Trains

Trains are undeniably the easiest way of travelling in France as the country has a fairly dense, though highly centralised, rail network.

There are 2 classes of travel: first class and second class.

Tickets can be bought in advance and seats reserved (strongly advised during long weekends and during holiday periods) at the ticket offices of all the main Paris stations and in some suburban stations as well as in travel agencies. You must make a reservation to travel on the TGV high-speed train, but at other than busy periods you can make it just a few minutes before getting on the train.

For further details, contact the French Railways Central Information Service on 08 36 35 35 39 (33 8 36 35 35 39 from abroad) this operates 7 days a week from 7.00 to 22.00 or on Minitel by dialling 3615 + SNCF code. The french railways website is www.sncf.com.

The SNCF can send your tickets at home with no additional cost.

Plane

If you are in a great hurry, planes are a valid alternative for long distances (over 500 kilometers). Even so, the TGV on the Paris - Lyons - Marseilles route does take you from city centre to city centre, which can be a time-saver.

Air Inter offers “Super-Light” rates very interesting on its blue-coded flights (off-peak times of the day) and at certain periods of the year.

Outside these periods, couples can benefit from a reduction on blue and white-coded flights.

Ask for details from Air Inter Tél : 01 44 08 24 24 Minitel 3615 and 3616 AF and at all travel agents.

Contact also:

• Espace voyage du CIDJ

101, quai Branly
75040 Paris Cedex 15
Tél : 01 44 49 12 00

Contact youth information centres (CIJs) for addresses everywhere outside Paris .

Hitchhiking

If you do not want to wait for hours in the rain on the side of a motorway access road, there are specialised networks which put drivers in contact with hitchhikers willing to pay a share of the cost.

One example is Allostop-Provoya.

A package deal of 250 Francs for 8 journeys to be made within 2 years. The driver has to pay 0,20 Centimes a kilometer. Phone number of Allostop-Provoya Offices:

01 42 46 00 66 (for calls of Paris and suburb)

47 70 02 01 (for calls of provinces don't forget the regional dialling code).

Design by : Marc ELOY - Em@ze InfoSystems

Last update : 01/12/96