As the end-of-year holidays approach, finding a train ticket for the start of the holidays is increasingly complicated.
On many high-speed lines, most TGVs are already full… and not just those leaving from Paris.
The Christmas holidays are fast approaching. Starting Saturday, December 21, part of the population will begin their vacation for the end-of-year holidays. Like every year, many French people will take to the road: the entire country is already classified orange by Bison Futé (new window) in the direction of departures for Friday the 19th, and even red for Île-de-France.
Strong enthusiasm for the opening of sales
Others will favor trains, and there are also many of them: on October 2, when the SNCF opened its sales for the holiday period, 1.7 million tickets were sold in 24 hours on SNCF alone. Connect, the platform reported to TF1info, i.e. 15% more than a year earlier. “Up to nine TGVs were filled per minute”she illustrated, and the craze has continued ever since.
A good thing done for all those who have anticipated their trips… a little less so for those wishing to book a ticket at the last minute. Because with less than two weeks before the holidays, the number of TGV tickets still on sale is largely reduced, especially if you want to leave Paris.
“Train complet”
To get to Bordeaux from the capital on December 20, only four TGV InOui still have places on the 25 direct TGVs which will run that day, TF1info noted this Monday. However, expect to pay a high price: 123 euros minimum for a ticket without an advantage card. The situation is similar for Saturday 21, Sunday 22 and Monday 23, with almost all TGVs already full.
The situation is similar on the southeast axis. From Paris, almost all of the TGV InOui towards Lyon are sold out for the first weekend of the holidays, and the few remaining seats sell for at least 99 euros in second class (without advantage card, excluding Ouigo and TER) . The same goes for the Paris-Marseille line, where the TGVs are already full and there are dozens of them from December 19 to 23. The Paris-Rennes, Paris-Strasbourg and Paris-Dijon axes are also largely full.
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Even lines avoiding major Parisian stations are popular. This is particularly the case for the TGVs traveling across France from north to south, between Lille and Marseille: almost all the tickets for the start of the holidays have already left, and the few still on sale are priced at more than 150 euros in second class. However, the situation is less tense when traveling to Paris from the regions.
