With your Interrail pass you can travel on most trains in France. However, many French trains need to be reserved in advance, and some of them have limited seats for Interrail pass holders.
The following trains have limited seats for Interrail pass holders. We highly recommend you reserve these trains as soon as possible.
TGV high-speed trains international routes (except TGV Lyria)
InterCité trains
The train you want to take may be fully booked for Interrail Pass holders, or you may want to avoid having to pay reservation fees. In these cases, we recommend using regional trains that don’t require a reservation.
This usually means you'll have a few more train transfers and longer journey times, but it also gives you the chance to see more of the beautiful French countryside. It’s not always possible to avoid trains with reservations, but it’s always worth checking in the Interrail timetable.
These are the 10 most popular French train routes, domestic and international. We show you the fastest option and the best alternative, in case your train is fully booked.
Paris Nord to Amsterdam Central - High-speed Thalys* - 3hr 20min
*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with an Interrail Pass.
Paris Nord to Amiens - InterCités* - 1hr 20min
Amiens to Lille Flandres - Regional TER - 1hr 20min
Lille Flandres to Antwerp Centraal - InterCity - 2hr 5min
Antwerp Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal - InterCity - 1hr 15min
Rotterdam Centraal to Amsterdam Centraal - InterCity - 40min
Total train travel time: 7hr 40min
*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with an Interrail Pass.
Paris Gare de Lyon to Barcelona Sants - High-speed TGV* - 6hr 30min
*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with an Interrail Pass.
Paris Austerlitz to Port Bou - Intercité de Nuit* - 10hr 33min
Port Bou to Barcelona Sants - Regional - 2hr 36min
Total train travel time: 13hr 9min
*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with an Interrail Pass.
Paris Nord to Bruxelles Midi - High-speed Thalys* - 1hr 25min
*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for people with an Interrail Pass.
Paris Nord to Amiens - TER - 1hr 20min
Amiens to Lille Flandres - TER - 1hr 20 min
Lille Flandres to Tournal - InterCity - 20min
Tournal - Bruxelles Midi - InterCity - 1hr
Total travel time: 4hr
*Reservation type: Mandatory; Limited seats for passholders
| From | To | Train type | Travel time |
| Paris Est | Chalons en Champagne | TER | 1hr 35min |
| Chalons en Champagne | Metz Ville | TER | 1hr 40min |
| Metz Ville | Strasbourg | TER | 1hr 45min |
| Strasbourg | Offenburg | TER | 30min |
| Offenburg | Frankfurt (Main) Hbf | InterCity | 1hr 45min |
| 8hr 40min |
| From | To | Train type | Travel time |
| Marseilles St Charles | Geneva | High-speed TGV* | 3hr 40min |
*Reservation type: Mandatory
| From | To | Train type | Travel time |
| Marseilles st Charles | Valence Ville | TER | 2hr 25min |
| Valence Ville | Geneve | TER | 3hr 15min |
| 5hr 55min |
| From | To | Train type | Travel time |
| Paris Gare de Lyon | Milano P. Garibaldi | High-speed TGV | 7hr 10min |
| From | To | Train type | Travel time |
| Paris Austerlitz | Nice Ville | Intercité de Nuit* | 11hr 25min |
| Nice Ville | Ventimiglia | TER | 50min |
| Ventimiglia | Milano Centrale | InterCity** | 3hr 50min |
| 17hr 30min |
*Reservation type: Mandatory; limited seats for pass holders
**Reservation type: Recommended
| From | To | Train type | Travel time |
| Paris Bercy | Lyon Part Dieu | TER | 5hr 50min |
| Lyon Part Dieu | Marseille St Charles | TER | 3hr 35min |
| Marseille St Charles | Nice Ville | TER | 2hr 35min |
| Nice Ville | Ventimiglia | TER | 50min |
| Ventimiglia | Milano Rogoredo | 4hr 20min | |
| 25hr 45min |
Traveling 25 hours might not be something everyone is willing to do. However, instead of making the journey in one go you could also decide to make a stopover on the route and continue traveling the next day. How about having an early breakfast in Paris then have dinner in Marseille, continue your travels to Nice. Spend a bit of time discovering the beach city of Nice before continuing on to Milan.
Paris Gare de Lyon to Zurich Hb - High-speed TGV* - 4hr 5min
*Reservation type: Mandatory
Paris Est to Belfort Ville - InterCités
| From | To | Train type | Travel time |
| Paris Est | Belfort Ville | Intercités* | 4hr 5min |
| Belfort Ville | Mulhouse Ville | TER | 35min |
| Mulhouse Ville | Basel SBB | TER | 25min |
| Basel SBB | Olten | InterCity | 25min |
| Olten | Zuerich Hb | InterCity | 30min |
| 8hr 20min |
*Reservation type: Mandatory; limited seats for pass holders
Paris Montparnasse to Bordeaux St Jean - High-speed TGV* - 3hr 15min
*Reservation type: Mandatory
Paris Austerlitz to Vierzon Ville - InterCités - 1hr 40min
Vierzon Ville to Limoges Benedictins - TER - 2hr 5min
Limoges Benedictins to Périgueux- TER - 1hr 20min
Périgueux to Bordeaux St Jean - TER - 1hr 25min
Total travel time: 6hr 30min
Paris Gare de Lyon to Marseille St Charles - High-speed TGV* - 3hr 20min
*Reservation type: Mandatory
Paris Bercy to Lyon Part Dieu - TER - 5hr 5min
Lyon Part Dieu to Marseille St Charles - TER - 3hr 35min
Total train travel time: 8hr 40min
Paris Gare de Lyon to Nice-Ville - High-speed TGV* - 5hr 40min
*Reservation type: Mandatory.
Paris Bercy to Lyon Part Dieu - TER - 5hr 5min
Lyon Part Dieu to Marseille St Charles - TER - 3hr 35min
Marseille St Charles to Nice Ville - TER - 2hr 35min
Total train travel time: 11hr 10min
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