Eurostar to French Alps via Lyon

Eurostar's direct service from London to Lyon was cancelled in 2018 (but we are campaigning for Eurostar to bring it back)

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Eurostar direct to Lyon cancelled

Eurostar's is cancelled it's direct London-to-Lyon service in 2018. This was a blow for rail travel to the Alps. The route was useful for lots of resorts and added important extra capcity for journeys that more and more skiers want to make.  Eurostar blames lack of demand, but the way that they had launched and run the service made it difficult for skiers to use it. 

Eurostar's launch of the winter direct-to-Lyon service was a shocking.  The actual service was good - London to Lyon in only four hours.  But to get to the French Alps you would need to take a local train from Lyon.  That's fine.  But Eurostar didn't enable skiers to book the London-to-Lyon and Lyon-to-Alps section as one ticket. Instead, it left skiers to try to work out themselves how to reach the Alps from Lyon. It was a scandalous waste of an opportunity, and once again Eurostar proved that by not bothering to listen to or engage with the outside world, it could launch and then be forced to cancel a potentially great service.

The cancellation came as a disappointment to the many skiers who had started using it. What's more, thousands of skiers that hadn't yet tried it, nor even knew what options it could provide, won't have the chance to do so.

For the public record, you can read about the service that did run, below.  Snowcarbon campaigned for Eurostar to restart it's via Lyon service - back in 2018-19.  That campaign wasn't successful - but we tried.

Further down the page, you'll find what was possible pre-pandemic.  What the schedules are post-pandemic, we are still waiting to see.

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Travel direct to the French Alps via Lyon (cancelled)

photo:Eurostar

Eurostar's direct service from London to Lyon was a way to reach array of great ski resorts in France.  It was particularly useful for several reasons:

1. Some resorts that you could only be reached by changing station in Paris, can now be reached by only changing platform in Lyon to a local train. And though changing station in Paris is easy when you do it by taxi, as this film shows, the simple change of platform in Lyon is certainly easier still. 

2. Even for resorts that are already accessed by the direct Eurostar Ski Train to the French Alps, this new route via Lyon adds capacity.  You may find that on peak dates when the direct Ski Train is sold out or expensive, the route via Lyon has seats available, or better pricing.

3. You can use the Lyon route on the outbound to create a stopover in Lyon, if your accommodation is Sunday - Sunday. Quite a nice way to do it.

So all in all, a welcome new addition to your train journey options.

In the 2018-19 winter season the Eurostar from London to Lyon is unlikely to run.  To be updated on this, just sign up for Snowcarbon's newletter, and you'll be the first to know.

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Outbound journey schedules - London to French Alps via Lyon (cancelled)

This section is a guide to the train schedules to the French Alps via Lyon.  Depart London on Saturday morning and you'll arrive on the direct Eurostat at Lyon at 1pm. From there you've got a variety of local train options - to get you to a wide range of ski resorts. Here's the outbound schedule:

Depart London (Saturday only)	Depart Ashford (Saturday only)	Arrive Lyon Part Dieu (Saturday only)
07:19	07:55	13:00

We have a special page on Snowcarbon, called Live Ski Trains Price Check, where you can view ticket prices and book the journey.

Once you arrive in Lyon, you can have lunch at the station (see below) or grab a snack (from the many outlets at the station) to eat on the local train that you'll take to your resort.  Lyon is an easy station to change platform, with escalators and lifts. Here are the onward train schedules:

Depart Lyon	Destination	Change train?	Arrive	Ski resorts
13:36	Briancon	change Valence Ville	18:17	Montgenevre, Serre Chevalier
14:08	Annecy	direct	16:07	La Clusaz, Le Grand Bornand
14:14	Grenoble	direct	15:49	Alpe d'Huez, Les2Alpes, Chamrousse
13:40	Cluses	direct	16:35	Avoriaz, Les Gets, Morzine, Samoens, Les Carroz, Flaine
13:40	Sallanches	direct	16:46	Megeve
13:40	St Gervais	direct	16:53	Les Contamines, St Gervais
13:50	Moutiers	direct	16:36	Courchevel, La Tania, Les Menuires, Meribel, Valmorel, Val Thorens
13:50	Aime la Plagne	direct	17:06	La Plagne
13:50	Landry	direct	17:18	Peisey-Vallandry
13:50	Bourg St Maurice	direct	17:30	La Rosiere, Les Arcs, Tignes, Val d'Isere, Sainte Foy
14:50	St Michel-Valloire	direct	17:37	Valmeinier, Valloire
14:50	Modane	direct	17:53	Aussois, Bonneval-sur-Arc, La Norma, Valfrejus, Val Cenis

