Milano / Milan / Mailand to Paris by train

How to take the rail journey from Milan to Paris

Trenitalia has introduced its ultra smart Frecciarossa 1000 trains to this route.
So along with the existing and continuing TGV services, an unprecedented five daily trains are now available from the Milan to the French capital.

Though when looking up this journey on the ticket agents, you'll also likely see other daytime options with connections between trains in Basel, Geneva, Lausanne or Zurich.
If you'll be happy to change trains and the connections are easily timed (more than 30 mins ideally) and the price is competitive then these other options are definitely worth considering.
The journey from Milan to any of those Swiss cities will also be more scenic than this route.

The overnight train service from Milano to Paris has been withdrawn.

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Routes

Option 1: taking the TGV trains from Porta Garibaldi station

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris

All trains also call at: Chambery

These trains are typically scheduled to depart from Porta Garibaldi station at

  • 06:00 daily
  • 12:12 on Sat/Sun (on certain Mon to Fri the train will depart at this time instead of 14:12)
  • 14:12 on Mon-Fri (on certain Sat/Sun the train will depart at this time instead of 12:12)
  • 16:12 daily

3 trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

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

When looking for tickets on Oui.SNCF tick the 'direct trains' box.

If tickets aren't on sale yet for your travel date, then this is a journey for which it's worth signing up to the ticket availability notification service on Oui.SNCF.
Do that and you'll receive an email within moments of the tickets being released for sale.
It's worth making an effort as this is a journey on which the very cheapest tickets tend to sell out particularly fast.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect from €39

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 from €39

Trainline Guide

Save A Train from €39

Save A Train Guide

Omio from €39

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.

Rail Europe from €39

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesLandscape (Hills / Mountains)High Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

Milano Centrale is the primary station in Milano used by other long distance trains, but the TGVs to Paris depart from the city's main rail commuter hub, Milano Porta Garibaldi.

This station has rail links from across the greater Milano area, as well as by Metro from the city centre and Milano Centrale station.

Though when connecting into these TGV trains from other cities in Italy, the cross-city transfer in Milano can be avoided due to the connections are available into the TGV trains at Torino Porta Susa station:

  • On Sat/Sun the TGV which departs Torino at 13:38, has a 49min connection from a train which departs: Salerno (05:50); Napoli Centrale (06:40); Roma Termini (08:10); Firenze SMN (09:55) and Bologna (10:36).
  • On Mon-Fri the TGV which departs Torino at 15:25, has a 26min connection from a train which departs: Napoli Centrale (08:55); Roma Termini (10:25); Firenze SMN (12:10) and Bologna (12:51).
  • The TGV which departs Torino daily at 17:43, has a 54min connection from a train which departs: Napoli Centrale (10:40); Roma Termini (12:10); Firenze SMN (13:55) and Bologna (14:36).
Between Italy and Modane Between Italy and Modane
Near the border Near the border
Between the border and Modane Between the border and Modane
Between Chambery and the high speed line Between Chambery and the high speed line

The TGVs to Paris don’t use the Milano to Torino high speed seed line, they still travel the old route via Novara.

After Torino/Turin comes a passage through the western Alps with great views, particularly from the right of the train (when facing the direction of travel).

Finally there comes the journey between Chambery and Paris, most of which is on the high speed line.

Option 2: taking the Frecce trains from Centrale station

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris

All trains also call at: Chambery and Lyon

These trains are typically scheduled to depart from Millano Centrale station daily at:

  • 06:25, arrives Paris Gare de Lyon at 13:22;
  • 15:53, arrives Paris Gare de Lyon at 22:28.

2 x trains per day
(the second train of the day is faster)

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 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 not available on this international route.
Also 'Allegro' has been introduced as the branding for the Standard and 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.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Trenitalia from €25

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.

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (partial journey)Scenic - YesLandscape (Hills / Mountains)

Good to Know

The 15:53 departure from Milano Centrale offers onward travel to France from these arriving Frecce trains:

  • 14:50 from Taranto (05:27), Salerno (08:46); Napoli Centrale (09:40); Roma Termini (11:10); Firenze SMN (12:55) and Bologna (13:36)
  • 14:55 from San Remo (11:20); Albenga (12:00); Savona (12:33) and Genova-Piazza Principe (13:19)
  • 15:05 Lecce (05:55); Bari (07:30); Pescara (10:10); Rimini (12:15) and Bologna (13:18)
Between Susa and Torino Between Susa and Torino
Travelling through Chiomonte station Travelling through Chiomonte station
Between Oulx and Chiomonte Between Oulx and Chiomonte
Passing through Modane Passing through Modane
Passing a village between Chambery and Modane Passing a village between Chambery and Modane
Passing by Lac d'Aiguebellete on route to Chambery Passing by Lac d'Aiguebellete on route to Chambery

These Frecce trains share both the most scenic part of the route, the section of the journey through the Alps between Torino and Chambery; and the high-speed line between Lyon and Paris, but in contrast to the TGV trains:

  • Once they reach the Milan suburbs they race to Torino at up to 280 km/h on the high speed lines between the two cities.
  • They divert off the direct route in order to travel through central Lyon, so that they can call at Part-Dieu station.
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