Dates that winter trains go on sale 2025-26

This blog article has the key dates for when trains in Europe go on sale for this winter.

Oddly, rail companies don’t seem to communicate this information proactively or clearly.  Who do they think is going to buy the tickets?

So, to help y'all find out these elusive dates, I contact various rail-company media offices. Invariably, they reply with incomplete information. It usually takes several emails back and forth to each rail company, every time. Weirdly, I sort of enjoy this process. Perhaps they do too. 

I've grouped this information in order of the dates that tickets go on sale (rather than grouping the information by train type). 

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Monday 15th September 2025

Trains: Frecciarossa trains (e.g. from Paris to Turin).
Travel period bookable: Sunday 14th December 2025 until Sunday 29th March 2026.

Wednesday 17th September 2025

Trains: International TGV INOUI trains (e.g. from Paris to Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland).
Travel period bookable: Sunday 14th December 2025 until Sunday 29th March 2026.

 

Wednesday 1st October 2025

Trains: TGVs and Intercités de Nuit (within France)
Travel period bookable: Sunday 14th December 2025 until Wednesday 7th January 2026.

 

Monday 6th October 2025

Trains: Nightjet (e.g. to Austria)
Travel period bookable: Sunday 14th December 2025 onwards, up to 180 days ahead.
This means that on Monday 6th October you can book Nightjet trains for travel dates up to Monday 30th March 2026.

Mid-October (exact date not yet specified by Deutsche Bahn)

Trains: ICE trains (Germany tp Austria)
Travel period bookable: Sunday 14th December 2025 onwards, up to 180 days ahead.
 

Wednesday 12th November 2025

Trains: TGVs and Intercités de Nuit (within France)
Travel period bookable: Thursday 8th January 2026 until Sunday 29th March 2026.

 

Wednesday 28th January 2026

Trains: TGVs and Intercités de Nuit (within France)
Travel period bookable: Monday 30th March 2026 and the whole of April 2026.

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Photo: Daniel Elkan

You may be wondering at what time trains go on sale on the dates above. Well, so am I! In recent years rail companies seem to have stopped committing to a specific time. How helpful of them!  It might be 5am, 6am, 7am or 8am, but it's usually sometime in the morning.

The fact that they don’t commit to a specific time, ends up wasting the time of travellers trying to book. Why do rail companies make buying tickets more complicated than it needs to be. A certain phrase about a drinks party in a brewery springs to mind. 

Nevertheless, we all know from experience that once you book the trains you can look forward to lovely social, scenic and sustainable travel experiences en route to the snow. And that’s what it’s about!

I hope the above has been useful for you—please let me know if you have any questions.