Paris-Zurich: which trains aside TGV require seat reservations?
Ralph and Nancy are traveling from Paris to Zurich in October using Eurail tickets and want to know about train services that don't require seat reservations. They have heard that TGV trains require compulsory seat bookings and seek alternative options.
- In France, seat reservations are mandatory for TGV and international trains, so book your seats as soon as possible.
- Consider traveling on domestic trains (TER) to a border town like Mulhouse, then switch to regional trains to Zurich if you want to avoid TGVs.
- In Switzerland, you generally do not need seat reservations, except for certain luxury trains like the Glacier Express.
AI-generated summary-
We are travelling from Paris to Zurich this October by train we have eurail tickets. Is there other train services that do not require seat reservations.
we are aware the TGV trains are compulsory seat bookings.
Any information would be very grateful
Kind Regards
Ralph and Nancy
-
Hello Ralph and Nancy
Welcome to MySwissAlps
The practical reality is that with rare exceptions, if you want to go long distances in France, you have to use TGVs. This is particularly true if your journey starts from Paris.
The practical reality is that you are going to have to use TGVs. Book your seats as soon as you can.
Best wishes
Roger
Hi Ralph and Nancy,
In France, seat reservation is mandatory on high-speed trains (like TGV) and for international/cross border routes (eg. France – Switzerland). Reservation for domestic trains are not required except for the TER trains. If you wish to skip the seat reservation, perhaps you can travel on the domestic train up to the closest border town such as Colmar or Mulhouse. Then take a regional train to Basel, then Basel to Zurich. This will of course include several change of trains and longer journey.
For more tips on travel and ticket options between France and Switzerland, please refer to our page here: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-guide/france-switzerland/
You can find additional information about the Eurail Global Pass here: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/eurail-global-pass/
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Anna
Hello again Ralph and Nancy and hello Anna
BEFORE I wrote my earlier reply I did spend some time investigating domestic French train services (called ‘TER’ standing for ‘Trains Express Regionaux’) running Paris to Mulhouse and Paris to Strasbourg. (There are no TERs from Paris to Colmar.)There are very occasional TER services from Paris Gare de l’Est to both Mulhouse and Strasbourg. But they are rather slow, much slower than TGVs. And these TER trains require seat reservations if travelling from/to Paris.
There is therefore no escape from the dreaded compulsory seat reservations.
Hence my conclusions that, ‘The practical reality is that you are going to have to use TGVs. Book your seats as soon as you can.’
Why Switzerland is so Much Better than France.
As Anna will agree, in Switzerland you can hop on and hop off almost every train without a seat reservation. The only trains requiring reservations are the special luxury trains like the Glacier Express. And those ‘special luxury trains’, without exception, run along lines on which there are hourly regional trains on which reservations are not required.
Contrast France (and some other European countries) where almost every long distance train journey requires a seat reservation.
Kind regards
Roger
Hi Ralph and Nancy,
Yes, I agree, if you are opting with a ride on the TGV train, do book your seats soon.
In case you are interested, you can read more about seat reservations in Switzerland in the attached link below.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
- The thread ‘Paris-Zurich: which trains aside TGV require seat reservations?’ is closed to new replies.
