French railway company SNCF brings us an offer for trips from Paris to Switzerland. A ride on the double-decker TGV Lyria from Paris to Zurich can be booked for as little as 29€ each way.
The offer applies to all TGV connections between Switzerland and Paris. The most attractive options for their value are likely to start or end from Basel or Zurich. However, the routes from Lausanne and Geneva are also discounted.
These are travel routes from Paris to Switzerland:
- Paris ↔ Zurich
- Paris ↔ Geneva
- Paris ↔ Lausanne
Trains are starting or ending at Gare de Lyon in Paris. An expiration date for the offer is not mentioned, although some offer conditions are specified on the TGV Lyria’s website. Currently, bookings are available until May 2024.
Booking
Unfortunately, the SNCF website is absolutely terrible. To search for a connection, you first need to enter a destination, such as Paris, in the search field.
Only then does the actual search for connections open up, and you can look for tickets from, for example, Zurich or Basel to Paris:
The availabilities are unfortunately not very good anymore, but you can still book some dates every month at a reasonable price.
If you have trouble booking with SNCF, you can book TGV Lyria tickets with Omio, but you will be charged a €2 service fee for issuing the ticket.
Route and Comfort
Between Switzerland and Paris, only double-decker trains of the TGV Duplex type operate. These are operated by TGV Lyria, a joint venture of SNCF and SBB. The journey to Paris takes about 3 hours from Basel and an hour longer from Zurich.
WiFi is available and free of charge. The trains have a seating space of 92 cm in 2nd class, with a seat arrangement of 2-2. You can find a review of the journey on simpletrain.ch. The seats are highly praised there.
The French have installed the most comfortable seats in the second class that I am aware of on European tracks. Although they may look somewhat like a suburban train seat in design, once you settle into them, you never want to get up.
simpletrain.ch
On the following map, you can see the routes from Paris to Switzerland marked:
By the way, on this route, seat reservations are mandatory. The seat reservation is included in the price. You can choose whether you prefer to sit on the upper or lower deck and, if desired, select a window seat.
Cover Picture: by Free Nomad on unsplash