Bruxelles / Brussels to Lyon by train

How to take the rail journey from Brussels/Bruxelles to Lyon

You don't have to make a cross Paris transfer when travelling from Brussels/Bruxelles to Lyon by train.
Direct TGV trains make use of the high speed route that was constructed to the east of the French capital so that they can travel at more than 250 km/h for virtually the entire journey between the cities.

Connections are available in Lyon for a swathe of destinations which aren't served by direct trains from Bruxelles including Annecy, Aix-les-Bains, Chambery, Grenoble and Geneva.

The train which usually departs Bruxelles at 10:17 typically has a good connection into a high speed train which travels on to Barcelona

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Routes

From Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel Zuid to Lyon Part-Dieu

Travel Information

You can avoid having to make the transfer across Paris from the Gare Du Nord to the Gare De Lyon by taking these direct trains from Bruxelles to Lyon.

Final Destination: Marseille; Montpellier or Lyon

All trains also call at: Aeroport CDG and Marne La Valléé (for Disneyland Paris)

Aim to be at Bruxelles Midi/Zuid station a minimum of 15 - 20 mins before your train is due to depart.
You will have to pass through security checks before boarding these trains and queues can build up at busy times.

The first departure of the day is faster as it doesn't divert off the direct route in order to call at Lille.

Mon-Friday = 6 x trains per day
Saturday = 5 x trains
Sunday = 6 x trains

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 3 months ahead of the travel date

When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fare
Use the ‘earlier trains’ and ‘later trains’ buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.

Using rail passes:

If you're planning to use a valid Eurail or InterRail pass to make this journey, more information is available on the guide to using rail passes on trains from Belgium.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
B-Europe from €49

B-Europe Guide

B-Europe is the website provided by Belgium's national railway operator for the sale of international rail journeys from and to Belgium.
Therefore tickets can be booked for the following international train services to/from Belgium

  • Eurostar
  • IC trains to France, Luxembourg and The Netherlands
  • ICE trains to Germany
  • Thalys trains to Germany, The Netherlands and Paris
  • TGV trains to destination in France other than Paris
    B-Europe offers a 'Best Fares' policy for journey by these trains.

It also sells international end-to-end journeys solely by train, with connections outside of Belgium, if you will be heading to popular destinations in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Users of Eurail and InterRail passes can also book seat reservations on the Eurostar and Thalys services without paying booking fees.

SNCF Connect from €49

SNCF Connect Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.

SNCF Connect on Google Play

SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store

SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase

Save A Train from €49

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail from €49

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (total journey)

Good to Know

The trains which call at Lille will reverse direction on departure from Lille Europe station.

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