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London to Nice by train
How to take a thrilling high speed rail journey from London to Nice
There are currently two options for making the journey by high speed trains from London to Nice:
1: travelling via Paris can be a cheaper option, but you will need to make the transfer across the French capital between the Gare Du Nord, which is where the Eurostar will arrive, and the Gare De Lyon, the departure station of the TGV train.
2: Or if you make the connection in Lille, you can make the transfer within Lille Europe station, but you will also now have to make a second connection in Marseille (the direct Lille to Nice trains are no longer available).
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Routes
Option 1: travelling via Paris
Journey Summary
9hr 10min - 9hr 40min (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
The Eurostar will arrive in Paris at the Gare Du Nord, but the TGV train on to Nicewill depart from the Gare De Lyon.
This guide explains how to make the transfer between the two stations by RER train.
The London to Nice tickets do not include the transfer across Paris.
When making a booking, check the connection time between the arrival at Gare Du Nord and the departure from Gare De Lyon.
Most of the journeys have a connection time of around 1hr 10mins; which should ensure that you won't be making the transfer across Paris against the clock!
Eurostar + TGV InOui train:
2 x connections per day
Tickets
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: 90 days ahead
The very cheapest tickets tend to sell out particularly quickly on this route - they're more likely to be available if you can travel on a Tuesday - Thursday, or are happy to set off from London early in the morning.
The price below is for a one way fare, if you're booking a return ticket, it's likely you will be offered a cheaper price in each direction.
The cheapest tickets for this London to Nice via Paris journey by train are particularly good value - they cost the same as London to Marseille journeys despite the additional distance!
A big plus of booking the Eurostar direct on Eurostar.com is that you can access a 'Manage Your Booking' facility - which enables you to change the seat that you will have been initially assigned when making a booking.
Click on the 'train details' for more information.
The different types of ticket summarised
Also worth knowing is that when travelling by Eurostar you can choose between three classes of service, and this also impacts on the exchanges and refunds of what Eurostar refers to as 'Flexible tickets'
If you book Standard or Standard Premier tickets, you can exchange them if need be, to an alternative departure on your booked route; but if you want to transfer your ticket to a new departure less than 7 days before your travel date, you will need to pay an admin fee of £30 for Standard Class tickets, £40 for Standard Premier tickets PLUS the price difference with the new ticket you will be booking.
What's new, in response to the pandemic, is that these £30/40 charges aren't applied if you want to transfer to an alternative departure more than seven days before your travel date.
Business Premier tickets are less restrictive, in response to the pandemic they can now be refunded and they can be exchanged to alternative departures without paying the admin fee, or the price difference.
Eurostar's full ticket terms and conditions are here
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Eurostar | from £68 | |
| Trainline | from €78 | |
| SNCF Connect | from €78 |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind - so when looking at a timetable the journey will look as though it's an hour longer.
At St Pancras International:
Eurostar requests that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets check-in a minimum of 30mins BEFORE departure, though this increased to 45mins on weekends and holidays.
If you have a Business Premier ticket, Eurostar recommends that you only have to check-in 10 mins before departure.
Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with SIX distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed lines in France.
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Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Nice
All trains also call at: Toulon, St Raphael-Valescure, Cannes and Antibes
Note that these trains depart from the Gare De Lyon in Paris.
Taking a Ouigo service from Paris to Nice
Some of the end-to-end journey options on the booking services will involve taking the 10:22 Eurostar from London and connecting into the Ouigo service from Paris to Nice which usually leaves the Gare De Lyon at 16:07.
It departs more than two hours after the Eurostar will have arrived from London, but be wary of making this connection for these two reasons:
- Ouigo services are exempt from the usual terms and conditions which protect purchasers of end-to-end tickets on journeys involving multiple trains, from having to re-book tickets in the event of train delays. So if the Eurostar is delayed by more than 90 mins you will have to re-book tickets for the Ouigo train regardless.
