Amsterdam's cultural scene: (re)discover the city with the City Card
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Published on 4/9/26
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Have you decided to take the train more often? Bravo, it's a great way to get around ecological, practical and comfortable ! Problem: contrary to your desire to travel ecologically, your wallet is not expandable... Don't give up hope, it's possible to make a rail journey without breaking the bank. We present you all our best tips for paying less your train ticket!
In case you missed it: we're launching our app! How does it work? The ultimate low-carbon travel app (yes, nothing less). How does it work? HOURRAIL! and Railee have teamed up to simplify your travels without planes or cars with :
The HOURRAIL app!
Thanks to the success of our participatory funding campaign on Ulule and to all our beta-testers, the application will soon be in your hands!
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Saving rhymes with anticipate ! It's not always easy, but if you want to find low-cost tickets, planning ahead is the best option.
Most tickets can be booked several months in advance (for TGV Inoui and INTERCITÉS, SNCF Voyageurs generally puts its tickets on sale 4 months in advance). For trains low cost It's possible to book even earlier! And for journeys during school vacations, SNCF Voyageurs has announced a date when sales will open. To find out when to book your tickets, go to on our dedicated article !
Summary table from our book "Travelling by train with HOURRAIL!" (page 258)
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Travel by train with HOURRAIL: our travel book
And to make sure you don't miss any of our sales openings, don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter (free low-carbon travel tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox every other Thursday):
Passing through our turnkey holiday booking tool In partnership with Verytrain, you can save money on your trip! In concrete terms, you can take advantage of :
As you can imagine, if you want to pay less, it's best not to leave at the same time as everyone else. We therefore advise you to as far as possible, avoid peak periods (Friday and Sunday evenings, school vacations, etc.).. For example, Saturday morning trains (excluding school vacations) are often less expensive than Friday evening trains. If your situation allows it, it might be worth a try!
The widespread use of telecommuting encourages this flexibility: it is now possible to work on TGVs, which are almost all equipped with Wifi and an electrical socket (a few euros extra for low-cost trains). Instead of leaving at 1:30 on a Friday evening, why not take the 3pm train?
Please note: early morning trains to major cities are not always the cheapest, as many employees use them to get to work.
We're absolving ourselves of any responsibility for teleworkers who find other occupations on the train!
Pro tip: some airlines even offer special deals for travelers who can be flexible. This is the case with Eurostar with its last minute Eurostar Snap. How does it work? You choose your vacation dates (you can book 14 days before departure for London and a few days before for other cities), take advantage of 50% off tickets and in exchange, Eurostar takes care of the rest: you receive your train timetable at least 48 hours before your journey. A great plan if you can be flexible!
You're probably already familiar with Ouigo, the low-cost commercial service launched by SNCF in 2013. The subsidiary has announced that it has carried more than 110 million passengers since its inception more than 10 years ago! Now, more than 50 destinations are available for low-cost travel.
But don't forget the OUIGO Train Classique option. It may be slower, but it gets you to Paris, Rennes, Nantes, Lyon and a dozen other destinations for tickets from €10 to €49!
These TER or Corail trains, branded "OUIGO", will get you to your destination for a very low price, in exchange for a longer journey time.
Another advantage: the price remains fixed from the opening of sales to the departure of the train. Discover all destinations served by this offer.
For this unbeatable price, the service offered is inevitably different from the TGV:
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But if your first concern is to pay less, then this is the offer for you!
Don't forget TER or INTERCITÉS which generally cost less than TGVs, since they are operated under a public service contract.
And let's not forget Europe's new kid on the block: GoVolta also known as the "easyJet of rail"! How does it work? From tickets from €10. Amsterdam - Berlin, Hamburg, and soon Paris... These low-cost trains could well change the way you travel around Europe without blowing your budget (or your carbon footprint). We tell you all about it in this article :
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GoVolta: Europe's New Low-Cost Trains (Prices, Routes, Dates)
Think comparators! If you only use SNCF Connect However, you won't have access to the offers of other carriers, who may sometimes offer lower fares and different timetables.
