I just tried to book a train on SNCF from Paris to Cologne and this happens to be during the time of the soccer games (June 23) ... an error message came up saying %26quot; We cannot make a reservation for this train. Foreign reservations closed.%26quot; Can anyone locally in Paris give me an idea of how hard it may be to get to Germany during this time?
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I just ran a quick check on www.thalys.com and it seemed to be fine. No really cheap tickets available for your date, but there seemed to be seats on all the trains still.
Give it a try and if it doesn%26#39;t work for you give another holler.
It%26#39;s possible that the SNCF booking system was just temporarily down. They tend to do whatever maintenace/updating they need to do in the early AM hours Paris time.
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I think SNCF, being the French National system, can%26#39;t make reservations for trains which don%26#39;t pass through France - if you%26#39;re changing in Brussels, this might be causing the problem for your onward travel. As Irish suggests, use Thalys which is presumably the train operator for all parts of your journey.
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It looks like you tried your operation just when one of the involved site was unavailable (the scnf has to %26#39;call%26#39; the belgian rail system to get the price for the leg Bruxelles -Koln)
I just tried just a couple of minutes ago (sncf) and was offered to book (82.50 or 85 Euros for 2nd class - june 23)
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Okay, I%26#39;m not getting the error message now - yes, must have been a glitch. I%26#39;ve gone to both sncf and thalys to try to book - I go as far as I can through the process and when it comes to the point of selecting how you want to obtain the tickets, it does not give me the option to print my own. I know there is MorganB%26#39;s very good explanation of ticketing which I%26#39;ve read on TA, but no matter which way I try I don%26#39;t get that option. However, if I reserve online, will I simply be able to go to the train station and retrieve that reservation, without having any paperwork? Just an ID, credit card, etc to show proof of myself?
I am actually heading to Dusseldorf as my final destination that day and will go through Koln.
Another question - for a day trip to Normandy or to Versailles out of Paris, is an advanced train reservation necessary or will you pay a much higher rate if you just buy at the time of travel?
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You don%26#39;t need to worry about your trip to Versailles as the best way to get there is by RER and a round trip ticket in any case is not expensive, between 5€ and 6€ IIRC. You might want to buy a RT ticket rather than two one way tickets. You won%26#39;t save any money but you might avoid long ticket lines at Versailles Rive Gauche when you want to return to Paris.
For your Normandy trip, if you are going e.g. from Paris to Caen initially, you may be able to save money by pre-booking. PREMs tix on this route are 15€ one way, ordinary second class fares almost double that.
Good luck!
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PS: I think your other Q about your trip to Germany was answered in another thread, was it not?
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Yes, I did find the answer to picking up Thalys tickets and that it can be done at the train station - thank you.
I will probably pre-book Normandy, but not Versailles since we won%26#39;t be sure of going there - trying to not do too much in 5 days, but will see if it%26#39;s do-able once there... Thanks for the information!
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