Heading north Dijon is the closest city to Lyon, but the distance between them is more than 230 kilometers.
So if you can plan in advance and book ahead, taking a TGV can be a good option.
It'll be faster, despite spending most of its journey on conventional tracks, and can be cheaper too.
Though if you'd rather book last minute at the station, taking a slower TER train will be a money saver.
Final Destination: Dijon-Ville
All trains also call at: Macon-Ville
When taking a train from Lyon to Dijon you can choose between:
(1) These slower, TER trains.
(2) Alternative faster TGV trains, which take the high speed line from Lyon as far as Macon; and if you can book ahead tickets for those TGV trains are usually the cheapest option.
In contrast, if you want to buy tickets last minute at the station, you'll make a big saving by taking these TER trains.
Mon - Thursday = 10 x trains per day
Friday = 9 x trains
Sat/Sun = 1 x train every other hour
Book early and save: No
Tickets will cost the same price if purchased at the station immediately before departure.
Tickets for these TER trains are sold at a flat rate, so cost the same price when purchased at the station on the day of travel, as they do online.
However, when the discounted 'Prems' tickets are still available for those TGV trains, they can be more than €10 cheaper, but when they are sold out, you can typically save a minimum of around €7 by taking these TER trains
So If you will be booking walk up tickets at the station, just prior to boarding, then the TER trains will be cheaper.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
SNCF Connect | * |
Unusually for a TER service, these trains depart hourly on Mondays to Fridays, though as is typical, they're less frequent at weekends.
On Saturdays and Sundays, they only depart from Lyon in the odd hours.
Final Destination: Dijon or Metz or Luxembourg or Strasbourg
If you can book at least 10 days ahead, tickets for these TGV trains are usually the cheapest option for a Lyon to Dijon rail travel.
In contrast, if you want to buy tickets last minute at the station, you'll make a big saving by taking the alternative TER services.
4 x trains per day
Book early and save: Yes
**Online bookings open:**up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
The train service between Lyon and Dijon is split between these TGV trains and alternative TER trains
Discounted 'Prems' tickets are made available on these TGV trains and should be booked in advance online, as the cheapest prices will sell out.
Tickets for the alternative TER trains are sold at a flat rate, so cost the same price when purchased at the station on the day of travel, as they do online.
When the most heavily discounted, cheapest tickets are still available for these TGV trains, they can be more than €10 cheaper than the TER trains, but when they are sold out, taking these TGV trains is around €8 more expensive.
When booking 2nd class tickets for these InOui trains only one type of ticket will be available per departure, discounted advance 'Prems' tickets or 'Seconde' tickets; though the price of Seconde tickets are also typically cheaper when they are first placed on sale.
When booking 1st class tickets there will be a choice of Premiere tickets and Business Premiere tickets.
The two key T&Cs of booking Prems, Seconde, or Premiere tickets are:
Though if you book Business Premiere tickets, the key T&Cs are that tickets can be exchanged and refunded free of charge up to 30 minutes after departure, so if you get to the station just too late to miss the train you were originally booked on to, you won't lose out financially.
Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey, but rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding these TGV trains; and this fee can be avoided when taking the TER trains.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
SNCF Connect | * | |
Download the SNCF Connect App | * | |
Rail Europe | * | |
Save A Train | * | |
Happy rail |
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