Opening of SNCF Christmas and winter 2026-2027 ticket sales
Date and times of train ticket sales opening
4.7 out of 1146 reviews
Next ticket sales opening
September 30 at 05:45 AM
Tickets for TGV INOUI journeys between December 13, 2026 and January 7, 2027 go on sale on September 30, 2026 at 05:45 AM (Paris time).
In the meantime, coach and carpooling journeys can already be booked for those dates.
Ticket sales opening calendar by carrier
- Upcoming
Paris time
- From Dec 13, 2026 to Jan 7, 2027TGV INOUI (all destinations), TGV Lyria, INTERCITÉS, INTERCITÉS de Nuit
- From Jan 7, 2027 to Apr 1, 2027TGV INOUI France–Italie, TGV INOUI France–Espagne, TGV Lyria
- From Dec 13, 2026 to Jul 3, 2027TGV INOUI Bruxelles, Luxembourg, Fribourg
- From Dec 13, 2026 to Mar 29, 2027TER Grand Est
- From Dec 13, 2026 to Feb 28, 2027TER Nomad
- Upcoming
Paris time
- From Jan 7, 2027 to Apr 1, 2027TGV INOUI, TGV INOUI Sud-Est, INTERCITÉS, INTERCITÉS de Nuit
- From Apr 1, 2027 to Jul 3, 2027TGV Lyria
- Upcoming
Paris time
- From Jul 3, 2027 to Dec 12, 2027TGV Lyria
Already on sale (3 openings)
- On sale
Paris time
- From Jul 4, 2026 to Dec 13, 2026TGV INOUI (all destinations), TGV Lyria
- On sale
Paris time
- From Aug 31, 2026 to Dec 13, 2026INTERCITÉS, INTERCITÉS de Nuit
- On sale
Paris time
- From Sep 17, 2026 to Dec 13, 2026TER Grand Est
Why book on opening day?
During end-of-year holidays and winter breaks, trains are overwhelmed. Prices climb fast and some routes sell out within hours.
The cheapest tickets go within the first few minutes. Imagine a highly anticipated concert: the best seats are taken first. For trains, it's exactly the same.
Booking early isn't risky either: most Prem's tickets remain refundable and exchangeable without fees up to 7 days before departure. You secure the price, you keep flexibility.
Tickets not yet open? Travel anyway
That's the difference between a train comparison site and Tictactrip: even when SNCF sales aren't open for your dates, buses and carpooling already are. So you can book right away, or compare both on the day to choose the best price.
A few routes to compare right now:
- Paris - Lyon
- Paris - Marseille
- Paris - Bordeaux
- Paris - Nantes
- Paris - Strasbourg
- Paris - Lille
- Paris - Toulouse
- Paris - Nice
- Paris - Rennes
- Paris - Montpellier
- Lyon - Marseille
- Paris - Brussels
Ski this winter
Ski resorts fill up even faster than main lines: on a school holiday weekend, direct trains to the Alps often sell out within the first week of sales.
The Altibus shuttles, which serve the main French resorts from valley train stations, open their sales at the beginning of autumn. It's the natural complement to a train journey, and Tictactrip sells you both in a single booking.
How to pay less for your ticket
Book in advance
Outside major periods, SNCF tickets open approximately four months before departure. For Christmas, winter, spring and summer, SNCF instead sets a single opening date, earlier: these are the ones in the calendar above.
Use a discount card
The SNCF Advantage cards (Young, Adult, Senior, Weekend) give -30% off ticket prices and cap fares based on trip duration. They are taken into account directly in Tictactrip search results.
Compare train, bus and carpooling
On the same route, the difference between peak train and a train + bus combination often exceeds 50%. That's the whole point of comparing all three before booking.
Other SNCF sales openings
This page covers Christmas and winter. For the complete calendar, all seasons and all carriers combined, consult the page SNCF ticket sales opening. For the summer period, visit SNCF summer ticket sales opening.
SNCF company FAQ: Winter sales opening
🎟 How to find cheap train tickets this winter?
Whatever your next destination this winter 2026, and whichever transport company (SNCF, OUIGO, Trenitalia, Renfe, etc.), it's entirely possible to find train tickets at attractive prices! 🚆✨
📅 Book your tickets in advance
To travel for less, the best strategy is still to book early. As a general rule, SNCF tickets go on sale about 4 months before departure. And for certain special periods (Christmas, winter, summer), sales open even earlier, on fixed dates.
Result: booking ahead of time means much more affordable tickets and a wider choice of seats. ✅
💳 Take advantage of discount cards
To reduce the price of your trips even further, consider the SNCF Avantage cards (Youth, Adult, Senior, Weekend, etc.). They give you -30% off your tickets and fare caps guaranteeing fixed prices depending on the length of the trip. Ideal for traveling often, even during busy periods.
Opening of SNCF Christmas and winter sales: what you need to know
Each year, SNCF opens Christmas and winter sales on a unique date, announced a few weeks in advance, rather than following the usual four-month rule. This date determines when the lowest fares become available.
Concretely, the opening covers two successive blocks: first the holiday trains, then those for winter and spring vacations. OUIGO Grande Vitesse generally follows the first block, with a wider circulation window that sometimes extends to the following summer.
The exact dates for each carrier are listed in the calendar further up on this page: it is fed by the sales rules used by our booking engine and thus reflects the actual state of the offer.
The useful reflex: prepare your search the day before, know your dates and stations, and launch the reservation as soon as it opens. On the most requested routes and to ski resorts, the lowest prices sell out in a few hours.
