Top Rail Day Trips from Paris
Ride RER C (40 min) to the Palace of Versailles; take the 45-minute TGV from Gare de l'Est to Reims for subterranean chalk Champagne cellars (Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, Pommery) and the Gothic coronation cathedral; take Transilien Line R (40 min) to Château de Fontainebleau; or ride TER from Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny (45 min) for Claude Monet's water-lily gardens.
Top Day Trips from Nice, Lyon & Bordeaux
From Nice-Ville, coastal TER trains reach Villefranche-sur-Mer in 7 minutes, Antibes in 20 minutes, and Monaco in 22 minutes. From Lyon Part-Dieu, reach medieval Pérouges in 35 minutes or lakeside Annecy in 1h50. From Bordeaux Saint-Jean, TER trains reach UNESCO-listed Saint-Émilion vineyards in 33 minutes or Arcachon Bay oysters and the Dune du Pilat in 50 minutes.
Official sources & further reading
Rules, prices and schedules change. Confirm details here before you travel: