At Gare De Lyon these steps lead down to Hall 3 from voies/platforms A – N

Lyon to Paris by train

How to take a rail journey from Lyon to Paris

There is now a choice of four travel options when making the journey by train from Lyon to Paris:

  1. The high speed TGV InOui trains which arrive at the Paris Gare De Lyon.
  2. The cheaper, but more basic Ouigo services, which also arrive at the Gare De Lyon and take the same high speed route as the InOui services.
    And when booking ahead they can be the cheapest option of all.
  3. Less frequent Frecce high speed trains operated by Trenitalia.
  4. Much slower TER trains, which arrive at a station further from the centre of Paris.
    So why are these TER trains an option worth considering?
    Two reasons:
  • if you'll be buying tickets last minute at the station they'll be cheaper; or
  • if you will be using Eurail or InterRail passes you can save at least €10.
Share

Routes

Option 1: taking a regular TGV InOui service

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris Gare de Lyon

The TGVs to Paris commence their journeys in Lyon at Lyon-Perrache station they then go on to call at Lyon Part-Dieu station.

So if your journey will be commencing in the city centre, or has easy access to Line A of the Lyon Metro, the better option is to join these trains at Perrache station.

1 - 2 x trains per hour

Tickets

The TGVs to Paris will commence their journeys in Lyon at Lyon-Perrache station before calling at Lyon Part-Dieu.

Ideally you need to work out which of these stations will suit you better, before making a booking - don't assume that Lyon Part-Dieu will be the best option.

Once you have worked out whether you should depart  from either Lyon-Perrache or Lyon Part Dieu; then select that station when buying tickets online, or specify your choice of station to a ticket agent.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date.

When booking 2nd class tickets only one type of ticket will be available per departure, discounted '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:

  1. Up until two days prior to departure, these types of tickets can be refunded for no additional charge (big tick), but a €15 fee will be payable for making a refund in the two days prior to departure.
  2. It's also possible to exchange tickets to an alternative departure on the same journey, but you will have to pay any difference in price between the cost you paid and the cost at the time of the exchange.

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.

The price is dictated by demand per departure, so book ahead and try and be flexible re: your departure and arrival times, as trains leaving earlier or later can be cheaper.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect from €45

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

Download the SNCF Connect App from €45
Save A Train from €45

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail from €45

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.

Trainline from €45

Trainline Guide

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (total journey)

Good to Know

The alternative train journey options:

(1) There are now low-cost, but more basicOuigo high speed services between the main stations in Lyon and the Gare de Lyon in central Paris.

(2) There are also direct TER trains from Lyon to Paris.
Their journey time is more than double than that of these TGV trains because they don't use the high speed line; and unless you will be buying tickets last minute at the station, they won't be any cheaper than these TGVs.

However, if you will be travelling with a rail pass, you can save a minimum of €10 by taking those TER trains.

Journey description:

Between the suburbs of Lyon and the outskirts of Paris, these trains travel at up to 290 km/h on the high speed line, the fastest trains (most of the departures) are non-stop from Lyon to Paris.

It's not a particularly scenic journey, though there are some pleasant views of the French countryside, the primary wow factor comes from the speed of the trains.

~
A disadvantage of sitting on the lower deck is that sound barriers often obstruct the views A disadvantage of sitting on the lower deck is that sound barriers often obstruct the views

Option 2: taking a more basic Ouigo TGV service

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris Gare de Lyon

These city centre to city centre Ouigio train services to Paris also commence their journeys in Lyon at Lyon-Perrache station and they then go on to call at Lyon Part-Dieu station.

These trains are typically scheduled to depart from Lyon-Part Dieu at 09:32 and 15:54 daily and 21:34 on Friday and Sunday only.

Monday to Thursday: 3 x trains per day
Friday: 3 x trains
Saturday: 2 x trains
Sunday: 3 x trains

Tickets

Online bookings usually open: up to 9 months ahead of the travel date

Tickets for the alternative service of TGV InOui trains are usually made available 4 months ahead, so if you look up this journey more than 4 months ahead on SNCF Connect, you may only see these Ouigo services, but they are not the only option on this route.

