How to take a train journey from Paris to Lyon

Note that these trains depart from the Gare De Lyon in Paris.

Final Destination: Lyon-Perrache and/or St. Etienne

Arriving in Lyon

Check the location of your final destination in Lyon.

The TGVs from Paris first call at Lyon Part-Dieu station, before going on to complete their journey at Lyon Perrache station.

Lyon-Perrache is closest to the city centre, but Part Dieu, which is to the east of the city centre, has easier public transport links to other parts of the city.

The TGVs from Paris will arrive at Perrache around 13 mins after they arrive at Part Dieu, so the quickest option to access many parts of the city, can be to make public transport connections from Part Dieu station.

Part Dieu is on line B of the Lyon Metro and Perrache is the terminus of Line A.

The alternative journey option:

These TGVs aren't the only option for a train journey from Paris to Lyon.

There are also less frequent TER trains, which are also much slower because they avoid the high speed line, which the TGVs use.

If you will be buying tickets lass minute at the station*, they will be a cheaper alternative to these TGVs, but this a route on which it pays to plan ahead, as the journey by the TER trains is more than twice as long!

*Those TER trains also depart from a different station in Paris to the TGVs.

There are three train services between Paris and Lyon:

(1) these TGV Inoui trains, (2) more basic Ouigo services and (3) the alternative slower service by TER train..

If you're booking in advance, the cheapest 'Prems' tickets for these TGV trains will be cheaper than the TER trains, but the Ouigo services will be cheapest of all.

However, if you will be booking last minute (at the station*) then the TER trains are likely to be (much) cheaper.

Booking these TGV InOui trains:

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.

Note that cheaper, but more basic Ouigo trains now operate on this route from Paris Gare De Lyon to Lyon.

Rail Pass Users:

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

Final Destination: Lyon-Perrache

When making a high speed train journey from central Paris to Lyon, 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.

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

These Ouigo services are typically scheduled to depart from Paris at 06:25 (not Sunday); 12:28 and 18:30

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

Final Destination: Milano Cle or Lyon Perrache

Three Frecciarossa 1000 trains per day in have been added to the Paris to Lyon route.

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.

Final Destination: Lyon

Note that these trains do NOT depart from Paris Gare De Lyon/Paris Lyon.

They depart from Paris Bercy which is a different station, which is connected to the Gare De Lyon by Line 14 of the Paris Metro

These TER trains are much slower alternative to taking a TGV from Paris to Lyon, the journey time is more than twice as long.

So why would you consider spending an additional three hours on a train journey from Paris to Lyon?

Two possible reasons:

(1) Once the discounted tickets for the TGVs have sold out, these TER trains are cheaper.
So they'll be cheaper if you want to buy tickets last minute at the station.

(2) If you will be travelling with an InterRail or Eurail pass, you can save a minimum of €10 by not taking the TGV.

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.

Final Destination: Lyon-Perrache

Note that these trains depart from a different station in Paris, so if your journey will be commencing in the area in the around Austerlitz station factor this into the end-to-end journey time

On certain days there are additional trains, which can depart from Paris Bercy and Paris Gare De Lyon.

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

The journey by these trains are price from €10

if you will be buying tickets on the day of travel, these trains tend to be around half the price of the TER trains.

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 an additional €3 to select a specific seat
• You cannot book or collect tickets for Ouigo trains at stations.

The two key T&Cs 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.