Travel Around France With A Carte Jeune Discount Card

France has great infrastructure for transport and you can easily move yourself around the country via the national train system.

SNCF will be your best option! Depending on how much travel you expect to do within France, it might be worth purchasing a Carte Jeune (Youth Card). It’s a paid subscription that is valid for one year and gives you access to Youth prices and other discounts! The subscription fee is €50 and you can order it online and pick it up at any major metro station in Paris.

Travelers aged 12-28 are eligible for the Carte Jeune and taking an average of three train trip, the card pays for itself. The discounts are between 40-60% off when you use your Carte Jeune, it can also give you discounted prices for higher classes!

For example, I took a train from Paris to the French Alps. The full fare was €90, but I decided to buy the Carte Jeune and it gave me immediate 50% discount on that ticket. The total price was €95 but it meant that any train/bus ticket purchased via SNCF would be at a discounted rate, so already the subscription was paying for itself.

Another cool thing about the card is that it gives you points based on trips taken – once you reach 10 trips, you become a ‘grand voyageur’ and you are entitled to 20-30% additional discounts on your trips. At 20 trips + you enter higher levels of ‘voyageur’ and gain access to even better deals!

I wrote an article about how I used the SNCF Train System to travel around France for six months – it shows the distances traveled along with the train info and prices : Six Months Of Train Travel Around France.

Remember, the cheapest and best way to see the country is to travel around France with a Carte Jeune discount card.

Feature image source: raileurope.ca