France & Eurostar: Eurail pass or tickets?

Should I buy an Interrail pass or individual tickets for my trip to/from France?

A pass offers a flat fare and more flexiblity. However, high-speed trains in France (TGV, Eurostar) require an additional seat reservation. This includes services to the UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. from the UK. The availability of these seat reservations for use with a Eurail pass is very limited. Only a selected amount of seats can be booked for Eurail pass holders, and once these are fully booked, nobody else can use their Eurail pass on the train anymore, even if there are other seats still available.

Apart from the limited availability, these seat reservations can also be pricy. On national TGV services reservations cost only between $10-$20, but on international services they can be as high as $44 per person for the reservation only. Thus, booking seperate tickets in advance may be cheaper.

For example: a Paris-Zürich ticket booked 2 months in advance can be as low as $45 (reservation included), while a Eurail seat reservation alone is $33.50 (plus costs of the pass itself). A Paris-Brussels ticket can be as low as $30 (reservation included) while a Eurail seat reservation is $31.30 (plus the pass itself).

In short - Happyrail's advice

1. Are you planning to use one or multiple international high-speed trains to France? We advise to check the prices of individual tickets first, which you can do via the Happyrail planner. In all tickets bought via Happyrail, a seat reservation is included as standard and does not need to be booked seperately. If you are planning a longer journey through Europe, you can also check whether it's more economical to book seperate tickets for train to/from France and a shorter pass for the journeys outside of France.

For example: you are planning a trip including the Eurostar from London to Paris, a day in Paris, the TGV from Paris to Switzerland, and then 4 few days travelling in Switzerland. It might in some cases be more economical to book seperate tickets London-Paris and Paris-Switzerland plus a 5-day pass for your travels in Switzerland, compared to a 7-day Eurail pass for all trips plus the expensive seat reservations.

2. Are you planning on going to France, but mainly using national high-speed or regional trains? In this case it might still be best to book a Eurail pass, which you can do via Happyrail.

3. Do you not mind taking the slower, more scenic route? International regional trains also run to/from France on slower routes. This way you experience more of the scenery compared to high-speed trains, and you have more flexibility in when you travel. Reservations are not needed on any of these routes.

• Lyon - Geneva (Switzerland): scenic route right through the Alps. Regional TER trains run every hour to every 2 hours.
• Strasbourg-Mulhouse-Basel (Switzerland): high-speed regional TER trains run every hour to Switzerland.
• Nice-Ventimille/Ventimiglia (Italy): regional TER trains run every hour to Ventimiglia in Italy, where you can change for trains to Genova and Milan.
• Lille - Tournai/Kortrijk (Belgium): regional trains to Belgium. In Tournai/Kortrijk you can change for direct trains to Brussels and Antwerp.
• Strasbourg - Offenburg (Germany): Regional TER trains run across the border to Offenburg (Germany) every hour, where you can change for German high-speed trains.
• Hendaye - Irun - Bilbao (Spain): Metro trains of the company Euskotren depart every 30 minutes outside Hendaye's French train station for Irun and Bilbao in Spain. Buy a metro ticket for a few euros at the station.
• Perpignan - Portbou (Spain): Regional TER trains run several times a day from Perpignan to Portbou, Spain, where you can change for services to Gerona and Barcelona.
• Nancy - Metz - Luxembourg: Regional TER trains run on the same line as TGV trains coming from Paris, but don't require a reservation. They are a little slower because they make more stops, but save a lot of reservation costs.

On some routes, alternatives are available:

• Lyon/Marseille - Barcelona: On these routes, Spanish AVE high-speed trains compete with French TGV trains. Reservation costs for Eurail pass holders are lower. Both reservations and tickets are available in the Happyrail planner.
• Paris - Brussels: Classic ordinary-speed OUIGO trains compete with TGV trains from Paris to Brussels, taking about 3 hours instead of 1hr 20mins that Eurostar trains take, but available for much lower prices (from $10 for a ticket for one person). 
  • Eurail passes are not accepted on OUIGO. However, ticket prices for tickets can be so low as to still be more cost-effective.
• Brussels-Netherlands: two types of high-speed alternative trains are available: the Eurocity (EC) to Rotterdam and the Eurocity Direct (ECD) to Amsterdam. The EC is slightly slower than Eurostar services, but against much lower ticket prices, while the ECD is almost just as fast but still significantly cheaper. Eurail passes are valid on both.