats-Unis' (United States) because it will then bump you off to www.raileurope.com, which just happens to be SNCF's American subsidiary with more expensive fares.  Canada, Australia and NZ aren't listed.  So if you're from any of these countries, either have tickets sent to a European address, or leave 'France' selected to pick up tickets at the station.  If you're Osama bin Laden, no problem, SNCF will deliver to any address in Afghanistan.

• When you're ready, click 'Rechercher' ('Search')

Step 3:

• The results appear, see the screenshot below.  At this stage, we know the class we're being offered, but when booking an overnight train another nasty quirk of this system is that it gives no indication whether the fares shown are for a 2nd class seat, 2nd class couchette or 2nd class sleeper.  The prices will usually be for the cheapest type of accommodation available in that class.

• Click the radio button next to the fare you want.  Don't worry about the name of the fare ('Prems', 'Mini', 'Pro', 'Loisir', whatever), you'll probably just want the cheapest.  Just remember that the cheapest fares (usually colour-coded yellow) will probably well be non-refundable with no changes to travel plans allowed.  More expensive fares, usually colour-coded blue, will be more flexible and allow refunds.

• Helpful words & phrases:  Remboursable = refundable, non remboursable  = non-refundable.  Echangeable = flexible, non échangeable = non-flexible, only valid on the train booked.  Avant le départ = before departure.  Avant le veille = until the day before departure.  Sous conditions = subject to terms & conditions.

Step 4:

• Click on the price you want.  A 'choisir ma place' link appears.  Click this link, and a new section appears, shown in the screenshot below, which offers a choice of seating arrangements, or (if you're booking an overnight train) a choice of the available accommodation types, seat couchette or sleeper.

• Daytime trains under 'Choisir votre placement':  'couloir' = aisle, 'fenêtre' = window.  On TGV Duplex, 'salle basse' = lower deck, 'salle haute' = upper deck.  In 1st class, 'duo vis à vis' = two seats facing each other across a table-for-two (recommended!), 'duo côte à côte' = 2 seats side by side in a unidirectional seating area, 'solo' = one seat on its own in a unidirectional seating area.

• Overnight trains under 'Choisir votre placement':  'placement couché' = couchette (always 6 bunk compartments in 2nd class, 4 bunk compartment in 1st class when using this system), 'Double 1e classe' = 2-bed sleeper, 'Single 1e classe' = single-bed sleeper, 'Cabine T3 (3 lits)' = 3 bed sleeper.  On the trainhotels to Spain, Double or Single 'avec douche' indicates Gran Clase.  Cabin T4 (4 lits) means one berth in a 4-bed sleeper.  All prices shown are per berth for the number of passengers selected, for example if you're booking 2 people in a 3-bed sleeper the price is for 2 people and 2 berths in a 3-bed compartment, another passenger will be sold the third berth and you'll share with them.

• Another quirk of this system is that on sleeper trains, you'll only be offered accommodations in that class.  For example, when booking the Paris-Florence overnight train, if you have 2nd class selected you'll only be offered 6 bunk couchettes or 3 bed sleepers (both technically 2nd class), you'll need to enquire with 1st class selected to see 4 bunk couchettes, 2-bed and 1-bed sleeper, all technically 1st class.

• You can request a particular berth position.  'Indifférent' means you don't mind, 'inférieur' means lower, 'supérieur' means upper, 'inferior imperatif' means you absolutely insist on a lower berth.  'Compartiment dame seul' means ladies-only couchette compartment (couchettes are mixed sex unless you use this tick-box).

• Now click 'Valider'.

Step 5:

• Your booking is confirmed.  If a 'technical error' message comes up instead of the screen below, you may need to give up and book by phone.  This seems to happen frustratingly regularly, especially with international trains to Spain & Italy.

• Check the ticket is what you want (if not, click 'supprimer'), decline the insurance and click 'Continuer'.

Step 6:

• Mode of ticket delivery or collection:  Choose mode of ticket delivery.  'Print your own' is the ideal option, but this is only allowed for certain ticket types, usually the cheapest ones such as 'prems' fares.  The option to collect at the station is available for all ticket types and allows ticket pick up at either the self-service machines or the ticket office at any staffed station in France.  However, as SNCF self-service machines often struggle with non-French credit cards, you'll probably need to go to the ticket office.  When collecting, you must show the same credit card you used to make the booking.

• Address & email details:  Fill in your surname ('nom'), first name ('prénom'), email address ('addresse électronique') and confirm email address.

• Don't forget to tick the box at the bottom saying you agree to SNCF terms and conditions before clicking 'Valider'.  You'll get an error message if you don't.

Step 7:

• Payment: The next page should be self-explanatory.  Card number, expiry date, security number.  Voyages-sncf.com is secure, so no problem.

• Voyages-sncf.com will accept both UK-issued and overseas-issued credit cards.  If for any reason one credit card doesn't work, try another. 

• Bear in mind that some banks are now so worried about fraud that they put a 'hold' on your credit card the moment any unusual foreign transaction goes through.  So if your credit card doesn't work, it could be your bank's fault not the website's.  Try contacting your credit card company to confirm that you're making a legitimate transaction and ask them to unblock your card.

Good luck!