How to take the train from Paris to Strasbourg

Note that these trains depart from the Gare de l'Est in Paris.

When making a journey from Paris to Strasbourg, you can now choose between:
(1) These fastest high speed services
(2) Cheaper, but slightly slower and more basic Ouigo services

And on Mondays-Fridays you can also opt to travel by non-high speed TER services

Travelling on these trains from Paris to Strasbourg:

Final Destination: Strasbourg or Colmar or Stuttgart or Frankfurt or Munchen

Most of these fast trains between Paris and Strasbourg are non-stop' they're the departures with a journey time of 1hr 45 mins.
They spend some of the journey travelling at more than 300 km/h on the fastest high speed line in France.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 4 months ahead of the travel date - see the ticket guide for more info.

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 key T&Cs of booking Prems, Seconde, or Premiere tickets are:

1. Exchanges and refunds are free up to 7 days before departure.
2. If you want to amend your booking in the 6 days before departure you must pay an amendment fee of €19 per person per person for an exchange or a refund.
3. In the 30 minutes before departure, refunds cannot be requested and exchanges are only allowed for the same journey later that day. The same amendment fees apply to the exchange.
4. If you arrive at a station too late to make a train you were booked on to, you won't get your money back on your original purchase and will have to book an entirely new ticket, which will be at the most expensive last minute price.

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.

Final Destination: Strasbourg or Colmar

When making a high speed train journey from central Paris to Strasbourg, you now have a choice of travelling by:

(1) TGV InOui trains
(2) These Ouigo services

So you can now opt to save money, but have a much more basic on board experience, and travel on a Ouigo.
The train which is usually scheduled to depart at 11:09 is the fastest of these Ouigo services as it takes the direct route, while the departures at 08:20 and 16:07 travel via Metz.

Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - see the ticket guide for more info.

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 30 minutes before the departure, but they incur an exchange fee* of no more than €19 per passenger and per journey - with any price difference between the old and new ticket(s) also added to this fee.
   *= Exchange fees are not charged if you pay a surcharge when booking, to upgrade to OUIGOFLEX.

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: Strasbourg

Book early and save: No

If you will be booking tickets for a Paris to Strasbourg journey, there's little point in taking these TER trains.

They're around three hours slower than the standard service of high speed trains but if you can book at least a couple of 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 Strasbourg