Paris to Perpignan by train

How to take a train journey from Paris to Perpignan

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Routes

From Paris Gare de Lyon/Paris Lyon to Perpignan

Journey Summary

Travel Time
from 4h59min
Frequency
Daily
Travel Information

Note that these trains to Perpignan depart from the Gare De Lyon in Paris.

Final Destination: Barcelone or Perpignan.

All trains also call at: Narbonne

Most trains also call at: Beziers

The fastest trains from Paris to Perpignan now take an extension of the high speed line, which by-passes Nimes and Montpellier.
As a result around 15 mins have been shaved off the journey time if you take these trains, providing Perpignan with its fastest ever trains from Paris.

Mon - Thurs: 5 x trains per day
Friday: 9 x trains
Sat - Sun: 5 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 4 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.

Expect to pay more for this journey between the beginning of June and mid-September, particularly if you will be travelling on a Friday or Saturday; as the most heavily discounted tickets inevitably sell out faster at times of particularly high demand.

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.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Oui.SNCF from €55

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.

Download the Oui.SNCF app from €55
SaveATrain from €55

SaveATrain Guide

Happyrail from €55

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.

Trainline from €55

Trainline Guide

RailEurope from €55

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (partial)

Good to Know

Some of the trains from Paris to Narbonne are the 'RENFE-SNCF' services heading to Barcelona, but the TGV Duplex trains used for these departures are no different in terms of journey experience and on-board facliities to the trains which only operate in France.

From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan #1 From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan #1
From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan #2 From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan #2

This is a journey of three distinct parts.

1: Between the outskirts of Paris and Nimes or Sete the trains travel on the high speed line.

  1. From Sete to Perpignan the trains follow the coast, but don't expect incredible seascapes, the sea is often just out of sight on the right, but you're more likely to see it from the upper deck

Though what makes the part of the journey between Sete and Perpignan unusual is that between these two towns there are often sea lagoons which can be seen from the left-hand side of the train, particularly south of Narbonne when the railway seems to skim across the surface of the water

As can be seen in the video, what's unusual and rather fabulous about this part of the journey, as the train leaves Narbonne behind, is that the 'sea' can be seen from both sides of the train.

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