I was chuffed to bits to discover that there are many ways to visit Paris by high-speed train on a budget for as low as EUR 10 from Lille Metropolitan.
All my life in northern France, I’ve thought that taking the 3-hour-long trip on Flixbuses is the sole way to do that, or through BlaBlaCar carpooling. It now appears that I was wrong.
Main Route: From Lille to Paris – Gare du Nord
Paris’ Gare du Nord is a classic destination for people who are departing from Lille’s Lille-Flandres station. It is the main route. The problem with this, of course, is that the trains on this route tend to be pricey (from normal to expensive), depending on the time of day your train is scheduled to depart from Lille and how close you bought your ticket from your scheduled departure.
On average, I pay at least 35 EUR each way for this route and oftentimes more. Sometimes, there are weekend promos that let you board the train for 10 EUR but they are usually scheduled late in the evening, which is not attractive to me.
Fortunately, a company called Ouigo exists and they sell affordable high-speed train tickets from Lille to other alternative destinations in Paris.
Ouigo is basically your train version of budget airlines, so while you could pay lower fares, your perks could also be minimum so pay attention to your exact travel needs.
Here’s the route of the Ouigo TGV trains from Lille in a nutshell.
As you can see in the route above, none of the high-speed Ouigo trains arrives at Paris Gare du Nord.
From Lille Metropolitan, the high-speed Ouigo TGV trains depart from 2 stations: Tourcoing and Lille-Flandres.
These trains arrive at 3 different destinations in Paris: Roissy Charles de Gaule Airport Terminal 2, Paris Disneyland in Chessy, or in TGV Massy in Massy-Palaiseau in the south of Paris. The latter route, however, is only available if you depart Lille Métropole from Tourcoing.
These options could be advantageous depending on where exactly in Paris you are heading.
If you are on a tight budget or a budget backpacker traveller (like me) and you don’t want to take the car-sharing or bus options to Paris, Ouigo definitely offers the most affordable way to go.
Here are the lowest prices you can expect to pay:
For the sake of comparison, let’s compare how long and how much it takes to reach the Louvre Museum from Lille. The Louvre is located in the heart of Paris (1st arrondissement of Paris).
Alternative Route 1: Lille to Paris Aéroport Roissy – CDG 2
According to Ouigo’s own website, the travel time from Lille-Flandres to Paris Roissy – CDG 2 Airport takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
If you are going to the Louvre Museum from the CDG Airport Terminal 2, you can take the RER B train line heading in the direction of Orsay Ville to reach the centre of Paris. This journey takes approximately 54 minutes and you can expect to pay about 12 EUR.
Your estimated total travel time from Lille is 2 hours and 9 minutes and the estimated total fare is about 24 EUR.
Alternative Route 2: Lille to Paris Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy – Disneyland
If you are going to the Louvre Museum from Paris Disneyland, you can take the RER A train line heading in the direction of Rueil-Malmaison to reach the centre of Paris. This journey takes approximately 38 minutes and you can expect to pay about 4-6 EUR.
Your estimated total travel time from Lille is 1 hour and 44 minutes and the estimated total fare is about 14-16 EUR.
Alternative Route 3: Lille (Tourcoing) to Paris Massy TGV
If you are going to the Louvre Museum from Massy TGV which is located in the south of Paris near Antony and Paris’ Orly Airport, you can take the RER B train line heading in the direction of Mitry – Claye to reach the centre of Paris. This journey takes approximately 29 minutes and you can expect to pay about 4-6 EUR.
Your estimated total travel time from Lille is 2 hours and 31 minutes and the estimated total fare is about 13-15 EUR.
Like Always, Check the Latest Travel Info
Needless to say, before booking any ticket with Ouigo, make sure you check the latest travel information as we are in France and unexpected unpleasant things can happen (e.g. transport strikes).
They are part of our exciting French adventure, however.
Hopefully, this guide will help you on your next trip. This post will definitely help me!
Have you tried any of these routes? Let me know in the comments below.
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