Paris to Mulhouse by train

Note that these trains depart from the Gare De Lyon in Paris, but the alternative TER trains depart from the Gare de l'Est.

Final Destination:
Zurich or Basel - the Lyria trains;
Mulhouse - the TGV trains

Some trains also call at: Besancon TGV and Belfort-Montbéliard TGV

The direct high speed train service between Paris and Mulhouse is split between TGV-Lyria and TGV trains.
If you will be booking point-2-point tickets it doesn't particularly matter which type of train you take, tickets can be cheaper on the Lyria trains compared to the TGV trains and vice versa.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 3 months ahead of the travel date - but bookings can open sooner when SNCF is running a promotion.

If tickets aren't on sale yet for your travel date, you can sign up to the ticket availability notification service on Oui.SNCF.

When looking for tickets on Oui.SNCF tick the 'direct trains' box, on Trainline tick the 'fastest journeys' box.

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.

The Oui.SNCF (French national railways website) will indicate the cheapest price per day, click on this and you will be shown the departures on which this price is available.

Our step-by-step guide to booking train tickets on the Oui.SNCF (official French railways) website is available HERE.

There's also a guide to booking with an independent ticket agent.

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.

Rail Pass Users:

Also if you have a rail pass there is no specific difference in the reservation fees for this journey* between the Lyria and TGV trains, the price and availability will depend on the departure time and date, and not by which train you will be travelling by.

*Those typically more expensive rail pass reservation fees for the Lyria trains only apply to Paris to Switzerland/Switzerland to Paris journeys.

Though you can avoid paying any rail pass reservation fees if you take the alternative service of TER trains.

Note that these trains depart from the Gare de l'Est, but the alternative service of TGV trains depart from the Gare De Lyon.

Final Destination: Mulhouse

All trains also call at: Belfort

If you'll be travelling on to Switzerland, you'll need to take the morning departure, which usually* leaves at 06:42 on Mon-Fri and at 08:42 on Sat/Sun.

*The schedule on this route seems to be particularly susceptible to alterations, so if you will be travelling with a rail pass, it's definitely worth looking up the schedule on Oui.SNCF, even though you won't be purchasing a ticket for this journey.

Book early and save: No

Online bookings open: 3 months ahead of the travel date, usually (the booking window can be shorter in Oct-Nov).

These TER trains are much slower than the alternative TGV trains from Paris to Mulhouse, but despite that they may not be cheaper.

We're primarily listing them because if you will be travelling with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you don't have to pay a reservation fee to travel on these TER trains.

More information is available on our guide to using rail passes in France.

So if you have a rail pass you can avoid the reservation fees on the TGV trains between Paris and Mulhouse.

If you'll be travelling from Paris to Switzerland, you can avoid the comparatively expensive fees on the Lyria trains, by taking these trains which are usually scheduled to depart at 06:42 on Mon-Fri and at 08:42 on Sat/Sun; connecting in Mulhouse for TER trains on to Basel.