What Is Ouigo? And Is This Budget Train Worthwhile for Crossing Spain, Catalonia, and France? (2023)

What Is Ouigo?

Ouigo is a subsidiary of the SNCF, the French national train company. It has been offering rides between major cities in France since 2013. Prices are much lower generally than on standard trains, starting at €10 and going up to around €100.

The offer is simple, assuming that your priority is to get where you’re going as cheaply as possible without much hassle. For the basic price, you’re limited to a personal item and carry-on sized suitcase; regular-sized luggage costs slightly more.

In 2021, Ouigo began offering limited-city high-speed service in Spain and Catalonia as well, through Ouigo España, which operates separately.

Ouigo trains are fast trains, just like the SNCF’s TGV service, running at 270-320 km/hr (160-199 mph). The exception is the few Ouigo Classic train routes, which began in 2022, and run on regular (non-high-speed) routes in France and hit smaller towns and suburbs.

Ouigo is not effectively marketed to those living outside of these countries (the French Ouigo site, for example, is French-only), but in this article we detail how to take advantage of these cheap tickets, whatever your language and your home country, in the buying section below.

How to Purchase Ouigo Tickets and Get the Best Deals

Ouigo tickets are only available for purchase online. There are three main options.

• The booking platform Trainline is the easiest option for getting tickets for Ouigo. The website is functional and hassle-free, and the routing engine is the best overall for Europe. You’ll see the Ouigo routes for your search as well as other cheap, competing high-speed train routes, traditional train offers, bus routes, and bus+train combos. If you’re flexible, it shows which days are cheapest to travel on. The customer service is decent too. It allows more payment methods, including normal international credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. The downside is that there is sometimes a small booking fee of about 3%. It sells tickets for both Spain and France.
• The next-best option (for France only) is SNCF Connect, the French national operator’s booking site; its chief advantage is no booking fee. This site undergoes a complete overhaul every few years but never really works properly. I have successfully purchased tickets from it, but just as often gotten error messages and aggravation from the official SNCF site. It is particularly difficult to use if you are in a foreign country, using a non-French credit card, or don’t speak French (the language of the error messages).
• Taking those problems to another level are the official Ouigo Spain (English, Catalan, and Spanish) and Ouigo France (French only) sites. The good thing is that they are simple and, like SNCF Connect, don’t charge a booking fee. But they have lots of errors, are not designed for foreigners, and don’t tend to be able to handle our addresses and credit cards. Most crucially for me, they don’t compare route options to traditional trains and competing budget trains, which can lead to missing out on the better deals shown on Trainline. But if you absolutely want to take Ouigo and nothing else, these sites can help you see filter down to only the Ouigo options.

Note that Ouigo tickets are not available from physical train station ticketing windows and shops.

For Spain, note also that Ouigo is no longer the only budget high speed train option; there is also Avlo and Iryo. The standard high-speed trains Ave, Avant, and Alvia can also be cheaper in some cases. We have written a side-by-side comparison of the services, but in brief they’re all comfy and fast and worthwhile. I tend to just take whatever is cheapest in my Trainline search for the day I want to travel.

Check for Ouigo tickets on Trainline

Booking tips for Ouigo:

• When booking in France, pay attention to which train station you are booking to and from. Carefully check which station is best for you; some stations are outside of city centers. This can be great if you’re headed to a specific suburb or to Charles de Gaule Airport. But if you want to go to a city center make sure you’re aware of which train station you’re choosing. Google Maps is useful for determining the additional time and cost to take public transport to/from train stations in France and Spain.
• Pay attention to luggage options, which are shown as you book. Know the size of your bags and know that your bags will actually be checked and have to conform to the restrictions.

Problems with Ouigo Train Bookings and Foreign Credit Cards

For years, Ouigo would mysteriously reject lots of foreigners’ credit cards, even if purchasing through the official SNCF site or Trainline; a good workaround was/is paying on Trainline with PayPal. In its fine print, Ouigo previously stated that it only allowed purchases from these countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium,Cyprus,Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia,French Southern Territories, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, theNetherlands, New Caledonia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St Pierre and Miquelon, Sweden, Switzerland, United States and United Kingdom. (That said, many people from these countries also complained of being blocked.)

We’re leaving this information and workaround here for now because we’re not sure if this is still an issue and would appreciate hearing from readers in the comments of any failures or successes. We’ve reached out to Ouigo as well for info and will update this if any is received.

Is Ouigo Worth It? Weigh the Pros and Cons

I like Ouigo and I take it. But I know what to expect. Here’s what you should consider.

What the Ouigo Experience is Like, and the Extras

On Ouigo trains in France

• Child fares: All children 0-11 years old get their own seats for just €5 (or €8 if starting/ending in the center of Paris). Each child ticket also includes its own luggage, with the same size restrictions as adult fares.
• Large luggage costs extra: You’re allowed to take two small carry-ons (see below for details), and pay €5 extra for large luggage or for a bike (folded/dismantled and in a covering case).
• There is no dining car or bar; bring cold snacks and drinks.

If booking on SNCF-Connect you can also choose these options in some cases:

• Use of an electric socket: €2
• Solo seat: €7

Whether on Trainline or SNCF-Connect, you can buy the options à la carte or choose from:

• Essential: A standard seat with a personal item and cabin luggage (see restrictions in the next section).
• Ouigo Plus: The same except you can choose your seat placement and bring an extra piece of luggage.