What is particularly worth being aware of when booking tickets for journeys by Ouigo train services, is that:

  • Premiere/1st class tickets are not available.
  • Reservations are included when booking, as they are on the TGV InOui trains, but you can opt to pay additional fess, or book a more expensive type of ticket to select a specific seat (more info is available on the Ouigo 'Train Guide').
  • The more expensive type of tickets also include an additional luggage allowance, click the Ouigo 'Train Guide' to access more info on the luggage allowances on Ouigo trains; they're more restrictive than on a TGV InOui train.
  • You cannot book or collect tickets for Ouigo trains at stations.
  • The two key T&Cs of booking either of the two types of ticket available for journeys by Ouigo trains are:
  1. The tickets are not refundable.
  2. Exchanges to alternative departures are possible until 1 hour before the beginning of the boarding procedure, but they incur a fee of €10 per passenger, with any price difference between the old and new ticket(s) also added to this fee.

Though these factors, and more, are why you can make big savings by opting to travel by these Ouigo trains and not on the standard TGV InOui trains.

Eurail and InterRail Pass Users:

Rail passes cannot be used on Ouigo trains, but if you will be travelling with a 2nd class pass, our guide to using rail passes in France, explains why taking a Ouigo train can be worth considering

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect *

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

Trainline *

Trainline Guide

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (total journey)

Good to Know

When making a high speed train journey from central Lyon to central Paris, you now have a choice of travelling by standard TGV InOui trains or by these Ougio services.
So you can now opt to save money, but have a much more basic on board experience, and travel on a Ouigo.

Though when looking up this journey on national booking service OuiSNCF look out for the fact you will see other options of trains which depart from the out-of-city station, Lyon St. Exupery; though there are express trams which link Part-Dieu to that station.

Option 3: taking a Frecce train operated by Trenitalia

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris Gare de Lyon

These Frecce trains are typically scheduled to depart from Lyon Part-Dieu station daily at 11:28, 17:22 and 20:30; the first and third trains of the day will have travelled from Italy, but the second train usually commences its journey in Lyon-Perrache station at 17:11.

3 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months* ahead of the travel date

Frecciarossa 1000 trains on the domestic routes within Italy convey 4 classes of accommodation, but the Standard Premier service is seemingly not available on this French route.
Also 'Allegro' has been introduced as the branding for the Business Class, SMTJ isn't certain as to the reason for this, other than to make a distinction with the tickets on the domestic routes.

The price and departure times of the Frecce, InOui and Ouigo trains can be directly compared on Trainline.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Trenitalia *

Trenitalia Guide

Trenitlalia is the national rail operator in Italy and in addition to its cheaper types of ticket; it also typically offers other discounts available to non-Italians, which include:

  • Group Offers, provides for a discount of up to 50% when 3-5 Adults travel together.
  • Family Offer for when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 11 and under.
  • The Children Free Offer is available for journeys by Frecce trains, when groups of 2 - 5 people are travelling together and at least one of the party is a aged 15 and under.
    Those aged 15 and under travel for free, but the Adults will need to purchase full price 'Base' tickets.
Trainline *

Trainline Guide

Omio *

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (total journey)

Journey description:

Between the suburbs of Lyon and the outskirts of Paris, these trains travel at up to 290 km/h on the high speed line, the fastest trains (most of the departures) are non-stop from Lyon to Paris.

It's not a particularly scenic journey, though there are some pleasant views of the French countryside, the primary wow factor comes from the speed of the trains.

~
A disadvantage of sitting on the lower deck is that sound barriers often obstruct the views A disadvantage of sitting on the lower deck is that sound barriers often obstruct the views

Option 4: taking a TER train

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris Bercy

Note that these TER trains do not arrive at Paris Gare De Lyon/Paris Lyon.

Instead they arrive at a different station in Paris, though Paris-Bercy now has a direct connection to Line 14 of the Paris Metro.

5 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: No

Tickets will cost the same price if purchased at the station immediately before departure.

These trains will be only be cheaper than the much faster TGV trains  when the discounted tickets for the TGVs have sold out.

So if you'll be buying tickets at the station on the day of travel, it's likely that you can save around €25 by taking these trains.

Rail pass users can avoid the reservation fees on the TGVs by taking these trains.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect *

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

Trainline *

Trainline Guide

On this journey

Journey Features

Not High Speed

Good to Know

These TER trains are also more than twice as slow as the alternative service of TGV trains because they still use the older pre-high speed route between Lyon and Paris.

If you will be travelling in France with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you can avoid the rail pass reservation fees on those TGV trains by taking these TER trains.

Take the stress out of your journey Everything planned to your specification, so sit back and relax… Try Concierge
hand-money

Please support ShowMeTheJourney

Help keep us advertising and paywall free!

Donate

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.
Leaving From
Going To
ShowMeTheJourney

This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.