On certain routes open to competition (such as Paris-Milan or Marseille-Barcelona), we recommend comparators such as :
If trains low cost don't suit you, the Avantage discount cards offered by the SNCF make for great bargains. If you take the train more than three times a year, don't miss out - your card will quickly pay for itself!
A discount card for every profile
The price of 49 € is the same for all cards (except the Liberté card). The principle is simple: a 30% discount is offered on all routes, with price caps in second class, but the terms and conditions vary according to profile.
In all cases, if you take the TGV for more than 3 hours, the cost of the card is recouped in just 1 round trip ! And here's the icing on the cake: you can give the same discount to the person accompanying you.
The only downside is that the menu is not not valid for OUIGO trains or some TER trains and is limited if you're aged between 27 and 59 (only round-trip journeys that include a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night qualify for discounts).
Good to know: during "black week" in november, advantage cards are sold at half price! Alternatively, you can also wait until late summer or May because it is usually sold at half price (knowing that if you already have a valid Avantage card, you have up to 5 months to activate the new).
Find out more about Avantage discount cards here.
Are you between 16 and 27 years old? Do you take the train at least 2 or 3 times a month and are you flexible when it comes to travel? For heavy train users, SNCF also has an offer that allows you to travel without damaging your wallet or your carbon footprint for 79 €/month.
Youth card
The principle? 25% discount on your TGV inOui, TER or INTERCITÉS tickets once a year. To benefit, simply fill in an online form.
Find out all about the MAX JEUNE offer here.
You've probably already heard of Interrail pass which is very useful if you plan to travel in Europe by train. There are multi-country passes and passes valid only in one country.
The advantage of this pass? Flexibility! You can change your itinerary at any time. However, some trains have to be booked in advance: in this case, you'll have to pay an additional fee to confirm your reservation. To find out more, visit Interrail website.
But there are other lesser-known passes for unlimited or almost unlimited travel across Europe! These include the German D-Ticket, the Trenitalia Pass, the Rail Pass French... Find out more in our article dedicated to the different Passes for traveling in Europe.
And because even we sometimes have trouble finding our way around, we've included a summary table in our book. Travel by train with HOURRAIL!. It's a gift:
The different rail passes in Europe - "Carnet pratique" section of our book "Voyager en train avec HOURRAIL!" published by Hachette (Pages 260 and 261)
This little-known offer is available to all (except students) and gives you a 25% discount each year on a return train ticket.
Inherited from the struggles for paid vacations, this annual leave offer had become obsolete. In fact, you had to go to the station to apply.
That's no longer the case! All you have to do is fill in an online form here to submit your request. Only one condition: the distance of the journey must exceed 200 km to be eligible for the scheme.
Bargains are a dime a dozen... but you still need to know where to find them! Here are a few accounts to follow to keep abreast of the latest promotions:
Your favorite low-carbon media is available on social networks (Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, Linkedin...): we try to gather as many tips and inspiration as possible to reduce the carbon footprint of your travels.
And to make sure you don't miss out, don't forget to subscribe to Locomissive our bimonthly newsetter to help you travel without burdening your carbon footprint or your wallet!
What could be better than the SNCF's instagram accounts to be quickly informed of a promotion? Good to know: there are also regular promotions on advantage cards.
The instagram account of our friends at voyagerentrain.fr, with lots of rail tips and tricks.
Now there's no excuse not to take the train! So, when are you leaving?
Issue du monde de la communication et des médias, Sophie est Responsable éditoriale chez HOURRAIL ! depuis août 2024. Elle est notamment derrière le contenu éditorial du site ainsi que La Locomissive (de l'inspiration voyage bas carbone et des bons plans, un jeudi sur deux, gratuitement dans ta boîte mail !).
Convaincue que les changements d’habitude passent par la transformation de nos imaginaires, elle s’attache à montrer qu’il est possible de voyager autrement, de manière plus consciente, plus lente et plus joyeuse. Son objectif : rendre le slow travel accessible à toutes et tous, à travers des astuces, des décryptages et surtout, de nouveaux récits.
