OUIGO review: What’s it like to travel on the low cost train line? 

Last Updated on 13th June 2025 by Sophie Nadeau

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If you’re looking for a train where you can travel across long distances across France for low cost fares, then OUIGO is a popular option. I’ve taken trains with this company more times than I can count and travelling with OUIGO often feels like the no frills train equivalent to travelling with a budget airline. So here’s my complete OUIGO review, as well as things to know before taking the train.

Is OUIGO worth it? In short, if you’re looking for cheap and cheerful prices and don’t really mind compromising on comfort in order to save some of your budget for other aspects of your trip, then OUIGO is worth it (probably).

However, if you’re looking for a longer answer, then read on for a full breakdown of how to buy tickets, what to know before booking a OUIGO train, and what the trains are like. Furthermore, if you’re travelling with kids, then OUIGO offers very cheap children’s’ fares.

Where does OUIGO run?

OUIGO is a high speed train service in France, meaning that it goes between major cities and destinations in France like Nice, Marseille, Cannes, Paris, Marne-la-Vallée (Disneyland Paris), Nantes, Lille, and CDG airport. The train runs up to 300 km an hour (sometimes up to 320 km an hour on some lines).

As of 2021, OUIGO also offers trains in Spain. As of 2022, OUIGO introduced OUIGO Classique, which differs from their ‘Grand Vitesse’ (high speed offerings). Basically, the trains will take you to more destinations, but at the usual speed of a normal train, on classic inter-city non high speed routes as opposed to a high speed one.

What is difference between OUIGO and TGV?

SNCF Voyageurs is a French transportation company with two offerings: TGV INOUI and OUIGO. Both are high speed train lines, with one offering a higher level of comfort, with the other offering a lower cost offering for the budget conscious traveller.

OUIGO is a low-cost branch of the SNCF group which was established in 2013. The idea was taken straight from low-cost airlines, where you get a seat at a low cost (from as little as 10 euros for an adult and 5 euros for a child) and pretty much nothing else. You have to pay for extras like a plug socket or a seat reservation.

There is only one class aboard OUIGO trains: second class seats. This is different from the TGV INOUI service, where you can book seats in different classes and there are other amenities aboard like the opportunity to buy snacks and drinks.

OUIGO trains also tend to run less frequently than their TGV counterparts and also tend to serve less desirable stations (i.e. ones which are a little way out of town).

Where can you buy OUIGO train tickets?

OUIGO train tickets are only available online and only then at a few vendors. You can buy tickets directly on the site www.ouigo.com, where you’ll find tickets for as little as 10 euros to Lyon or Bordeaux.

You can also buy train tickets at www.sncf-connect.com without a booking fee or at www.thetrainline.com for a small booking fee. You can’t buy OUIGO tickets at stations and you can’t buy them on most online vendors. Eurail and Interrail passes aren’t valid on these services. If you book these trains in conjunction with other fares, this is at your own risk as, if the train is delayed, you could end up missing your connection.

You can only buy tickets with a credit or debit card issued in the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St Pierre & Miquelon, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, United Kingdom.

If you don’t have one of the above cards, then you can go on The Train Line and select the option to pay with PayPal. Unfortunately this does mean that you’ll have to pay the (small) extra booking fee. You could also pay on SNCF connect and use Apple Pay.

When it comes to presenting your ticket, there is nowhere at the station to print it out. You’ll have to present a mobile phone version of your ticket via a QR code or alternatively print the ticket out.

How much are OUIGO tickets?

Dynamic pricing is in place so the more popular the train route and the closer to your journey date you book, the more expensive the train will be. Tickets are advertised as starting at €10, though these typically sell out pretty fast. Realistically, you’ll be looking at €20 to €60 per ticket.

OUIGO Essentiel or OUIGO Plus?

As I mentioned, there is only one class of seat on OUIGO. The difference between these two fares is that one is the no frills fare (much like taking a Ryanair flight with no extras) and the other includes a seat reservation, one bag, some streaming content on WiFi (because, yes, this is also a payable service), and faster boarding at some Paris stations (though I’ve never seen this ‘faster boarding’ process in action).

If you want to bring a bag and make a seat reservation, then OUIGO Plus is the cheaper bundle to get. If you just want to choose your own seat and don’t need to bring anything more than a cabin bag, then it’s cheaper to pay for OUIGO Essentiel and pay for the extra seat selection supplement (which we will detail below).

Do OUIGO trains have bathrooms?

Yes, OUIGO trains have basic amenities like bathrooms and air conditioning. However, there is no dining carriage or dining trolley aboard and so be sure to come well prepared with your own drinks and snacks (especially if you have an hours long journey ahead of you).

