• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Suggestions for break of journey Turin-London

Status
Not open for further replies.

eastwestdivide

Established Member
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Messages
2,532
Location
S Yorks, usually
Any interesting suggestions for breaking my planned journey back to the UK from Turin/Torino in May 2016?
I'll have travelled out from the UK via Switzerland and Milan, so a stopover in France would possibly be of more interest.
I know you can do Turin-London straight through in a day, but at the moment, my planned day has no cheaper Eurostar tickets left, and the £60 difference to the next day's tickets would pay for another hotel night.
Lyon? Aix-les-Bains? Dijon? Strasbourg??
Any suggestions gratefully received. Ta.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

DaiGog

Member
Joined
23 Oct 2013
Messages
397
Location
Sometimes Mirfield, sometimes Hull, often Niebüll
I've been to Lyon and Strasbourg, both of which I can recommend. Both are of course well connected to Paris by TGV.

Strasbourg has a few hotels just outside the station, including an Ibis Budget, but the old town is a bit of a hike. That said, it's worth it when you get there and there are plenty of restaurants around the Petit France area. Lyon's old town is a Metro ride away from the main station, and from memory the hotels in walking distance of the station aren't that cheap as a rule.

Alternatively, if you have time, head for Belfort and onward to Paris the following day with a CC72000 diesel and decent stock (0820 from Belfort for example). Belfort is also a pleasant place to stay.
 
Last edited:

30907

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Sep 2012
Messages
17,867
Location
Airedale
I'm assuming you will come back on the TGV via Mode, in which case Chambéry and Aix are straightforward, with plenty of onward trains next day. Taking a connecting train to Annecy would be even better!

There are plenty of local trains Chambery-Lyon (and thence to Beaune and Dijon, all 3 worth visiting).

From Dijon, if the timetable cooperates, you can join Line 4 (mentioned earlier) from Belfort at Culmont.

Strasbourg is rather a long way off route TBH.
 

Ianigsy

Member
Joined
12 May 2015
Messages
1,104
Lyon is quite interesting transport-wise and includes trams, underground (three separate lines, one of them driverless and another with a rack section) and funiculars, all in the integrated local ticketing system. I went in the opposite direction (Lyon-Chambery-Milan) last year and Chambery also seemed quite busy with some loco hauled TERs between there and Lyon; there are also occasional loco hauled TERs between Lyon Part-Dieu and Paris Bercy if you fancy a change from TGVs. Also a reasonable number of direct TGVs to Lille avoiding the open-sewer ambience of the Gare du Nord RER.
 

newmilton

Member
Joined
24 Feb 2010
Messages
160
Aix is a pleasant enough town, much beloved of Queen Victoria (there's a statue of her near the main square) with some pleasant walks and a lakefront aquarium, but not much beyond that. Chambéry is the administrative hub and larger, but I've not stopped off so I don't know what else is there.

You could connect at Aix for Annecy, which is almost too pretty for its own good, or indeed for Geneva, but Lyon is the most interesting option, with its Roman Museum, Museum of Cinema, art gallery, and gourmet food. Hotels in the old city are not expensive and the tram and métro system are very efficient.

I was in Turin just over a month ago, BTW, and very much enjoyed it.
 

eastwestdivide

Established Member
Joined
17 Aug 2009
Messages
2,532
Location
S Yorks, usually
Thanks for the suggestions people - yes, intending to come back via Modane, as anything else is a bit of a long way round (back to Milan before N to Switzerland). Plenty to mull over there.
Cheers.
 

bunnahabhain

Established Member
Joined
8 Jun 2005
Messages
2,070
Grenobles is a lovely city to visit, I stopped off there during the storms as Nice was closed and I had to alter my plans on the fly a little bit. Also if you're really interested in diverting out of your way a little bit, Troyes is another nice place to stop off, its near to Paris, and you can also get diesel loco hauled Intercities services non-stop between Troyes and Paris Est, very convenient for Eurostar and for mostly avoiding Paris.
 

Nicholas43

Member
Joined
16 Jun 2011
Messages
511
Chambéry is lovely, if you like historic cities surrounded by mountains. (Have a read on Trip Advisor, for example.)
Or, if you are feeling adventurous, you could take the bus from Oulx to Briançon:
https://www.05voyageurs.com/doc/pdf_fiches-saisonnieres/s33-serrechevalier-briancon-oulx-decembre2015-v5.pdf
From Briançon to Paris, you can take either (a) day train by scenic route to Grenoble, then TGV; or (b) overnight train, with quite comfortable couchettes.

From Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord, the civilized routes are (a) bus 65, or (b) Métro from Quai de la Rapée. This is worth a visit anyway. The line descends steeply from the bridge from Austerlitz into tunnel.
 
Last edited:

waynenm1

Member
Joined
25 Oct 2012
Messages
43
I have done London to Italy a couple times by train, but my preference has always been to overnight in Brig in both directions. But yes it is a bit longer that way.
wf.
 

newmilton

Member
Joined
24 Feb 2010
Messages
160
From Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord, the civilized routes are (a) bus 65, or (b) Métro from Quai de la Rapée. This is worth a visit anyway. The line descends steeply from the bridge from Austerlitz into tunnel.

Agreed. I've not tried the bus, but the métro is always much more pleasant than the RER. Quai de la Rapée is only a short walk from the Gare de Lyon, and not noticeably longer. In fact, on the last occasion I did take the RER there was a power failure and I missed my connecting Eurostar!
 
Joined
7 Jan 2009
Messages
859
I would second the Oulx-Briancon-Veynes bus/train option. Spectacular scenery all the way and you can eventually connect back onto the TGV network at Valence. But only two buses a day over the pass between Italy and France so one would need to plan this carefully. Otherwise, Annecy is very good (an upmarket resort in a location a bit like the Lake District) and Lyon has lots to do and eat (and less rude people than in Paris!)
 

Nicholas43

Member
Joined
16 Jun 2011
Messages
511
I would second the Oulx-Briancon-Veynes bus/train option. Spectacular scenery all the way and you can eventually connect back onto the TGV network at Valence. But only two buses a day over the pass between Italy and France so one would need to plan this carefully. ..
The 2016 bus timetable
https://www.05voyageurs.com/doc/pdf_fiches-saisonnieres/s33-serrechevalier-briancon-oulx-decembre2015-v5.pdf
offers 4 buses a day from Oulx to Briançon, one of which runs only on specified Thursdays and Fridays. Two of them connect with a TGV from Milan/Turin. The others connect (more or less) with the (hourly) sfm service from Turin to Bardonecchia.
http://www.sfmtorino.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015.13.12_sfm3.pdf
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top