TGV train passing through ProvenceSaint Charles, Marseille's main rail station, forms the southern terminus of the high-speed train network and is served by five other conventional lines. This is a guide to travel by train to and from Marseille.

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Click here for an article about the historic Saint Charles station itself as well as its facilities for travellers.

TRAIN ROUTES TO AND FROM MARSEILLE

The Marseille Saint Charles station website includes live travel information about train arrivals and departures.

It is the terminus for train routes serving Paris and most major French provincial towns. From the adjacent bus station, you can also travel on to regional destinations, including Aix en Provence, Salon de Provence and Aubagne, with the Cartreize network.

International ones, including Barcelona, Lisbon, Milan and Rome are served by several bus companies such as Eurolines.

Click here to pre-book a holiday taxi to or from Marseille Saint Charles station.

The website of France's national rail company SNCF has been rebranded yet again and given a new website address. Formerly and briefly oui.sncf, it is now SNCF Connect.

Marseille is the southern end of the high-speed Mediterranée line, inaugurated in 2001, that links Marseille to Paris in just over three hours. It's also the final destination of a Eurostar service to Provence from London Saint Pancras.

News for rail travel to MarseilleThe direct London to Marseille Eurostar service has not run since 2019 and you currently need to change trains in either Lille or Paris.

The advantage of Lille is that the trains connect in the same station. However, you should make sure both your trains run to Lille Europe. Some domestic routes run to Lille Flandres, which is a 10-15 minute walk away.

Paris offers more trains and the total journey time is shorter, but you will need to cross the city, either by taxi or by RER, from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon: allow at least 90 minutes.

The dining roon of Le Train Bleu restaurant, ParisYou could do this trip in a leisurely style and have a drink or a gourmet meal in the incredible Le Train Bleu restaurant, pictured, in the Gare de Lyon.

Built in 1900, it is decorated in full Belle Époque splendour with 41 magnificent ceiling frescos giving Parisian diners a foretaste of their destinations in the South of France.

Another, cheaper restaurant near the station is the Brasserie l'Européen, right opposite the main entrance to the Gare de Lyon.

It too has a flamboyant interior, with Art Nouveau chandeliers and Tiffany lights (and a clock whose hands go backwards), a handy locker room for suitcases, and a medium-priced set menu. Good to know: unlike Le Train Bleu, which only serves meals at limited set times, the Brasserie l'Européen offers continuous service.

Here the choice is small and basic, but of excellent quality. The set menu might feature oysters, steak, duck or fish and a dessert. The house speciality is rum baba. Brasserie l'Européen, 21 bis boulevard Diderot, 75012 Paris. Tel: (+33) 1 43 43 99 70.

Alternatively, if you have plenty of time and don't mind paying a little extra (or are travelling on a rail pass), then try the alternative route from Paris to Marseille via Clermont-Ferrand and Nîmes.

This is a spectacularly beautiful journey for much of its route, although it does take 11 hours and involves changing trains twice.

There are also direct high-speed train services between Marseille and Aix en Provence, Avignon, Brussels, Geneva, Lille, Lyon, Nice and Toulon, as well as less frequent ones with Arles, Barcelona, Dijon, Frankfurt, Hyères, Madrid, Montpellier, Nantes and Strasbourg.

 

Of the five other lines out of Marseille, one goes east to Toulon, St. Raphaël, Cannes, Nice and on into Italy. The second serves the Alps via Aix-en-Provence, Sisteron, Gap and Briançon. The third is the old main line to Miramas, Avignon, Lyon and, eventually, Paris.

The Blue Coast train line outside MarseilleThe fourth follows the same route to Miramas but then turns west to Arles, Nîmes, Montpelier and eventually Toulouse and Bordeaux or Perpignan and on into Spain.

Finally, the fifth is the dramatic Côte Bleue (Blue Coast) Line, pictured, which hugs the coast until it finally turns inland to rejoin the main lines at Miramas.

The "Ouigo" is a low-cost, high-speed train introduced by the SNCF in 2013. You can take this train from Marseille to Avignon, Valence, Lyon, Marne la Vallée, just east of Paris (the station for Euro Disney), central Paris itself and Lille.

The current timetables for train services out of Marseille can be downloaded from the SNCF TER website.

There is a regular shuttle bus from Marseille-Provence Airport to the bus station which is integrated into Saint Charles station. It runs every 10-15 minutes, depending on the time of day, and the journey takes about half an hour.

Certainly it's preferable to the alternative route by train from Vitrolles-Aeroport station which, despite its name, is not in the airport itself: you have to take a (free) shuttle bus over to it from the station.

The service has been improved, but there can still be long intervals between trains.

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BUYING TICKETS

There is a ticket office at Saint Charles station but you can book Eurostar and high-speed train tickets in advance on the official SNCF booking site or SNCF phone app. Tickets can be printed on your own computer or downloaded to your phone before departure, just like an airline ticket.

eurostar trainIf travelling from the UK, bear in mind that it is often cheaper to buy a Eurostar ticket to Paris or Lille and then a separate onward ticket to your final destination.

It is also worth checking the first-class fare, which might be little more than the second-class fare for the same journey and is sometimes even cheaper.

Prem's (sic - note the rogue apostrophe, often found in French) are also cheap train tickets sold on a first-come-first-served basis.

Click here to read about the ZOU! card which offers up to 75% discount on local train travel. Discounts are also available to senior travellers over 60 of any nationality.

 

WHEN TRAVELLING

Cartoon about French rail strikesAs on all continental railways, you need to date-stamp (composter) your ticket before boarding the train at one of the yellow machines at the entrance to every platform.

This does not apply to tickets which have been printed on your own computer or downloaded to your phone and are tied to a particular train.

It's wise prior to travel to check for French train strikes (grèves), delays, breakdowns and cancellations as the SNCF is highly susceptible to all of these.

Fortunately at least this information is now available in English on the SNCF website.

Alternatively, a website called Cestlagreve lists the many current and planned strikes in all sectors in France (in French only).

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