By train
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Map of Rail

Pride and joy of the system are the high-speed TGVs (trains à grande vitesse), capable of 300kph, and their offspring Eurostar. The continually expanding system has its main hub at Paris, from where a main line heads northeast to Lille, and two other trunk routes head south: one down the east side of the country to Marseille and the Mediterranean, the other west to Bordeaux and the Spanish frontier. Spur lines service Brittany and Normandy, the Alps, Pyrenees and Jura. The only difference between TGV and other train fares is that you pay a compulsory reservation charge (included in the ticket price) plus a supplement on certain peak-hour trains (période de pointe), generally on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays and public holidays. It's easiest to use the counter service for buying tickets, though if there are language problems or long queues the touch-screen computerized system available in most stations can be read in English and is a good way to check various fares and times.

All tickets – but not passes – must be validated in the orange machines located at the entrance to the platforms, and it's an offence not to follow the instruction Compostez votre billet (Validate your ticket). Train journeys may be broken for up to 24 hours at a time for as long as the ticket is valid (usually two months); if you plan longer stopovers, it's best to indicate this when buying your ticket. On night trains an extra €14 or so will buy you a couchette – well worth it if you're making a long haul and don't want to waste a day recovering from a sleepless night.

Larger stations have a manned left luggage check-in, usually with limited hours (consignes are noted in the Guide).

Regional timetables and leaflets covering particular lines are available free at stations. Autocar (often abbreviated to car) at the top of a column means it's an SNCF bus service, on which rail tickets and passes are valid. The red-covered Thomas Cook European Timetables, available from branches of Thomas Cook, details schedules of over 50,000 trains in Europe, as well as timings of over 200 ferry routes and rail-connecting bus services.

There's a range of reductions on standard fares (période normale or période blanche, normal or white period). It's cheaper, for example, if you travel off-peak, known as période bleue (blue period). A leaflet showing the blue and white periods is available at gares SNCF. Any two people travelling together or a small group of up to nine people – whether a married couple, friends, family, whatever – are entitled to a 25 percent discount on return tickets on TGVs, subject to availability, or on other trains if they start their journey during a blue period (this fare is known as a Découverte à Deux); the same reduction applies to a group of up to four people travelling with a child under 12 (Découverte Enfant Plus), to under-26-year-olds (Découverte 12–25), over-60s (Découverte Senior), and for anyone who books a return journey of at least 200km in distance, including a Saturday night away (Découverte Séjour).

Aside from the regular lines there are a number of special tourist-oriented railways, usually not part of the SNCF system or covered by normal rail passes, though some offer a discount to rail pass holders. Two of the most popular are the spectaular Train Jaune which winds its way up through the Pyrenees, and the ATM train, which heads up into the hinterland of Narbonne. These are also detailed in the Guide.