- If you're not offered the ability to select specific seats on the Ouigo train, for an additional fee, you could find yourself wedged in between two other passengers on a row of three seats for more than five hours!
Journey Description
This is a journey of contrasts, between Paris and the Marseille suburbs, the train will travel on the high speed line.
After Marseille the train will slow down, but this gives more of an opportunity to take in the scenery
If your reserved seat is on the right of the train (when facing the direction of travel) once the train has passed through the Marseille area, there are some fabulous views of the Cote d'Azur.
Particularly between Marseille and Toulon....
and from St Raphael to Antibes...
... and after departure from Antibes
All of the images and video were captured from the right of the train
This is a journey on which it is worth choosing Upper Deck seats and departing from Paris sufficiently early, so that you can really appreciate the final couple of hours of the trip.
Please support ShowMeTheJourney
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
Option 2: travelling via Lille and Avignon
Journey Summary
10hr 33min
Not Every Day
Travel Information
If you want to make a London to Nice train journey and avoid travelling via Paris then an option is to make comparatively straightforward connections between trains in both Lille and Avignon.
The positive of taking this combination of trains is the avoidance of having to make the transfer across Paris from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon.
In particular Avignon TGV is an exceptionally easy station in which to change trains.
The transfer times between trains will be 35 mins in Lille and 1hr in Avignon, which will typically allow the connections to be relatively uncomplicated - if the trains are on schedule you won't be rushing through an unfamiliar station against the clock, and neither will you be hanging around awaiting departure.
Though the potential negative is that those transfer times won't allow much contingency in the unlikely event of delayed trains.
Completing the end-to-end journey in a single day is dependent on making that 35 min connection in Lille.
1 x connection per day
Tickets
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: 90 days ahead
This journey tends to be (much) more expensive than travelling via Paris or Lyon.
Eurostar ticket terms summary
If you book Standard or Standard Premier tickets, you can exchange them if need be, to an alternative departure on your booked route; but if you want to transfer your ticket to a new departure less than 7 days before your travel date, you will need to pay an admin fee of £30 for Standard Class tickets, £40 for Standard Premier tickets PLUS the price difference with the new ticket you will be booking.
What's new, in response to the pandemic, is that these £30/40 charges aren't applied if you want to transfer to an alternative departure more than seven days before your travel date.
Business Premier tickets are less restrictive, in response to the pandemic they can now be refunded and they can be exchanged to alternative departures without paying the admin fee, or the price difference.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Trainline | * | |
| SNCF Connect | * |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
As a consequence of the Covid-19 crisis Eurostar will be operating a particularly limited timetable for the time being - further information is available on Eurostar.com
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Mid or Amsterdam or Marne La Vallée
Some trains also call at: Ebbsfleet International (07:04 on Mon-Fri; 09:12 and 13:15 daily) or Ashford International (07:28 on Mon-Sat and 18:28 on Sunday) these station calls have been suspended until further notice
Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind - so when looking at a timetable the journey will look as though it's an hour longer.
Virtually all of the departures between London and Lille will be by the e320trains.
At St Pancras
Eurostar REQUESTS that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets check-in a minimum of 30mins before departure, and 45mins before departure on weekends and holidays.
If you have a Business Premier ticket, Eurostar recommends that you only have to check-in 10 mins before departure.
Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.
The trains only call at Ebbsfleet or Ashford International stations to pick up passengers, so these station calls are not included on the departure boards at St Pancras International or announced on the train.
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with six distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed line in France.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Marseille
Aside from the 30 min detour to serve Lyon station, these trains spend the entire journey on a high speed line, but it is primarily the speed that gives this journey its wow factor.
It's not a particularly scenic train ride, so having something to watch or read with you is recommended.
Train 3
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Nice Ville
This train also calls at: St Raphael, Cannes and Antibes
This train will reverse direction on departure from Marseille.
If this journey was being taken earlier in the day, there would be wonderfully scenic coastal views to be enjoyed, but this train will travel along the Cote D'Azur after dusk.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
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