Genève / Geneva to Paris by train

The high speed 'Lyria' services are the only direct trains from Geneve to the French capital.

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Routes

From Genève/Geneva-Cornavin to Paris Gare de Lyon/Paris Lyon

Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris-Lyon

All trains also call at: Bellegarde

Monday - Friday = 8 x trains per day
Saturday - Sunday = 6 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date

Something to watch out for is that on some booking sites, including Oui.SNCF, the main station in Geneve/Geneva is listed as Geneve-Cornavin

When looking for tickets on Oui.SNCF tick the 'direct trains' box, on Trainline tick the 'fastest journeys' box.
On Oui.SNCF enter 'Gare de Lyon (Paris)' in the to box, on Trainline select Paris-Gare-de-Lyon.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
There can be particularly big discrepancies per departure on this route.

If tickets aren't on sale yet for your travel date, then this is a journey for which it's worth signing up to the ticket availability notification service on Oui.SNCF.

Do that and you'll receive an email within moments of the tickets being released for sale.
It's worth making an effort as this is a journey on which the very cheapest tickets tend to sell out particularly fast.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Oui.SNCF from €29

Oui.SNCF Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

Though a legacy of when SNCF sold international tickets under the Rail Europe branding is that OuiSNCF is available in multiple translations with the offerings on the site then tailored to international visitors to France.
However, some of the site's features, including the integration of mobility assistance into the booking path, are only available on the French language version.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF 'My Travel' phone app, so it's therefore often a good idea to book on the OuiSNCF mobile service.

Trainline from €29

Trainline Guide

Omio from €29

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

SaveATrain from €29

SaveATrain Guide

Happyrail from €29

Happyrail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - YesMountain viewsHigh Speed (partial)

Good to Know

Aim to be at Geneve a minimum of 15 mins before departure, you may have to pass through immigration control before boarding this train.

This is a journey of two distinct contrasts

The first third of the journey is scenic.
If your reserved seat is on the left of the train (when facing the direction of travel), there are views of the river valley to be enjoyed between Geneve and Bellegarde.
But the most scenic part of the route comes between Bellegarde and the high speed line.

For the final two thirds of the journey, the train will be on the high speed line.

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