Meeting Your Trip in DIJON


On this page, you will find information about meeting your trip. Topics include...

We suggest that you print these pages out, and bring a copy with you to your trip.


When and Where:
Meet at the Dijon hotel in time for dinner (circa 7p), on the trip’s start date, generally a Monday. Dijon is a mid-sized city, 90 minutes by TGV to the southeast of Paris. In terms of travel time, Paris thus offers the nearest airport. Geneva’s is equally close in geographical terms, but the trip takes much longer and requires either one or two changes of train.

You may wish to arrive earlier, since Dijon is one of France’s prettiest cities, and (despite the additional nights here at the end of the trip), you will not have much time for it within the framework of the bike ride..


Included in Your Access Package, if you subscribed to it:
A train ticket to Dijon, a seat reservation on any train which requires it, and a detailed timetable of the train for which you are reserved.

Travel Documents will be supplied by our Paris office (opening hours), unless you are arriving via a different route, in which case they will be sent to you at home, prior to your departure. You will receive either a train ticket, or a railpass with accompanying explanation regarding its use, and a schedule for the train that you have reserved.


Getting to the Trip
The following routings are described. You may follow the link to jump directly to yours, or just scroll down.


From Paris, or Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport
Trains on these routes require reservations, and you have probably requested an appropriate train from us. There is only one direct train from the airport to Dijon, and it departs too late in the day to be of use to most travellers.... you will probably find yourself travelling from downtown, even if your plane lands on the day you make the trip.

Before boarding your train, be sure to “validate” (date stamp) your tickets and reservations (not necessary for a railpass), in the little yellow machine at the track gate.

From Downtown Paris
Trains depart from the Gare de Lyon. If you are coming directly from Charles de Gaulle airport, a taxi would cost 50 - 70 €, depending on traffic, and take between 30 minutes and an hour. The airport train takes about 50 minutes, and requires a cross-platform transfer from the airport line (line B) to line A in the center of Paris. Either of the following sets of detailed instructions may be of help to you.

Airports to our Office, 2 rue Dussoubs
Airports to the Gare de Lyon

Direct TGV From Charles de Gaulle Airport to Dijon
The airport TGV station is located in Terminal 2, to the left of terminals 2B, 2D or 2E as you face the outside, to the right of terminals 2A, 2C or 2F. Walking to the station from any of these is easy with a wheely suitcase or a luggage cart. You must take the people-mover (“CDG VAL”) from terminal 1, however: this is not a walkable distance.

The reservation we will provide you with will specify a car and seat number for the train. Use the indicators on the platform to locate your car (“voiture”) location on the platform before the train pulls in, and position yourself accordingly. The airport station is a “through” station. That is, trains stop briefly, on their way from one place to another.

This also implies that you should not simply board the train that is sitting on your platform when you wander down 20 minutes before departure: it is almost certainly going somewhere else. And at TGV speeds, that can mean something! One of our guests tried this trick in 2001, and travelled 800 kilometers in the wrong direction before she even realized anything was wrong. Be sure that the departure monitor is showing your train as you board, and check the confirming destination sign by each door (which will list the train’s final stop).

Should you miss your TGV direct from the airport, an adjacent platform of the Terminal 2 rail station is the departure point of the city center airport train (“RER”), which can take you into the city for the next available service to Dijon. Ride the next departing train to the “Châtelet - Les Halles” station. Cross the platform to connect to line A, and take any train that comes for one stop, to the Gare de Lyon. Allow 50 minutes or so.


From Geneva
There is a main line station actually in the Geneva airport, and another station downtown, called “Cornavin.” You may start your trip from eithher.

There are also two routes to reach Dijon: via Lausanne, and via Lyon.

Travelling via Lausanne requires reservations, and involves two trains, whether you start in downtown Geneva, or at the Geneva airport rail station.

Travelling via Lyon does not always require reservations, though there are exceptions (on these rare exceptions, seats can be booked on the date of travel, immediately prior to departure — the trains will have space). This route starts from the downtown station, and requires 2 trains. If you are coming from the airport, you must first take a shuttle train into downtown.

Travel times are generally faster via Lausanne, but the difference is not great.

