scdreamer

We are thinking of dropping our rental car off at the train station in Dijon and continuing on to Paris by train. I have looked at the schedule for the train online, but we won't be doing this for about five months from now, so no need to be too exact with times.

What I am seeing at first on the website is that the travel time is about an hour and a half and that there are numerous departures each day. The cost of tickets shows up as 8 Euros. But if I look at the exact date - the situation changes and the cost goes up to $90 (yep, shows in USD), and the travel time is longer, too. That seems weird to me - highly likely I am doing something wrong. Or perhaps it is more expensive to reserve that far in advance - which I'm not going to do, just wanted to see the options.

We will have some luggage - will have been traveling about three weeks in France and Germany prior to reaching Dijon (staying a week in Beaune) - but it should be manageable. I'm now considering whether we would be better off just extending the car rental to drop it off in Paris, leaving directly from Beaune. Not a big fan of city driving, though. Had planned to use only public transportation while staying in Paris.

Anyone with experience here? Thanks.

StCirq

You can't get correct information this far in advance. You will have no problem finding cheap SNCF fares from Dijon to Paris 5 months from now WHEN they become available, which will be about 3 months in advance of your travel dates.

If you're looking at a booking site that shows fares in US dollars, you're probably doing something wrong to begin with. What site are you using?

scdreamer

Thanks, StCirq - not even sure what the website was - I was just googling around out of curiosity, as we will eventually have to let the owner of the apartment we are renting in Paris know our approximate arrival time. I figured it was way to early to look at schedules, so I was looking at today's. Imagine we can buy our tickets when we are there - if not at the station the day of travel, a few days earlier would work.

PalenQ

Yes you can always buy tickets once there but yes about 90 days out max to book- I doubt if there are any 8 euro tickets but just do a dummy search for buying up to 90 days out to see what you should expect to pay once they come on line - www.oui.sncf is the site of French railways and book on that site not any site with fares in dollars. www.seat61.com has tons of advice on booking discounted ticket; general rail info like difference between class also www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. And first class tickets are discounted too and at times may not be much more than 2nd class - if so go first class as though 2nd class is perfectly fine for most 1st is even finer - but only if not much more IMO.

StCirq

Use www.oui.sncf or www.trainline.eu

Don't buy your tickets on the day of travel, or a few days before. You will have to stand in line and you will pay the premium price. Get them ahead of time for the best prices (can be a BIG difference).

scdreamer

Haha - yes, I can see that my eyes must have been playing tricks on me when I thought there was an EIGHT EURO fare. I have looked at the fares from Dijon to Paris - and I am kind of amazed at how high they are for basically a one and a half hour trip. Since we will already have a rental car - I think we can just plan to take it to Paris, drop it off, and taxi to our apartment. With two people, it will be so much less than taking the train. I will take into consideration how much of a hassle it will be to change our car rental reservation (probably not much) and also the logistics of dropping the car off in Paris and getting to the apartment. Plenty of time to decide - and in the grand scheme of a month-long stay in France, the cost of the train tickets will be a drop in the bucket. And I do like a good train ride.

By the way, we are going to be staying on rue Montmartre (near the Louvre) - is Gare du Nord our closest station in Paris? If we have a choice.

kerouac

For a train ticket about 3 months from now, the cheapest fare showing is 30 euros. All trains from Dijon go to Gare de Lyon.

The 9 euro (and sometimes 8 euro) fare is for the SNCF buses from Dijon to Paris.

StCirq

Yup, it's the bus fares that are super-cheap. A normal fare to the Gare de Lyon is as kerouac says, about 30 euros if you don't have a discount card.

You have no choice about where the train lands. Look at a map of trains in France. They're not geared to help you get to a hotel.

scdreamer

Okay - I think I am on track (sorry) with this now. As long as we get the rental car dropped off at the train station in Dijon in time to catch the 09:50 train, the cost will be within reason. Tickets for two seniors. At least that's what it looks like for three months out from today on the same day of the week as we will be going in Sept.

I used this website - it is in USD, but apparently doesn't add any extra fees, etc. I won't necessarily buy my tickets from them (or maybe I will), but it is easy to navigate, although it loads a bit slowly.

Dijon Train Station - Dijon rail station ? train France - Rail Europe

Gare de Lyon doesn't look as if it will be too bad by taxi to the apartment.

StCirq

No, do not use RailEurope. Use the websites I already gave you. RailEurope is a rip-off secondary company that doesn't run railways but just sucks profits off people. Use the websites I gave you.

Gamewood

I have always used www.trainline.eu to buy tickets in advance with no problems.

Jean

Have you considered returning the car in Beaune and taking the train from there? It might be easier overall, especially if you returned the car the afternoon before leaving. You'd change trains in Dijon.

Man_in_seat_61

Use www.trainline.eu or www.loco2.com, in euros.

TGV high-speed train fares are dynamic, just like budget flights, ranging from €20 to maximum €73 depending how far ahead you book, how popular that date and train is.

TGVs take as little as 1h37 at up to 186mph (300km/h).

In addition to the many TGVs, there are several TER regional trains per day, these take 3h04 but cost a fixed-price €35, cannot sell out, always available at that price. These take the old (classic, non-high-speed) line and arrive at Paris Bercy, 500m from the Gare de Lyon.

PalenQ

Use www.oui.sncf and buy direct from French Railways - others are middlemen though they have gone into partnerships withn SNCF. But try to buy direct then if problems use the other.

Man in Seat 61 - curious as to why you do not say to use www.oui.sncf or anyone else if www.oui.sncf works for someone.

PalenQ

Paris Bercy station is right at a metro station and if takng taxis right out front of this small station. Extra hour and have for 35 euros - and no need to pre-book - and can see the scenery!

PalenQ

Consider too driving as in OP - take a whole day and stop by say Vezelay - research it if unknown - or other places and drive into Paris Gare de Lyon and drop car - fairly straight shot autoroute exit to Gare de Lyon - maybe slow going but straight shot.

Hnh6

I think the old official sncf website (voyages-sncf) didn't work well for international customers esp US ones. So the other two were more reliable to use and thus get more recommendations. I recently bought from the new official website (oui.sncf) without trouble, but I think it just takes time for these sort of information to catch up. Maybe we just need more testimony.

PalenQ

Well always try to buy from the source and if not use others but to just give other sites and not even mention the original one - www.oui.sncf is negligent at least if not saying why not to use them.

scdreamer

I’m inclined to agree with this idea, as long as there is a drop-off office for our car at Gare de Lyon (will check on that). Because we will be staying in Beaune, it should eliminate backtracking in order to drop the car at the Dijon station. My husband, who will be the driver, is dead set against driving in Paris, but this might be easy enough for him to consider. Back to the drawing board ... er computer.

PalenQ

check on car returns at Marne-la-Vallee (EuroDisney) RER station just east of Paris - and take RER into Paris. Not sure if car renturns there but may well be.