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Paris to Strasbourg by train
How to take the train from Paris to Strasbourg
You can take high speed trains from Paris to Strasbourg, but both the regular TGV InOui services and low-cost, but more basic, Ouigo services share the route.
Some of the departures are also by ICE trains heading to Germany.
It's particularly worthwhile to click on the Train Guides below so that you can compare the train services.
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, or want to save money when the timings of the Ouigo services don't suit
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Routes
Option 1: Travelling on the standard InOui services
Journey Summary
1hr 45min - 1hr 58min
Daily
Travel Information
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.
Mon-Thurs = 14 x trains per day
Friday = 18 x trains
Saturday = 11 x trains
Sunday = 14 x trains
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:
- 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.
- 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Trainline | from €25 | |
| SNCF Connect | from €25 | |
| Download the SNCF Connect App | from €25 | |
| Save A Train | from €25 | |
| Happy rail | from €25 | |
| Rail Europe | from €25 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
On Sunday to Friday three of these non-stop trains are the ICE trains, making their way from Paris to Frankfurt via Strasbourg; and on Saturdays two of the departures are by these ICE trains.
On this route within France , the terms for using a rail pass on these international ICE trains, are the same as on the TGV InOui services.
It is not a scenically interesting train journey from Paris to Strasbourg.
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 high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg is now fully open - hence the fastest ever journey times on this route!
Option 2: Save money by taking the more basic Ouigo services
Journey Summary
2hr 3min - 2hr
Daily
Travel Information
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.
2 x trains per day
Tickets
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:
- The tickets are not refundable.
- 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
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| SNCF Connect | from €16 | |
| Ouigo | from €16 | |
| Trainline | from €16 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
If you do opt to travel from Paris to Strasbourg by these Ouigo trains, you should aim to be at the Gare de l'Est 30 mins before the train is due to depart.
And that's because you need to pass through 'reception' before boarding a Ouigo train, staff need to verify that all passengers are abiding by the 'rules' of travelling on a Ouigo train, no additional un-booked luggage, no bikes etc.
Option 3: Eurail and InterRail users can save money
Journey Summary
4hr 35min - 4hr 53min
Not Every Day
Travel Information
Final Destination: Strasbourg
Mon-Fri only = 2 x trains per day
Tickets
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
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| SNCF Connect | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
These trains are usually scheduled to depart from the Gare de l'Est on Monday-Friday only at 07:36 and 16:36.
They're much slower than the InOui and Ouigo train services between Paris and Strasbourg because they don't use the high speed line between the two cities.
These TER trains 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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