Paris to Bayonne Blog Snips

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In order to ride any SNCF/ TGV train,ie from Paris/Montparnasse to Bayonne, you need a reserved seat. You can book these trains 3 months in advance via this French web site. The earlier you book your seat the cheaper it is. Other web sites are also available but may change a booking fee. However you can also ‘wing it’ and simply book and purchase the TGV ticket in the station before departure at the full price and as long as there is space available.

For the TER ligne 62 regional train from Bayonne to SJPdP there are NO reservations. However for convenience you can purchase this ticket in advance at the same time that you book/purchase your TGV ticket or simply purchase it when you arrive in Bayonne.

Also, check the time tables. I believe that the schedule between Gare Montparnasse (Paris) and Bayonne changes around Easter. I am booked for a 10:25 departure on 21 April….

bayonne to st jean

 

I finally got a chance to check the forum. It’ s been a busy day. I unpacked, reweighed every item, and repacked my rucksack for next week’s departure to France. My packing is a work in progress.;)

As to the train tickets, for someone living in North America, the easiest method is to buy a ticket online at www.raileurope.com. However, and as Margaret (MSPATH) mentions, you can buy the tickets earlier on the SNCF web site, though the site is only available in French. Last year, I bought my tickets from Rail Europe. This year, I bought direct from SNCF. Here are several tips:

  1. If you are at least 60 years old, you qualify for “senior” fares on SNCF. The bottom line is that you can go first class for about the price of an second class ticket for someone 59 or younger. That’s what I did this year.
  2. Make sure you contact your bank, or the company servicing the credit card you will use to pay for the ticket. I went through four, different credit and debit cards before I figured out the US side was blocking these transactions as suspect fraud. Once I contacted my Visa office, they placed a note on the account and I told them I would make the purchase in 48-hours. I did, no problem.
  3. If you buy your tickets direct from SNCF, and you plan to take the train all the way to St. Jean Pied de Port, you need to buy TWO separate tickets:
    • The first ticket you need is the SNCF / TGV ticket from Paris to Bayonne. During that transaction you select a seat.
    • The second ticket you need is for the SNCF / TER regional train that runs from Bayonne to St. Jean. It is a sort of light-rail vehicle that only goes up the line to St. Jean (also the end of the line), stopping at several villages along the way. The web site to buy the TER regional ticket is: http://www.ter-sncf.com/Regions/aquitaine/Fr/Default.aspx
    • It is only in French.
I use Google Chrome as my browser so it translates to English on the fly. The TER train in one class, and has no reservations. In both ticket cases, you end up with a printed ticket (on your home printer).If you buy from Rail Europe, in my experience, I was only able to buy a second class ticket and THEY assigned the seat for the TGV. On the the other hand, I recall having a single, locally-printed ticket to show the conductor.I hope this helps.​
Pam & David,Welcome to the Forum!Are you looking for space in a pilgrim albergue or private tourist accommodation such as a hotel or bed & breakfast (chambre d’hote) ?

Here are three separate listings from the SJPdP Office de Tourisme for
pilgrim albergues, hotels and chambres d’hotes in SJPdP itself.

In SJPdP I always stay in the municipal albergue run by the volunteers of the Amis du Chemin de Saint Jacques. At 55 rue de la Citadelle and recently renovated this is a fine place to stay, but they do NOT take reservations.

However do stop at the pilgrim office of the Amis du Chemin de Saint Jacques at 39 rue de la Citadelle. Their telephone is 05 59 37 05 09. They can provide you with a Credential, helpful info on trail conditions and if needed on site lodging assistance. They keep up to the minute lists of ALL available accommodation space throughout the SJPdP area.

Happy planning and Buen Camino,

Margaret Meredith

The train from Montparnasse Station in Paris to Bayonne direct takes a little over five hours. You then have to get a connecting train from Bayonne to St Jean. The train from Bayonne to St Jean ordinarily takes one hour and 20 minutes, but there were heavy rains in March which caused a landslide that has blocked the line. There is a replacement bus service running from Bayonne to Saint Jean, which takes one hour and 25 minutes. Here’s the timetable for the replacement bus (it also shows the timetable for the trains that were running prior to the landslide):
http://telechargement.ter-sncf.com/…ies_jeu_27_mars_nouvel_avis_tcm-11-101460.pdf

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