Inbound journey schedules - French Alps to London via Lyon (cancelled)

Returning from the Alps via Lyon, to connect onto Eurostar's new direct Lyon-London service, you begin by taking a local train from the closest station to your ski resort. Here are some of the schedules:

Once you arrive in Lyon, you can have a bite to eat at the station (there are lots of choices of cafe and restaurant) before you board the Eurostar to return to the UK.  Lyon is an easy station to change platform, with escalators and lifts.

Here is the onward train schedule from Lyon to Ashford and London.

The annoying part on the inbound is that you have to get off the Eurostar at Lille, for check-in and security checks, with all your luggage. There are escalators and lifts to take you to the check-in bit (located just above the platform) but you have to stand in a queue for 30 minutes (or you did when we tried it).  Still, much rather this than the queues and boredom of an airport, anyday!

Alternative inbound journeys: TGV Lyon to Lille, then Eurostar

There is an alternative to the Lyon - London Eurostar service, and this is to come back on the same route but take the TGV from Lyon to Lille Europe, and then switch onto the Eurostar.  In practical terms, the journeys are almost identical.  However, the timetables are different, so you can choose what suits you best.

Lyon Part Dieu - Lille Europe (TGV), then Eurostar to London - Journey 1:

This is almost identical to the inbound Lyon-London Eurostar journey anyway, because you actually have to get off the direct train to do passport and security before getting back on the train.

How to book tickets

Ticket prices
Adult return fares from London to Lyon start from £89 in Standard Class.  Lyon to the Alps return will cost you between £20 and £55 (see table below).

When you can book
Tickets from London to Lyon for the entire 2017-18 winter season are likely to go on sale in October 2017.  As soon as we hear more, we will update this page.  Once it becomes bookable, you can book at these websites:

Loco2.com
London - Lyon Eurostar section: Loco2.com-London-Lyon
Lyon - ski resort destination station, on local train: this is bookable 120 days in advance.
Once the entire journey is available to book, you can also do this on Loco2's website.

Eurostar.com
London - Lyon Eurostar section.   The Lyon-to-ski-resort leg, by local train cannot be booked on Eurostar's website, but can be booked on Loco2 or Voyages SNCF.

Voyages SNCF
London - Lyon Eurostar section: this is already bookable now on Voyage SNCF's website
Lyon - ski resort destination station, on local train: this is bookable 120 days in advance
Once the entire journey is available to book, you can also do this on Voyage SNCF's website.

See live prices for London - Lyon on our Live Ski Trains Price Check page

You can also find useful information in our guide: How to book the lowest fares

Prices from Lyon to your ski resort

photo:Daniel Elkan Ibis Styles, Lyon

Sunday - Sunday accommodation? Then stopover.

The London-Lyon service runs every Saturday in winter, but if your accommodation is Sunday-to-Sunday you can stopover in Lyon on the Saturday night, and then take a local train the next morning.  About 40 metres from Gare de Lyon station, on the same side of the road, there are several hotels, such as Hotel Ibis Styles.  Nice, clean comfortable rooms - and very reasonably priced at weekends - for example:

Room for 1 person = 89€; 2 people 99€; 3 people 129€; two adults + two children (age under 17) = 129€.  All these prices include breakfast.

Then on the inbound journey back from the Alps, you could come back with a TGV train to Paris and then a Eurostar from there.

You can find out more in our  Guide to stopping over in Lyon

You may also find a useful overview about booking train travel generally in guide to booking ski holidays by train.