Baggage on OUIGO trains

There’s one important aspect that you should bear in mind when booking OUIGO trains and that is, if you want to bring anything larger than a cabin bag, you’re meant to pay a supplement of 5 euros (maximum of two large bags per person).

In theory, only people who have paid for baggage are allowed to use the luggage racks at either end of the cabin but in practice everyone does so there’s never enough space for all large bags. Those who are not paid are meant to put their cabin bags under their seats.

I have been on OUIGO trains where people have been checked if they have paid for bags or not (similar to low cost airlines) and I have been on trains where they haven’t been checked. I would recommend arriving to your train as soon as possible for the aforementioned luggage issues.

Seat reservations

You have to pay if you want to choose your own seat, which I highly recommend doing so as to avoid central middle seats. You already get a seat as part of the OUIGO Plus option. If you don’t need a bag and want to add a seat reservation to OUIGO essentiel, then there are a few options available:

• Solo – if you want the single seat in the downstairs carriage you’ll have to pay a fee of €7
• Standard place – in a duo (upstairs) or a trio (downstairs) €3
• If you want a plug socket – (only downstairs) €3

Things to know before taking OUIGO

Pay close attention to the train station you’re booking to and from: Many larger cities in France have several train stations, some of which can be quite a distance from the city centre and may not be that convenient for you to travel to if you then have to pay an additional taxi or bus fare to get to your final destination.

OUIGO trains are at inconvenient times: One of the main reasons which OUIGO services are so cheap are that they travel at times that most people don’t want to travel at. This can include really early in the morning (we recently took one at 6:30 AM) and at lunch time.

OUIGO tickets are nonrefundable: One of the next reasons why OUIGO is so cheap is that tickets are non refundable, which can make them kind of inconvenient. However, for a supplement of 19 euros (plus the fare difference of the new train), you can switch your ticket for up to 30 minutes prior to departure.

There’s no catering onboard: As I mentioned, there’s nowhere onboard to buy food or drinks so come well prepared with your own snacks and drinks. We made sure to come with lots of water, some snacks, and even a few sandwiches as we would be travelling through lunchtime.

You have to show your ID prior to boarding: Much like the baggage situation, there are trains I’ve been on where you have to show your ID together with your ticket to board the train and there are trains I’ve been on where you haven’t had to show your ID prior to boarding.

There are no plug outlets onboard: Unfortunately there are no electrical plug sockets onboard (which honestly is a bit convenient if you’re planning to work on a six hour train) unless you pay an extra supplement of 2 euros to sit in the quiet carriage. For longer journeys, this is definitely worth it, but if you’re only travelling for a few hours, I recommend just bringing along a power bank!

You have to be at the station half an hour before boarding: Another inconvenience of taking the OUIGO from the departure station is that boarding starts half an hour before boarding and doors close fifteen minutes before the train departure. This takes away a bit of the ease of taking the train, where you can usually rock up just a few minutes ahead of time.

Information and announcements are only in French: The first difficulty you might find when wishing to book a OUIGO train is that the actual OUIGO website is only in French. You can get around this by purchasing tickets on the Train Line or on SNCF Connect. Announcements on the train and in stations are only in French.

What does OUIGO look like?

All OUIGO trains are in the same format, and as I previously mentioned, all seats are the same (2nd) class. Each train seats 1268 passengers (634 per trainset), making this 20% more than regular TGV trains.

The train carriages are reformatted TGV Duplex trains, meaning that they’re double decker and have the catering carriage removed. The upstairs comprises of two seats by two seats while the downstairs is comprised of three seats by a single seat.

There is one set of tables per train carriage, meaning that if you want to grab a table, then you should book a seat with a reservation well in advance. I would try and avoid the downstairs set of three seats unless you’re travelling as part of a group as there are no arm rests in these seats and so you end up being pretty close to your neighbour!

Between each carriage you’ll find toilets upstairs and downstairs, as well as luggage racks. There are also luggage racks at the ends in the inside of the carriages (and most people don’t realise that these exist so you can often squeeze your bags in this area if the other ones are full). The luggage racks closest to the doors are also where the trash cans are located.

Is OUIGO worth it?

The answer as to whether or not these low cost trains are worth it will depend entirely on what kind of traveller you are. If you’re prepared to travel at inconvenient times and bring your own food and drink aboard in order to save some money, then I would say they’re worth it (with some caveats).

I would not travel on this train without paying the supplement to choose my own seat (so as to avoid the middle seat downstairs which is honestly a little bit too cosy for me!) All in all the experience is fine and not horrible. I personally enjoy having such a cheap option to travel across France and would recommend it as long as you prepare well in advance!