Travel with TGV

Travel quickly to France by train

With TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, the French high-speed train) you can travel quickly to your favourite destinations in France. The five most important TGV railway lines will rapidly bring you to all corners of France.
Click on one of the destinations for more information:

• West of France to La Mans/Rennes (via Paris)
• South of France to Bordeaux/Toulouse (via Paris)
• East of France to Strasbourg/Mulhouse (via Paris)
• Southeast of France to Dijon (via Paris)
• North and South of France to Lille, Perpignan/Cannes and Disneyland
  (via Brussels)

You can book tickets to almost any destination in France online. Online booking will make exploring and travelling to la douce France so much easier. And if you book online you won’t have to pay a booking fee. Of course it is also possible to buy your tickets at the NS Hispeed desk in the Tickets & Service Office at any of the larger train stations or via NS Hispeed Telesales, 0900-9296 (€ 0.35 per minute).

With Thalys and TGV to France

For cities in the southeast of France, like Marseille and Montpellier, you can travel from Amsterdam, Schiphol airport or Rotterdam to Brussels with InterCity Brussels or Thalys. In Brussels you can catch a connecting TGV train so that you don’t have to pass through Paris. To travel with TGV to other destinations in France, like Bordeaux, Toulouse and Straatsburg, you’ll first need to travel to Paris with Thalys.

Travel in comfort with TGV

The seats on board a TGV train are spacious and comfortable. The chic interior was designed by French designer Christain Lacroix and all chairs are equipped with an adjustable backrest. Seats in the second class departments are spaced 92 cm apart and in first class even 95 cm. A variety of food and hot and cold drinks can be ordered at the bar-buffet.

Pratical information

Travelling via Brussels

NS Hispeed only offers connections with sufficient time to catch connecting trains. Transit times in Brussels are at least 15 minutes, which, even with baggage, is plenty of time to catch your connecting train. At least 20 minutes before departure the platform number from which your connecting TGV train will depart, will be announced.

> More information about catching connecting trains can be found on the transit page

Travelling via Paris

NS Hispeed only offers connections with sufficient time to catch connecting trains. Transit times in Paris are approximately an hour. Thalys always arrives at the Gare du Nord station. Depending on your final destination, you may need to take the metro to one of the other larger stations to catch your connecting TGV train. Metro tickets can be purchased in the buffet car of Thalys or at one of the ticket machines at the station (remember to carry sufficient change).

> More information about catching connecting trains can be found on the transit page

Seat reservations

Your TGV ticket always includes seat reservations, which means that you make a booking for a specific train. If you miss your connecting train, you will need to rebook your ticket at the TGV service desk at the station. Depending on the rate of ticket, you may need to make an extra payment. You can make reservations three months prior to travelling; the sooner you book you ticket, the higher your chance of paying a lower rate.

Finding your seat

On your ticket you will find the carriage and seat number of your reserved seat. On the side of the TGV trains you can find the carriage number as well as the location of the buffet car, this will help show you where you can best board the train.

Catering

On board the TGV you can go to the bar carriage for drinks and small snacks.

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted on board the TGV.