Paris to Nancy by train

How to take the train from Paris to Nancy

You can take high speed trains from Paris to Nancy, though there are also a couple of much slower, non-high speed trains per day, but they're only worth considering if you'll travelling with a Eurail or InterRail pass, and want to avoid the rail pass reservation fees payable on the InOui services.

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Routes

Option 1: taking the more frequent InOui services

Travel Information

Final Destination: Nancy (or Remiremont or St Die)

Note that these trains depart from Gare de l'Est in Paris.
You might expect there to be more trains from Paris to Nancy, but the TGVs to Strasbourg don't travel through the city.

Mon-Thurs = 8 x trains per day
Friday =9 x trains
Sat-Sun = 7 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - but bookings can open sooner when SNCF is running a promotion.

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 €25

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 €25
Save A Train from €25

Save A Train Guide

Trainline from €25

Trainline Guide

Rail Europe from €25

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (total journey)

Good to Know

Not much to see from the high speed line Not much to see from the high speed line

It is not a scenically interesting journey from Paris to Nancy.

What gives this journey its wow factor is that for some of this trip you'll be travelling at more than 300 km/h on the the fastest high speed line in France!

The train will leave the high speed line around 10 mins before arrival in Nancy.

Option 3: Eurail and InterRail users can save money

Travel Information

Final Destination: Strasbourg

These trains are usually scheduled to depart from the Gare de l'Est on Monday-Friday only at 07:36 and 16:36.

Final Destination: Strasbourg

They're much slower than the InOui and Ouigo services between Paris and Nancy because they don't use the high speed line between the two cities.

Mon-Fri only = 2 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: No

If you will be booking tickets for a Paris to Nancy journey, there's little point in taking these TER trains.
They're more than 90 mins slower than the standard service of high speed trains, but if you can book at least 10 days ahead, it's likely that you also save money by taking those trains instead.

The Ouigo services are also usually much cheaper than these TER trains, so if you can book online, the other journey options are cheaper.

But if you will be travelling with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you can avoid the reservation fees on the TGV trains between Paris and Nancy.

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

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoNot High Speed

Good to Know

These TER trains are also not generally cheaper, than those trains, but if you will be travelling with Eurail or InterRail pass, they do provide an option for travelling to Strasbourg from Paris, without having to pay any rail pass reservation fees.

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