OUIGO – A cheaper way to travel by train in France

I wanted to take a train from Paris to Strasbourg. After doing more research, I found the company Ouigo Train (pronounced “we go”).

SCNF is the official French Railway, so I went to the website, and was surprised to find tickets were almost €100 for a one way ticket.

They offer fares as low as €10.  For my trip from Paris to Strasbourg, I actually found those €10 fares for the day I wanted to travel.  Though I wasn’t as lucky for the return trip, I still found €16 fares.

I found the trains to be no more difficult or no less comfortable than any other train I have been on, so it was well worth the savings of over €100 per person.

The only challenge is that there are not as many options.  For example, for my trip to Strasbourg, there was only one train.  It left at 6:53 a.m. and it left from Paris CDG Airport, Terminal 2, and arrived an hour and 53 minutes later (about the same time as the TGV).

I know this is early, so consider staying at a hotel in the town of Roissy, a short, 15 minute, FREE bus ride away from the train station at CDG Terminal 2.

How to use Ouigo

Go to www.ouigo.com.  If you use Google Chrome, it will automatically translate the website for you.

Input your origin and destination.

If you try to put in any other date than the current date, be aware that the site messes up and you have to delete the gibberish and enter the date manually in the format DD/MM/YYYY

If you are traveling one way, leave the return box open.  Choose how many people are traveling.

Click on “Search”.

Click on your train, and a side bar will show up giving you some upsell options.  Click on your choice.

Then scroll down and click “Validate”.

Fill in your personal information

Check the box that says “I accept the general conditions of sale” and then click on validate.

On the next page, scroll down and click on the pay button.

Input your payment information and click on “Pay”

Wait for your confirmation.

Be aware:  you will not get your ticket at this time.  You will get an email with a pdf of your ticket attached within 5 days of departure.

Or you can download the Ouigo app, and your ticket will be available on your phone within 5 days of departure.

Conclusion

If you are looking to travel by train within France, check Ouigo first, and save yourself a lot of money.