Hello
We will be taking a Viking River Cruise that ends in Basel. We are hoping to fly home to the states from Paris - thinking we'd take the train from Basel to Paris. We've seen online that there are trains that run that route, but we are rather confused by the many sites advertising tickets and also about the exact right ticket to purchase. If anyone out there could give me some guidance - I'd very much appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Posted by
Green Bay
20089 posts
The train is operated by TGV-Lyria, a joint venture of SNCF, the French national railway, and SBB, the Swiss national railway. You can buy tickets from TGV, SBB, or the Lyria websites. You can also buy through 3rd party resellers like RailEurope, or Trainline. Buy from who has the best price. I have found TGV to have the best price, but their on-line credit card vetting can be difficult. Trainline is easy, but they will charge a 3% fee, mainly to cover the transaction cost of all those "triple rewards points" credit cards.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Yes, the trains are run by TGV Lyria, which is a joint operation by SBB and SNCF.
Their website is here: https://www.tgv-lyria.com/ch/en
There are 6 trains per day, and the trip takes just over 3 hours.
There are two "main" stations in Basel, the one you want for Paris trains is Basel SBB.
Incidently there was an item on this evening's Swiss TV news where SBB had just done a publicity event about increased international services. From December the Basel - Paris trains are going to be double-decker with 30% more capacity.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/european-travel-more-trains-to-from-switzerland/45388058
The number of passengers on international trains to or from Switzerland has gone up 10% in the last year, which some media have nicknamed the "Greta Effect".
Posted by
Washington DC
27112 posts
The cost of the ticket is likely to be lower (perhaps a great deal lower) if you buy now, rather than just before your trip. However, the cheapest tickets on offer are likely to be non-refundable/non-changeable, so be certain you understand the terms of the purchase. To see how large the difference is, you can price the ticket for travel today or tomorrow and also for your actual date of travel, or as close to it as you can get at this point. For schedules, be sure you're looking at the right day of the week.
Posted by
Paris
9570 posts
Although depending on when your trip is, tickets for your actual date may not yet be available.