Amsterdam To Lyon In France, Cheapest Way ?

[dieseldick]

i will have to travel from amsterdam to lyon / st ettienne france , will i be better renting cheap car ? train ? bus ? flight ?

also is petrol going to be cheap option ?

advice please. thanks

[kvalidir]

Well lots of variables here- with flights etc you longer away the date for travel is the cheaper it is. When are you going? Also with car hire if you aren't resident in the country you hire from you often have to put a huge caution payment down via credit card only- so something to think about as well. Also are you travelling alone or trying to get lots of people there- will obviously make a difference?

[Jennykenny]

There is a great train website, The man in seat 61, which will tell you everything you need to know about travelling by train. I'm pretty sure that you should be able to travel from Amsterdam to Paris and then change for Lyon.

[Buenchico]

My research confirms Methyl's findings that KLM CityHopper is the only direct flight operator. For a random date I've chosen (Wed 16 July) all direct flights are priced at €595. (KLM CityHopper is a business airline, so don't expect anything cheap!).

However the Deutsche Bahn website (which integrates all European rail timetables) is finding rather quicker rail journeys than Methyl suggests. The departures at 0618 and 0818 both take 5h 42, changing at Brussels Midi in each case. Journeys requiring a cross-Paris transfer take approximately 6h 40m (with a very generous 70 min allowance for the transfer between Paris Nord and Gare de Lyon - it's just two stops on RER Line D):
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml

While I like the Deutsche Bahn website for researching train times, it often can't provide fares. SNCF is better for that. I've been finding single fares of €144.50 or €159.50 via Brussels or between €113.00 and €166.00 via Paris:
http://uk.voyages-sncf.com/en/

The excellent ViaMichelin route planner estimates the driving time as 9h 40m and the total cost of tolls (€30.10) and petrol (€104.79) coming to €134.89. That's roughly the same as the train fare even before you add in the cost of hiring a car!
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/

I'd take the train ;-)

[Buenchico]

PS: I've just realised that I've used Lyon as the destination point for my searches (which is what appears in the title of your question), whereas Methyl has used St Etienne. That will probably account for the discrepancies in journey times. However I still think that the train will be your best option and my Deutsche Bahn and SNCF links should help you to plan your journey.