Our friends and family have expressed interest in travelling to us via train from the UK (Eurostar, then TGV) and our nearest TGV station is Poitiers. However, the price difference compare to flying (Ryanair) is often shockingly huge.
Does anyone here have any tips for getting the best train ticket prices? We’re not interested in replacing Fast (TGV) train services with buses ,etc.
There are discount cards you can get from SNCF for various age groups, but probably only worth paying for if you make multiple trips.
Otherwise the usual advice is to purchase well in advance - last minute tickets are usually the most expensive.
Using Inoui/OuiGo rather than SNCF services will be cheaper, as will travelling off-peak and on less popular days.
The Trainline website is worth checking - https://www.thetrainline.com/
ETA: Schemes for Cheap Train Tickets in France – Minimalist.Travel
Thanks, I based my research on Trainline.com
How far in advance is booking recommended. I was looking at dates in July, so 3 months from now. The best prices were around 240 Euros return, around double the price of a Ryanair flight from Stansted.
I can’r help you with train prices but I can advise you to keep anything nickable locked away from thieving hands.
My son and his 2 teenagers travelled to Paris from London and from there to Angouleme, but the hire car he had booked from there to visit us had to be cancelled because his wallet and driving licence was nicked on the Metro.
So a 10 day holiday driving his family around the local area was ruined.
I think they say as far in advance as you can.
yes the train is always going to be more expensive than flying - it is in the UK too - but you get more legroom, it;s easier to get up and stretch your legs, the food is better (usually), you can watch the scenery go by, and award yourself smugness points for having helped save the planet.
Plus you never know you might get to meet Audrey Tautou. 
Hi Vitesse
If it’s just a return they’re after then no point looking at Interrail, or Eurrail if they qualify.
UK rail passes won’t do much for you.
Either build it by getting to somewhere like Portsmouth and mixing with foot passenger ticket on ferry, then train to Poitiers or your local station. French railcards cost 50 euros or a bit more that gives 1 year validity, I think there is a “companion” aspect to one type, broadly speaking you can get up to about 30% off quite a lot of French trains. They have promos that take a bit off the French railcards, there should be one soonish. But the SNCF site wasn’t showing me the cheaper rate to book unless I had a valid railcard on the looking/booking date - this may have changed now. If you do get a French railpass check all classes of travel especially in July and August.
Sometimes further away stations on the same line are cheaper - it’s worth testing but be sure it’s the same train.
Or if you want Eurostar then book it separately IME. Then to and from the French destination depending on what deal you can get with or without a French railcard. In the past starting from some non-London stations through to Paris could be cheaper sometimes - eg Peterborough, Newcastle. But starting from the UK, not through to a non-Paris French destination IME.
If your outward journey is from a non-Paris French station, so your ticket is France-London (not sure if non-London UK in this direction)-France not the other way round, then French railcard can make the journey much cheaper. Plus it’s on one ticket you are ‘protected’ and can take any other reasonable train if Eurostar or your French train misses each other’s connections.
Personally I detest Ryanair but if you can keep the luggage costs down it’s probably the simplest and not just to Poitiers.
Don’t write off other airports, or BA or Easyjet or even KLM (that also get you AF planes sometimes) if they’re not in London.
PS Trains book up as soon as they’re released which is a few times per year - it’s not just how far ahead.
Look at
https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/train-ticket
If you can be a bit flexible on times/dates, you can get some really good deals on TGV or TER etc trains. We got Carcassonne to Marseilles return for two adults for €64 recently. I’ve also looked at Carcassonne to Paris and managed to find return tickets for two adults for around €100. I think if you try to do it on one ticket then you will possibly pay well over the odds. Look at it using separate tickets.
Edit: I agree with what @KarenLot says. Build the journey yourself, and using a cheap passenger ferry to get you to France and going from there rather than doing Eurotunnel to Paris will end up much cheaper. Of course, it’s not as convenient.
A french friend in the UK had a french app on his phone. We compared a journey that I would maybe use to get to the house and his app made things a lot cheaper than booking from the UK on the same trains so as Karen says build your trip rather than rely on the trainline. I was going to be charged about £80 from my home to Birmingham. I crossed London on my std ticket oyster card and just booked the ticket from Euston I think it was to Birmingham and that bit was only £16! So whole journey was about £24 not £80. Scamdalous but true. Whether things have improved I dont know.
