Paris's mainline railway termini

Seven SNCF terminals point out of Paris like spokes, and which one you want depends entirely on where in France you are going: Normandy leaves from one building, Brittany from another four kilometres away, and the sleeper to Briançon from a third that most visitors never see. This set gathers each terminus with the things you need before you set off rather than after: what actually departs from it, when the doors are open, whether the stop outside is step-free, and where the lockers and left luggage sit.

Places in this collection

  • Gare Saint-Lazare — The oldest of the big Paris stations, opened in 1837 as a wooden shed, and second busiest today: Intercités to Rouen, Caen and Cherbourg al…
  • Gare de Lyon — Third busiest in France and the northern end of the Paris-Marseille line, with TGVs to the southeast and RER A trains out to Marne-la-Vallé…
  • Gare d'Austerlitz — Intercités to the centre and southwest, Limoges-Bénédictins, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Cahors, Montauban and Toulouse, with regional services to…
  • Gare Montparnasse — The Atlantic terminus: TGV Atlantique for Brittany, Bordeaux and the southwest, taking in Chartres, Le Mans, Rennes, Saint-Malo, Nantes, La…
  • Gare de l'Est — Eastern France and Germany from one of the oldest station buildings still in use, opened in 1849 and carrying sculptures of Strasbourg and…
  • Gare du Nord — First in France by traffic and the busiest in Europe, handling Lille, Boulogne, Calais and the northern suburbs behind an 1864 facade built…
  • Gare de Paris Bercy Bourgogne-Pays d'Auvergne — The quietest of the seven mainline terminals, around 4.3 million passengers a year, and formally an annex to Gare de Lyon a short walk nort…

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