Paris to Nîmes / Nimes by train

There have been two major changes to travelling by train from Paris to Nimes

The majority of the TGV InOui trains from Paris have been diverted away from station in Nimes city centre and instead call at the brand new Nimes Pont Du Gard station.

This new station is 14km from central Nimes, so of if you are heading to the city take care when looking up a journey.
The best option for making a journey by public transport from Nimes Pont Du Gard to the city centre is to take one of the local TER trains, which call at both stations - Pont Du Gard AND the station in the city centre.
However, the trains from Paris Gare De Lyon to Nimes Pont Du Gard typically have connection times of around 45 mins into those trains to Nimes city centre.

(2) The low cost, more basic Ouigo trains now provide an alternative to taking these TGV InOui trains from Paris Gare De Lyon to Nimes (Centre) station.

Final Destination: Montpellier or Beziers or Barcelone or Perpignan

Most trains also call at: Valence TGV

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

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 4 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.

Expect to pay more for this journey between the beginning of June and mid-September, particularly if you will be travelling on a Friday or Saturday, as the most heavily discounted tickets inevitably sell out faster at times of particularly high demand.

On SNCF Connect, the cheapest available price per day is indicated, so if you click on it, you will be automatically be directed to the departures on which this price is available.

Final Destination: Montpellier

When making a city centre to city centre train journey from central Paris to Nimes, you now have a choice of travelling by standard TGV InOui trains or by these Ougio trains.

So you can now opt to save money, but have a much more basic on board experience, and travel on a Ouigo.

This Ouigo train usually departs from Paris daily at 14:39.
Also if you'll need or want to arrive to arrive in Nimes city centre by direct train between around 12: 50 and 20:00, you'll have to take a Ouigo service
That's because from 09:40 to 16:50 it now plugs a large gap between the departures of the regular TGV InOui trains from Paris Gare de Lyon to Nimes (Centre).

Online bookings usually open: 6 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