By Train in Lyon and the Alps

The high-speed TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) to Lyon leaves Paris (from Gare de Lyon) hourly and arrives in just two hours. There are also six TGVs daily between Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport and Lyon. Two in-town train stations and a third at the airport (Lyon-Saint-Exupéry) make Lyon a major transportation hub. The Gare de La Part-Dieu is used for the TGV routes. On the other side of town, the centre-ville station at Gare de Perrache is the more crowded option and serves all the sights of the centre ville—many trains stop at both stations. The TGV station at Ároport-Lyon-Saint-Exupéry serves, as well as Paris, Grenoble, Avignon, Arles, Valence, Annecy, Aix-les-Bains, Chambéry, Turin, and Milan. Sample trips: Ároport-Lyon-Saint-Exupéry TGV to Grenoble (1 hr, 4 mins, EUR 28.50); Lyon Part-Dieu to Grenoble (1 hr, 26 mins, EUR 18); Lyon Part-Dieu TGV to Montpellier (1 hr, 50 mins, EUR 43); Lyon Part-Dieu TGV to Marseille (1 hr, 44 mins, EUR 53.40).

The TGV also has less frequent service to Grenoble, where you can connect to local SNCF trains headed for villages in the Alps. South of Lyon the TGV goes to Avignon and then splits and goes either to Marseille or Montpellier. The trips from Lyon to Marseille and Lyon to Montpellier take about 1½ hours. Major rail junctions include Grenoble, Annecy, Valence, Chambéry, and Lyon, with frequent train service to other points. Major routes include: Grenoble to Lyon (1¼ hrs), Annecy (2½ hrs), and Chamonix (4 hrs). For the Beaujolais wine country, most people train to Villefranche-sur-Saône's station on the Place de la Gare; trains run to smaller towns from here.

Train Information

Gare SNCF Lyon-Perrache (Cours de Verdun, Pl. Carnot). Gare SNCF Grenoble (Pl. de la Gare). Gare SNCF Annecy (Pl. de la Gare). SNCF (36-35 EUR 0.34 per min. www.voyages-sncf.com). TGV (www.tgv.com).

TGV Lyon Part-Dieu (Blvd. Vivier-Merle).