Via Lausanne
There is a main line station actually in the Geneva airport. Most trains from this station will take you to Lausanne, but verify the departure board before you board. (For passengers boarding in downtown Geneva: all trains pass through the downtown station on the way to Lausanne.) Journey time is 40 mins. to an hour. If the next scheduled departure is a “train régional” (a local), let it go, and wait for the following one. The “régional” (local) will be overtaken by the following express during its journey to Lausanne.

There are four daily trains from Lausanne to Dijon. All require reservations: we will have booked you on the one you are most likely to catch, in function of your travel schedule. Your reservation will display a car and a seat number. There is a café service on this train, which offers good, reasonably priced food and drink. Journey time to Dijon is a shade over two hours.

Via Lyon
Trains from Geneva to Lyon start from the downtown station. If coming from the airport, you may take any departing train to the city center (all trains departing the airport rail station go downtown: just get off at the 1st stop).

You will find the train to Lyon on platform 7 or 8 of the main downtown station. Its final destination will generally be Lyon. Trains to Montpellier or Marseille also stop in Lyon: these are the trains on which reservations are required. If the next service is a Montpellier or a Marseille train, you may make reservations at international ticket windows until 5 minutes before departure. Be sure to show the the ticket with which we have supplied you when you make your reservation: otherwise the agent will not only reserve you a seat, but also charge you for a new ticket. The reservation cost should be around 3 € per person, per train.

Journey time from Geneva to Lyon is about 90 minutes. Lyon has two stations, called “Part-Dieu” and “Perrache.” Get off at the Part-Dieu station, which is the first one your train comes to. If you find yourself at Perrache, you have gone too far. Get off, and take the next train back to Part-Dieu (trains run every few minutes between the two Lyon stations).

You now connect to Dijon. This train will often not have Dijon as its final destination. Trains to Reims or Metz, or Laroche-Migennes stop in Dijon, as do some trains bound for Paris or Strasbourg. If the departure monitor does not reveal a train departing soon to Dijon, look at the posters posted on every platform. These list all trains in chronological order, and show all stops made by each train. Start with the time on your watch, and look down the list until you find a train to Dijon. Then locate it on the departure monitor by its final destination. Journey time is between 90 mins and 2 hours.



From Nice
There are two daily TGV’s, plus connecting services. You will have a ticket for a precise train, car, and seat number. Café service is available on board, journey time is about 6 hours.



Practical Information

About Dijon
One of France’s prettiest and most interesting cities. If you have time to explore, get the town’s introductory brochure from your hotel or from the tourist office on place Darcy, and use it to explore. If you want a guidebook, we suggest the Michelin Green series. The right compromise between detail and synthesis.

Getting to Your Hotel from the Station
To either of these hotels is a 10-minute walk, or a circa 5 Euro cab ride, including a 1 Euro tip.

If your hotel is Le Sauvage, it is at number 64 on the rue Monge. The phone is 03 80 41 31 21, dialing locally within France.

To get to it...

  • ...walk out of the front door of the station and out to the street.
  • Turn right at the busy intersection that you find in front of the station forecourt, and walk downhill, parallel to the tracks (only one road leading away from the intersection does this, a wide and busy one-way street). A block.
  • You are now presented with three choices: a right turn under the tracks (most traffic does this), straight ahead, or a left turn. Go straight, thus following rue Mariotte.
  • Two blocks away a church blocks your street's progress. Follow traffic around the church to the right, and then turn right onto the rue Condorcet.
  • A block away (counting on the left side of the street), turn left.
  • Another block away (counting on the right) turn right. This puts you onto the rue Monge. The hotel is on the right hand side, in this block, at the back of a courtyard.

If you are at the Montigny, at number 8 on the street of the same name (phone 03 80 30 96 86 if dialing within France)...

  • ...walk out of the station to the street.
  • At the big intersection you find, walk straight ahead, against traffic, on the avenue Maréchal Foch.
  • In 2 blocks you will arrive at the place Darcy, a big triangular plaza with trees in it. Cross the square veering slightly to the left, and leave the place on the far side via the rue Devosge, the smaller of two streets that you find here (the one with the traffic flowing against you).
  • Follow this street through a rightward bend. The third street on the right, leaving yours at a slight angle, is the rue Montigny. The hotel is on the right, in this block.