PARIS to MILAN by train: Spectacular TGV through the Alps

Hello and welcome to another trip report. I am at Paris Gare de Lyon and I'm going to be taking

a very special train. I'm heading down to Milan on a TGV in first class. It's going to be an

amazing journey with some great food and some wonderful views along the way. Please join me

and we're going to head to Milan. Enjoy the video. Gare de Lyon is one of Paris's six principal

railway stations. It's the terminus for a number of TGV routes to the south of France

Switzerland, Italy and even to Spain. Today I am booked on the 10.41 departure to Milan-Porter Garibaldi, seen here on the screens

Now this train does take 7 hours to go between Paris and Milan, so I won't be advocating

it as the fastest way to get between the two cities. The train is, however, perfectly timed

if you're a travel enthusiast. After breakfast in Paris, you can take this train for the

bulk of the day, having lunch on board, and it'll drop you at just before 6pm in Milan

just in time for dinner. If you have some time to kill here at Gare de Leon, go and visit Hall 1. It's not where

the train departs from, but it is the original train shed to Gare de Leon, before the station

was subsequently extended in the 20th century. travelers will know that one of the benefits of visiting Hall 1 is the opportunity to see

one of the world's most glamorous station buffets. Le Trambleur Restaurant occupies much of the first

floor here. It's got a fantastic reputation and offers an exquisite dining experience

although at these prices I don't think I'll be making a visit today. One thing you need to be aware of when traveling in first class on French trains, it's not like it

back in the UK or some other countries, there's no complimentary food or drink provided. I recommend

that you make a stop in relay, which you can find at most major railway stations across Europe and

particularly in France. Pick up something to eat and drink unless you want to pay extra on the train

Garde de Lyon is steeped in history. It isn't just Britain that has war memorials within its stations

Here at Garde de Lyon, this memorial commemorates the sacrifice of employees of the PLM and SNC

railway companies. Adding to the sense of nostalgia around this station is the presence

of the Orient Express. A revival of the original Orient Express train, this super luxury sleeper

is now operated by luxury brand Belmond. The vintage carriages are catching everyone's eye

here. This queue of people are not even passengers on the train, but have bought tickets simply to

look inside. A ticket for the overnight journey between Paris and Venice costs around 100 times

what I paid for my ticket to Milan, £3,500. It's my lifetime ambition to travel on the Orient Express

and I was really looking forward to today's journey down to Milan in TGV on first class but there nothing quite like seeing a lifetime ambition dangled in front of your face to put things in perspective That is one seriously expensive train

I managed to pick up my ticket for around 43 euros. That's 37 pounds sterling. This is around

half the normal price you would expect to pay because I picked mine up during a sale

Ticket prices vary with demand. You can buy them either directly from SNCF or from a retailer like

trainline europe or loco too while i'm here it's a good time to tell you about my other social media

which you may like to follow me on i have an instagram and twitter profile and i update them

regularly you can also follow my trips in real time on the instagram stories function our train

actually consists of two trains on the back is a budget tgv in we service and this will be with us

as far as chamboree on the front a dedicated paris to milan tgp set this is a single-decker train and

and I'll be travelling in it all the way down to Milan

As is common across Europe, first class on TGVs is in a 2 plus 1 formation

One of the really interesting things about these modern TGVs is the fact that when you

select a forward facing seat, they have a dynamic seat numbering system so that whichever

way round the train is facing, the direction you booked is a direction you get

You can certainly fly between Paris and Milan, but no airline flying between those two cities

offers you anything like the comfort offered by these large TGV armchairs

There's no need to check your luggage. Large pieces go in the racks at the end of the carriage, and smaller pieces in the overhead

racks like this. We leave Garde de Leon bang on time. One of the things I really find interesting about this journey is that it's really two

journeys in one. half of the distance down to Milan is between Paris and Lyon. But it will take us just two

hours to get to Lyon and another five hours to traverse the rest of the journey. This

is because the first part of the journey is on the LGV Sud-Est, a high-speed line in a

straight line straight across France. The second portion of the journey winds its way

through the Alps, between France and Italy. First class on this train has a dedicated host

who hands out menus to all passengers at their seats. As I mentioned earlier, there are no complimentary food or drink options in TGV first class

and that is common across France. However, bearing in mind that the ticket was only around about a €15 upgrade from standard class

