Cherbourg France to Bayeux France by train

[Cruizann]

My DH and I will be in Cherbourg on May 1, 2017 for one day and would like to take the train to Bayeux. I tried to book using the site seat 61. There is a train leaving at 0730 (we do not dock until 0800) and then the next leaves at 11:30. I read on that site that the tickets do not sell out and so you can just buy a ticket at the station (not sure if they mean that you would be standing up if all the seats are sold). I wondered if they were trains leaving between 0730 and 11:30 and these are sold out? We have never travelled by train in europe, only the UK. Although we would prefer not to stand for an hour to Bayeux, we could if we had too. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome. Thank you.

[Hlitner]

Your info is accurate. This is just not a very popular train route. Also keep in mind that May 1 is a National Holiday when trains are running on a Sunday/Holiday schedule and there are many closures throughout Western Europe, That 11:30 train is a TER (regional) train where its hard to imagine having trouble finding a seat. If you are going back to a ship we suspect you would have to take the 2:19pm (14:19) return train which really does not give you lots of time in Bayeux. You would have no more then 1 1/2 hours in town (enough time to see the Tapestry if its open on May 1).

 

Our personal preference in France is to simply rent a car, which usually works better (for us) rather then waiting on trains. However, on May 1 it might be impossible to even rent a car in Cherbourg.

 

Hank