Paris to Bordeaux by train

Note that these trains depart from the Gare-Montparnasse in Paris.

Final Destination: Bordeaux or Toulouse or Irun, or Hendaye or Tarbes or Arachon

Now that the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique high speed line has opened, these TGV InOui trains are NON-STOP between Paris and Bordeaux in the fastest ever time!

Target these trains, with a journey time of around 2hr 8mins and avoid the slower TGVs, which still take the older route; those with a journey time of more than 3hrs.

However, when the most heavily discounted tickets for these faster trains have sold out, you can usually save money by taking those slower trains.

This non-stop journey is featured on Conde Nast's list of The Best European Train Trips.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 4 months ahead of the travel date - but bookings can open sooner when SNCF is running a promotion.

If tickets aren't on sale yet for your travel date, you can sign up to the ticket availability notification service on Oui.SNCF.

When looking for tickets on Oui.SNCF tick the 'direct trains' box, on Trainline tick the 'fastest journeys' box.

The price is dictated by demand per departure, so book ahead and try and be flexible re: your departure and arrival times, as trains leaving earlier or later may be cheaper.

The Oui.SNCF (French national railways website) will indicate the cheapest price per day; click on this and you will be shown the departures on which this price is available.

Expect to pay more for this journey between the beginning of June and mid-September, particularly if you will be travelling on a Friday or Saturday.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.

Rail Pass Users:

If you will be travelling with an InterRail or Eurail pass, you will have to pay a reservation fee prior to boarding; more info is available on our guide to using rail passes in France.

Though those €10 rail pass reservations can be harder to track down on these fastest trains between Paris and Bordeaux, they're more likely to be available on the slower, alternative trains.
However, there are no viable alternatives for avoiding these TGV trains on this route.

Note that these trains depart from Gare Montparnasse in Paris.

The extension to the Paris – Bordeaux high speed line by passes all of the towns between Tours and Bordeaux, including St Pierre de Corps.

These trains either divert off the new line to make station calls on the older route, or only use the older part of the high speed line (the very slowest trains)
However, because they are slower, they're usually cheaper, the most heavily discounted tickets inevitably sell out faster on the alternative quicker trains; though these slower trains are NOT automatically cheaper!

But take care when making a booking, as there are such big differences in journey times on these slower trains.

A mix of TGV trains are used for these slower Paris to Bordeaux services, but here's a guide to how you can confirm which type of TGV train you will be travelling by.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 4 months ahead of the travel date - but bookings can open sooner when SNCF is running a promotion.

These trains are slower than the non-stop trains between Paris and Bordeaux, but the most heavily discounted tickets inevitably sell out faster on those trains; and when they are gone, THESE slower trains can be more than €25 cheaper.

Though expect to pay more for this journey between the beginning of June and mid-September, particularly if you will be travelling on a Friday or Saturday.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.

Rail Pass Users:

If you will be travelling with an InterRail or Eurail pass, you will have to pay a reservation fee prior to boarding; more info is available on our guide to using rail passes in France.

The €10 rail pass reservations tend to sell out particularly quickly for this journey on Fridays-Sundays in the summer months.

Though they tend to be more widely available on these slower trains, compared to the faster non-stop trains.
However, there are no viable alternatives for avoiding these TGV trains on this route.

Final Destination: Bordeaux

The Ouigo services which are usually scheduled to depart Paris at 08:52 and 12:27 are faster because they are non-stop to Bordeaux.
So you can now opt to save money, but have a much more basic on board experience, and travel on a Ouigo.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead* of the travel date, usually

*Tickets for the alternative service of TGV InOui trains are usually made available 4 months ahead, so if you look up this journey more than 4 months ahead on Oui.SNCF, you will only see these Ouigo services; but they are not the only option on this route.

How tickets can be booked and used for a journey by a Ouigo train, differs from booking tickets on a TGV (InOui) service.

What is particularly worth being aware of when booking tickets for journeys by Ouigo train services, is that:

(1) 1st class/Premiere tickets are not available.

(2) Reservations are included when booking, as they are on TGV InOui trains, but you can opt to pay a surcharge to select a specific seat (more info is available on the Ouigo 'Train Guide').

(3) You cannot book or collect tickets for Ouigo trains at stations.

(4) Additional fees apply if you want access to a power socket, or to travel with additional luggage; click the Ouigo 'Train Guide' to access more info on the luggage allowances on Ouigo trains; they're more restrictive than on TGV InOui trains.

Though these factors, and more, are why you can make big savings by opting to travel by these Ouigo trains and not on the standard TGV InOui trains.

Eurail and InterRail Pass Users:

Rail passes cannot be used on Ouigo trains, but if you will be travelling with a 2nd class pass, our guide to using rail passes in France, explains why taking a Ouigo train can be worth considering.