TGV - onboard experience
TGV is France's high-speed rail service, taking you from Paris to the Alps in under three hours at no cost to comfort
The TGV (Train de Grande Vitesse) is so named because it travels at up to 320km per hour. Even at such high speeds, it's a quiet, smooth and comfortable way to reach the Alps.
If you’re a frequent train traveller in France, you’ll no doubt have ridden a TGV. It's a lot of fun for groups of friends and families. Even in second class, the seats are spacious and there are lots of table seats (a world away from many trains in the UK) so it’s easy to make good use of the space.
While all TGV trains have onboard Wi-Fi, the carriages are call-free zones, so you won't hear anyone shouting "Oui! Je suis dans le train!" Instead, people go to the corridor to make calls.
There's also a café-bar, and you can bring your own food, drink and alcohol on board. All in all, the TGV is excellent for getting to French ski resorts.
Eurostar + TGV vs flying to the Alps
To see what it's like travelling on the TGV, you might enjoy this Top Gear-style plane vs. train race, in which Snowcarbon co-founder Daniel Elkan races experienced ski writer Neil English to the Three Valleys.
Daniel travelled in TGV’s second class, while Neil flew from London Gatwick with EasyJet. You might be surprised by the result—there certainly wasn't much in it...
We won't tell you who won the race, but Daniel certainly had a more comfortable journey—as you’ll see!
Seating and luggage
Photo: Daniel Elkan
The seats on the TGV are ergonomic and adjustable, whether you're in second or first class. People sometimes ask whether it is worth upgrading to first class. This is a subjective decision, but we’d probably say don’t bother because the seating is remarkably similar. In both second and first class, you’ll find plenty of table seats, and those without have a pulldown table for you to rest a book or laptop.
The biggest difference is that first-class carriages have one plug socket per person, while in second you’ll share between two. When booking, you'll sometimes find that the price of a first-class seat is little more than a second-class one, and in that case, it’s worth the extra pounds, especially if you have important work to do en route, or if you want to get your honeymoon off to an extra-comfortable start!
There’s space to store skis and luggage in the overhead racks and space for larger cases at the ends of carriages. TGV’s luggage policy is one ski bag, suitcase, and handbag per person.
As mentioned, every carriage is a “quiet carriage”, and people take calls in the corridor space instead.
There is no check-in time for this train, but if you turn up a few minutes early you'll be able to store your luggage without much rigmarole and settle in for a relaxing, fun journey to the Alps.
Café-bar and food
TGVs have café-bars that sell hot and cold drinks, alcohol, hot dishes, snacks and sandwiches. These items are hit and miss—sometimes living up to the picture in the menu, sometimes less so. The prices are not exorbitant, but it is worth thinking about stocking up in Paris first where you'll have more choice and the wine will be cheaper! Or you could bring some provisions from home.
You can eat at one of the counters in the café-bar (some have stools) and enjoy the views from there, or take items back to your seat. The atmosphere in the café-bar is very pleasant—we've got chatting to lots of other people enjoying their journeys too.
The TGV café-bar will have a new seasonal menu for winter 2024-25 by acclaimed French chef Thierry Marx. You’ll always find several vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options and French classics like croque-monsieur, quiche, and Sauvignon Blanc.
If you’ve purchased a Carte Avantage railcard, you’ll get 15% off on-board meals along with your discounted rail fares. Check out our blog post on the Carte Avantage to find out how it works.
At the café-bar, you can buy tickets for the Paris Metro on your return leg—although you can also change stations in Paris easily with a taxi, which makes things easier if you have quite a bit of luggage or children in tow.
Group and family facilities
Families travel on the TGVPhoto: Daniel Elkan
The TGV is fantastic for families and groups of friends, especially if you book table seats or find them when you turn up. When you walk through the TGV, it’s great to see children enjoying their journeys by train, busy scribbling, drawing, playing games—we’ve never seen an unhappy family on the train. Quite different from your average airport experience!
Even better, the TGV has a dedicated family space (Espace Famille) on trains travelling during weekends and French holiday periods, bookable in second class. It’s a great space for kids to play together and parents to make new friends. If you’re travelling with a tot, the café-bar staff will happily warm up a bottle or baby food for you, and you’ll find a nursery corner on every TGV train.
Table seats are particularly good for a group of friends or family to get a game of cards out, Travel Scrabble, Connect Four, whatever. It's easy to get up and walk to the café-bar and to give children a chance to stretch their legs too.
Ski holidays by train — Ask Snowcarbon
At Snowcarbon we are always happy to help you with suggestions for great resorts, fantastic accommodations, and how to get where you’re going.
We look forward to helping you.