rail passes

If I have a rail pass for use in France, does it need to be validated prior to boarding a train or can I simply climb aboard and display the pass when requested to do so? If the pass must be validated, where does one do so in the station? Thanks for the advice.

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YES...you must have your rail pass validated---at any ticket windows at sny station, on your First Day of Useage.

For most regional train trips---or any not requiring %26#39;..seat reservations..%26#39; you can just board the train and present the pass to the conductor when he come around to check tickets. But some inter-regional, grande ligne trains and all TGV trains, require seat reservations...so for this reason it%26#39;s a good idea to check at a station ticket window to ascertain whether the train you%26#39;re interested in does or not.

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You will have to read the fine print - if you have a flexible pass - x number of days rail travel out of y number of days, you%26#39;ll have to fill in the date you%26#39;re travelling on your pass. It%26#39;s supposed to be done before you get on the train but I%26#39;ve never managed to do it then - I had to try to get it done before a conductor showed up - Remember that any trip originating at 19:00 (7:00PM) isi counted as the following day, not the actually day your begin your travel.

If you have not already bought a pass, try to settle your itinerary and go to www.ricksteves.com - and download his rail pass file. It explains each of the various passes very clearly and helps you to decide if point to point tickets will be a better deal. Steves can ship passes only within the US, so you%26#39;ll have to optain your pass somewhere else. A rail pass is one of those things that you can use a travel agent for - they must be bought here and are not available overseas.

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%26gt;%26gt;Remember that any *OVERNIGHT* trip originating at 19:00 (7:00PM) isi counted as the following day

And again, ricksteve railpass caculator is rigged. Use at your own risk.

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To know whether point to point tickets are a better deal, you need to go on the SNCF web site and check the promos available when you book in advance -- often you can really save a bundle as compared to rail passes (and you can print your own tickets - follow the MorganB instructions)! Also, don%26#39;t forget that with TGVs you will need a reservation separate from the rail pass (you can%26#39;t just get on the train, as you can with the unreserved trains).

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