Going on a 2.5 week trip to South of France and then up to Lake Geneva, Switerzerland. I've taken the trains before in France and have always had good luck with traveling that way. However, would love to hear if anyone else has done train travel from France to Switzerland and what their experience was. We will be in Nice for 3 days, the Provence region (based in St. Remy) for 6 days, and then on to Lyon. From Lyon, we will be heading over to Switzerland (Lake Geneva) to meet up with friends for a few days before heading back into France and up to Paris.
Posted by
Green Bay
21140 posts
Its a 7 1/2 hour train trip, so you might think about taking an EasyJet flight.
Posted by
New England
56 posts
Go with the trains. The environmental impact of such a flight is easily calculated as much worse and without the scenery, to boot.
Posted by
Nice, France & San Francisco
712 posts
The flight will be more time efficient if you are ending up in Nice.... otherwise the train is the more viable option if you are western provence (and of course, the more green option).
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
If you start with Nice and continue in Provence, take the train.
Most people would fly between Nice and Geneva. A window seat (right hand side) is quite the treat on that flight!
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
Why don't you go to Nice first and then to Provence. You'll be much closer to Lyon to catch the Lyon-Geneva local train that takes only two hours.
Truthfully, the flight is gorgeous over the Alps. The train is meh. But I'd still take the train but from Avignon.
Posted by
OP
California, U.S.A.
34 posts
Updated to add: We’ve decided to visit Lyon first and spend the night there, then take the train from Lyon to Geneva which is only about an hour and 45 minutes.
Posted by
OP
California, U.S.A.
34 posts
Thank you @Bets
We’re going to do Lyon to Geneva.
Posted by
Big Island of Hawaii
756 posts
We will be traveling from Marseilles to Montreux in July and decided to take the train -- Marseilles to Lyon to Geneva to Montreux. Yes, it will be a long day, but we enjoy train travel and we'll be able to see lots of good scenery. Already booked the Marseilles to Lyon TGV tickets and will get regional tickets as we go. Flying is such a hassle these days; getting to the airport super early, going through security, etc.
Posted by
Wengen
2493 posts
If going Marseilles - Montreux. Buy the tickets for the regional trains in advance on www.sbb.ch. You may save some money on the Swiss part.
Posted by
Big Island of Hawaii
756 posts
thanks, WengenK. I'll do some looking around. We took the train last year from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen and then to Milan, so I'm familiar with SBB. Although I do still find the prices and passes confusing. We are just doing Lyon/Geneva/Montreux/Geneva over three days, so any of the passes may not be applicable.