I think this is more than acceptable. The onboard menu also contains a multitude of options

and that is definitely not the case when you're getting a complimentary offer, as you do on some UK train operating companies

If, like me, you're getting lunch onboard, you'll probably want to look at the meal deal

option which is shown here. We'll look at the food very shortly, but first let's take a look at what the seat offers

here in first class. The seats here have literature pockets, similar to what you'd find on an aircraft where you

can store magazines and menus There also one charging socket per seat and there also a fold down foot rest You probably only find this comfortable if you on the shorter side Air conditioning is provided

through these window vents and there's also a reading light stylishly built into the wing of

the seat. There are two things here that I'd really like to see more of in Britain. First

a dedicated cup holder and secondly, a very large and very sturdy fold down tray table

This is probably the largest fold-down tray table I've seen on any train in Europe

There's also a rolled-down window shade. The scenery down to Lyon is mostly flat farmland

However, you should be aware that on the LGV sud-est, as there are on many high-speed lines

your view will often be blocked by sound barriers like this. Nonetheless, these engineering features are part of the payoff for building a long straight line

across the country. This was actually France's first dedicated high-speed rail line

For an extra two euros on top of your meal deal, you can upgrade from a soft drink to a bottle of

wine. You place your order with the host and he'll bring the food to you from the cafe bar. At 16

euro, this meal deal is not particularly cheap. However, despite appearances, the food was actually

rather good. Having lunch on the train isn't just an efficient use of time. I always find that having

something to eat breaks up the journey somewhat. This moose by the way comes with the meal deal and

is absolutely delicious. Less than two hours after leaving Paris we're at Lyon's Saint-Exupéry station

This is the interchange station for the airport of the same name. The train does stop here for

a few minutes so I recommend if you have the chance to get out and stretch your legs

After Lyon, we leave the high-speed line and turn east towards the Alps

Our average speed halves and the scenery more than doubles. This second portion of the journey is the real reason you should take the TGV between

Paris and Milan. Our next stop is Chambury. Just arrived at Chambury in the French Alps

It's a beautiful afternoon. I'm not sure if you can even make out the mountains behind me but it's a beautiful afternoon for a train ride

That other train on the back behind us is going to be detached here at Chambury

That continues on to Grenoble and Annecy. So I'm just going to see what the uncoupling operation is like

Upon departure from Chamboree we wind our way through the Alpine foothills

The TGV is a relaxed and civilised way to travel There an onboard cafe bar which you can see here and if you get bored of course you can circumvent the host and come here instead to order some drinks The onboard facilities still compare very well to other European trains The toilets were very clean throughout the journey Travellers from the

UK will want to note the foot pump flush on the right hand side. This should save you

a bit of embarrassment when you're looking round for the handle. This is what a standard

class carriage looks like and it's arranged in a 2 plus 2 configuration

my favorite station on this trip is Modan this lies on the French and Italian border

again this train stops here for several minutes so you can get out and take a few photos

The alpine breeze here is clean and fresh and there is wonderful scenery

What a wonderful setting for a train station this is. A few minutes after leaving Mordane, we pass through the Frejus rail tunnel

This is over eight miles long. It's a shame that tunnels are so boring to record because I didn't include any

footage of it in the video. Upon exiting we enter Urss, which is in the Piedmont

region of Italy. Having climbed down the Alps to Turin, our train rejoins a high-speed line between Turin

and Milan. It takes us just one hour to make the journey between Turin and Milan, and very shortly

we're on Milan's outskirts heading into Porta Garibaldi station. And so here we are in Milan at Porto Garibaldi station

This is not actually the main station here in Milan, that's Milano Centrale which is about

a 20 minute walk just over that way for me. In a couple of hours time I'm connecting through to the Milan Palermo sleeper which includes

a train ferry something which is almost unheard of in Europe these days they've

all died out anyway I hope you really enjoyed coming with me on the TGV between

Paris and Milan it's definitely not the quickest way to get between the two

cities but I hope you'll agree it's the most fun so if you do get the

opportunity in future definitely take this train I thoroughly recommend it be a

good use of your day please subscribe for more content just like this but until

next time I'll see you around