High-Speed Train Travel From Paris – To France & The Rest Of Europe

All of France is connected by a high-speed train network and other regional train systems. There are more than 20,000 miles of train rail and each day 14,000 trains run. Considering that France is just slightly larger than California, this means you are never too far from anywhere! The Atlantic Coast, Provence, and the Cote d'Azur are just a hop, skip and jump away from Paris using the highly sophisticated French railway system. Full disclosure — that it's our favorite way to get round France, so we're somewhat biased in our recommendations.

Board the TGV at Gare de Lyon and you'll be in sunny Provence in less than 3 hours. If you were to drive from Paris to Avignon, you'd have to spend up to 9 hours in the car. We've always found that there's no need to rent a car from Paris. We simply arrange to pick up a rental car when we arrive at the gare in Avignon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Trouville, or whatever our final destination.

Train Travel from Paris… To France

In the time of the average Vancouver (British Columbia) commute by car — about 67 minutes — you could hop from Paris to Reims and spend the day sipping champagne at Moët et Chandon, where Napoleon drank his champagne.

In little longer than the average Montreal commute (80 minutes) you could train travel from Paris to Nantes. There you could pick up a car rental and spend the day exploring the magnificent chateaux of the Loire Valley.

Train Travel from Paris… To the Rest of Europe

Luckily for us travelers, train travel from Paris also connects to all of Europe. You could take a romantic overnight train and wake up in Barcelona or Florence.

Although there are many cheap flights from Paris, you'll wonder about the true cost of them when you're stuffed like sardines into a flying tin can. (We know this from experience!) Instead, enjoy the comfort, speed, and convenience of train travel. And it's so much more pleasant to leave Paris from a centrally-located train station.

If you plan to do any train travel from Paris, it's best to purchase your online and in advance. That way you have your tickets with you when you arrive in France.

Popular Train Travel Destinations from Paris

• Paris to Brussels — clocking in at 1 hour and 17 mins, the high-speed Thalys train will deliver you to this fabulous Belgium city.
• Paris to Amsterdam — 3 hours and 18 minutes by Thalys.
• Paris to London — 2 hours and 15 minutes on the Eurostar and you'll be saying hello to Big Ben.
• Paris to Avignon — 2 hours and 37 minutes and you'll be soaking up the sun of Provence.
• Paris to Bordeaux — 3 hours and 10 minutes to the center of wine country. From there it's an easy train ride to St. Emilion (30 minutes or so).
• Paris to Lyon — 2 hours and 30 minutes hours gets you to the culinary capital of France.
• Paris to Marseille — 3 hours later you'll be wandering the port city of Southern France.
• Paris to Geneva — take the 3 hour 30 minute train ride and rent a car at the station to visit Chamonix, Val de Bagnes, and Gruyere.