Previously French Ouigo trains had an optional quiet area (“place tranquille“) for an extra fee; this appears to have been discontinued.

On Ouigo trains in Spain

• In Spain, children aged 0-3 ride for free on a parent’s lap, and those aged 4-13 ride for €5 with their own seat. Each child ticket includes a free cabin bag. Two child tickets are allowed per adult ticket.
• There is a “OuiBar” with junk food snacks like chips and candy, small sandwiches, a vegan snack box with humus, sodas, beer, wine, other alcoholic drinks, water, coffee, and infusions. Payment is only by card. Don’t count on foreign credit cards working or any particular item being in stock.
• There are electric sockets for use free of charge at the seats (be sure to have a travel plug converter if using non-European devices).

Ouigo Baggage Restrictions

Yes, staff actually check your luggage on boarding for compliance with Ouigo baggage limits. The wording is slightly different for Ouigo France and Ouigo Spain, but the actual requirements are the same. All passengers (including babies and children) can take, for free, either:

• Your personal item (small day pack, rolling laptop case, purse, etc.) can measure up to 27 cm x 36 cm x 15 cm (10.6 in x 14.2 in x 5.9 in).
• Your cabin bag/carry-on luggage can measure up to 55 cm x 35 cm x 25 cm (21.7 in x 13.8 in x 9.8 in). (Personally, I love rolling backpack carry-ons.)

If travelling with a child, you may also take a stroller; it must be declared when making the reservation, and must be folded in the train.

Larger luggage pieces (maximum 2 meters (7 feet) and less than 30 kg (66 lbs)) can be booked paying a bit extra, and each person can take up to two such larger pieces.

It’s cheaper to purchase an additional bag before boarding, if not you’ll be charged €20 at boarding time and, from what I’ve seen, perhaps suffer some minor waits and antagonistic looks from staff.

You can take pets on Ouigo under 10 kilos if they are in a crate measuring up to 60 cm x 35 cm x 35 cm (23.6 in x 13.8 in) for an extra fee. We have a full guide to European train travel with dogs.

Arriving at the Train Station, Check-In, and Waiting for Your Ouigo

You must arrive at least 30 minutes before your scheduled departure for a Ouigo train.

There is no check-in process per se as with an airline. You move towards the area of the station with the quai / andana (platform in French and in Spanish/Catalan) for your train and you will generally go through a long line to actually access the platform. Only those with tickets may approach the platform, your friends must stay back.

You show your ticket on your phone or printed out. I recommend printing out tickets when possible, as phones are still a rather funky, unreliable technology compared to paper, and you don’t need to make sure a piece of paper is charged up.

You will also be asked for a valid photo ID or passport; photocopies of these are not accepted.

If you don’t have your ticket or it is deemed “unreadable” you will be charged 5 euros by the staff. You will also be charged an extra 20 euros if you have exceeded the baggage limit.

Thirty minutes before the train arrives, everyone is thus crammed onto the same platform waiting for the train. It can be annoying. The boarding process for Ouigo is in my experience more crowded and chaotic than with a regular train, but thankfully not as tedious and annoying as boarding a plane.

Ouigo WiFi

Ouigo has free WiFi but it doesn’t work all that well.

On a recent trip in Spain I was barely able to connect and it was really only fast enough to send messages, not to load web pages nor certainly not to watch videos.

It is better in any case to travel with a good internet connection on your phone, so that you can get maps, local info, and connect with friends you’re meeting along the way (or traveling with). If you have an EU phone plan it will work fine in France and Spain, and if not I recommend unlocking your phone and picking up a local SIM card. If you’re American you can also useGoogle Fi(I do); it works the same in any country.

Ouigo Restrooms

The restrooms are located at the ends of cars and are a bit cramped but clean in my experience.

Where Can Ouigo Trains Take You?

Ouigo does not connect between Barcelona and France, unfortunately, nor does it reach Portugal (which is mostly unconnected to Spanish railway). But there are plenty of routes within the French hexagon and within the Iberian peninsula.

Ouigo Destinations in France (High Speed)

These are the current cities served by high-speed Ouigo trains in France.

Classic (Regular Speed) Ouigo Train Destinations in France

And these are the Classic Ouigo (that is, not high-speed) train destinations. Their main advantage is that they cheaply serve more, smaller stops in between Paris and Nantes as well as between Paris and Lyon. They have several stops in Paris suburbs, so if you’re going to or from a far-flung suburb there is no need to go into the city first only to go back out.

Ouigo High-Speed Train Destinations in Spain and Catalonia

Ouigo in Spain serves (station names are in parentheses):

• Barcelona (Barcelona Sants)
• Madrid (Madrid Puerta de Atocha and Madrid Chamartín – Clara Campoamor)
• Valencia (Joaquín Sorolla)
• Tarragona (Camp de Tarragona)
• Zaragoza (Zaragoza – Delicias)

Ouigo claims that it will someday soon also serve Albacete, Alicante, Málaga, Córdoba and Sevilla.

Why is Ouigo called that and how is it pronounced?

Yes, there’s reason to this unseemly jumble of vowels.

The word “yes” in French is “oui” so the name for this budget train service is like “yes” plus the English word “go”. Also, “oui” is pronounced like “we”, so Ouigo is pronounced we-go.

Those who wish to mock this corporate naming may call the service YesAllons.