It’s usually the Eurostar costs that make it expensive. Trainline etc all make sure there’s plenty of transit time so it’s hard to link the chap train to Paris with a cheaper Eurostar ticket.
Add a UK rail ticket on and it gets very pricey
I find sncf-connect has best prices so don’t use thetrainline. But, as said, you need to book in advance. Think the furthest you can book is 6 months away, although annoyingly the app will let you put in 12 months’ time before unhelpfully telling you that there aren’t any trains 
Don’t forget that you automatically get a 30kg suitcase allowance per person included in the price, whereas with Ryanair, easyJet, etc… the headline price is without any baggage.
I just put in some random dates and could see Montparnasse - Poitiers tickets for €40 each way, via InOui. An equivalent train journey in the UK would be much more… Plus with SNCF you’re guaranteed a seat.
Sadly I don’t know a way of getting cheap Eurostar tickets 
You need to check your specific journey. We have just been back to UK via train to Paris and Eurostar and it was cheaper buying it in one do via SNCF connect. Plus if there is a problem with one leg of the journey they will be more willing to help you sort it.
It takes bit of juggling as we have several options of starting stations, and can be reasonably flexible. And sometimes picking up Eurostar at Lille is better. So often have ipad, laptop and desktop connected while we compare and contrats routes/prices. This time was just under €200 return each, with a 2 hour pit stop in Paris for coffee with a friend. We don’t carry any luggage. Tho’ we did pop in some proper cheese for family in UK.
If we fly the ticket might be cheap but it doesn’t really end up any quicker. And add on airport parking and travel into central London, plus the appalling experience factor and the extra for the train is worth it.
Just check strike days either side of the channel!
Crikey that’s not bad, much better than when I last checked.
I’m currently planning a trip this summer as some friends are renewing their wedding vows. I’d automatically excluded Eurostar from my searches but maybe I should check again.
Eurostar are pretty good though if you miss your train, regardless of who you booked it with. Coming back to UK from Le Mans a few years ago our TGV was 45 minutes late arriving at Gare Montparnasse due to a signalling failure or some such - we missed our scheduled Eurostar back to London but they put us on the next one no bother.
But yes you do have to shop around a lot and try all the different avenues. It’s the same with UK rail services where all the different companies make booking a long-distance journey a major headache.
But SNCF are rubbish! We were delayed returning from London for christmas one year and missed a local connexion due to their problems. We had booked the tickets separately so they refused to help which left us with a hugely expensive taxi.
I don’t know how good or bad this was, but my son booked himself and 2 teenagers from London to Angouleme for £1,000, or it might have been euros.
He booked everything, his flights from Macao, via Bangkok, trains across London after meeting the kids (who had come at their Mum’s expense from Wales), metro across Paris (may not have been included), hotel in Angouleme and 10 day’s car hire. (the latter cancelled because of his licence being nicked on the metro). All of that through some single travel company.
You need to select specific day and time of day for the best prices. Lowest Eurostar is £39 I think.
Ouigo is usually cheaper than TGV Inoui. Smaller set of destinations (probably not Poitiers). Also a bit less flexible, and slightly more of an “economy” feel to it. No complementary wifi. But tickets can be as low as €20 for Paris-Marseille.
For Eurostar it’s really hard to get the cheap £39 tickets unless you are ultra flexible on your travel times/dates.
You can get a discount card for TGV Inoui for €49. The trick here is it’s often half price during Black Friday sales and at the start of the year (I believe), so look out for it. That gets you some pretty hefy discounts (like -30%) for you and your fellow traveler. Also ticket prices are capped which is very useful when you are taking tickets last minute.
https://www.sncf-connect.com/app/catalogue/description/carte-avantage-adulte
You can book those tickets now. But remember it’s Olympic year, my sister has inexplicably booked a trip from London to Cannes on the 31st of July, just for 5 days and it’s cost her over £400 return, Eurostar a d TGV, she was going to stay overnight in Paris, then saw hotel prices, so she’s staying overnight in Kings Cross flea pit instead.
The group Brits living in the EU27 is very enthusiastic about rail travel. You might ask your question there although you have had some very helpful replies here.