Masters of Luxury Travel
ENFR
Home/Europe/France/Access and logistics

Access and logistics

Airports, railway stations, sea ports and coach stations, each with the volume its own observer publishes. Four series, three incompatible perimeters: they are not added to one another. Journey times are typical for a direct train.

Airports

AirportCodeRegionPassengers per yearYearRole
Paris–Charles de GaulleCDGÎle-de-France70,000,0002025Hub
Paris–OrlyORYÎle-de-France33,000,0002025Hub
Genève–CointrinGVAAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes17,000,0002025Abroad, serves the region
Nice Côte d'AzurNCEProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur14,800,0002025Hub
Lyon–Saint-ExupéryLYSAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes11,000,0002025Hub
Marseille ProvenceMRSProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur10,600,0002025Hub
Bâle–MulhouseBSLGrand Est9,000,0002025Hub
Toulouse–BlagnacTLSOccitanie8,000,0002025Hub
Nantes AtlantiqueNTEPays de la Loire7,200,0002025Hub
Bordeaux–MérignacBODNouvelle-Aquitaine7,000,0002025Hub
Paris–BeauvaisBVAHauts-de-France6,000,0002025Low-cost
Lille–LesquinLILHauts-de-France2,200,0002025Regional
Montpellier–MéditerranéeMPLOccitanie2,000,0002025Regional
Ajaccio Napoléon BonaparteAJACorse1,700,0002025Regional
Bastia–PorettaBIACorse1,600,0002025Regional
Strasbourg–EntzheimSXBGrand Est1,300,0002025Regional
Biarritz–Pays BasqueBIQNouvelle-Aquitaine1,200,0002025Regional
Brest–BretagneBESBretagne1,100,0002025Regional
Rennes–Saint-JacquesRNSBretagne900,0002025Regional
Figari–Sud CorseFSCCorse800,0002025Regional
Pau–PyrénéesPUFNouvelle-Aquitaine600,0002025Regional
Toulon–HyèresTLNProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur500,0002025Regional
Clermont-Ferrand–AuvergneCFEAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes500,0002025Regional
Tarbes–Lourdes–PyrénéesLDEOccitanie400,0002025Regional
Calvi–Sainte-CatherineCLYCorse350,0002025Regional
Perpignan–RivesaltesPGFOccitanie350,0002025Regional
Metz–Nancy–LorraineETZGrand Est300,0002025Regional
La Rochelle–Île de RéLRHNouvelle-Aquitaine250,0002025Regional
Nîmes–Alès–CamargueFNIOccitanie250,0002025Regional
Limoges–BellegardeLIGNouvelle-Aquitaine250,0002025Regional
Chambéry–SavoieCMFAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes200,0002025Ski season
Grenoble–Alpes–IsèreGNBAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes200,0002025Ski season
Caen–CarpiquetCFRNormandie200,0002025Regional
Tours–Val de LoireTUFCentre-Val de Loire200,0002025Regional
Deauville–NormandieDOLNormandie150,0002025Regional
Dijon–BourgogneDIJBourgogne-Franche-Comté50,0002025Regional

Passenger figures are for 2025 and are estimates: they are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand. The register holds 35 airports of metropolitan France summing to 194,150,000, against UAF's 198,000,000 for the whole of metropolitan France in 2025 — the register covers 35 of some one hundred and fifty airports, so the sum is expected to fall short of the total and may never exceed it. Geneva is in the table as the gateway to the Alps and is deliberately outside that arithmetic: it is not a French airport.

Railway hubs by passenger volume

StationRegionPassengersWith non-travellersYearRole
Paris Gare du NordÎle-de-France226,768,485256,157,4242023International services
Paris Gare de LyonÎle-de-France110,498,896140,547,6212023International services
Paris Saint-LazareÎle-de-France103,453,620137,938,1602023National services
Paris MontparnasseÎle-de-France64,471,25480,757,0232023National services
Lyon Part-DieuAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes40,088,68953,451,5862023International services
Paris EstÎle-de-France39,877,01750,339,7982023International services
Lille FlandresHauts-de-France24,118,20330,529,3712023International services
StrasbourgGrand Est23,907,86428,126,8992023International services
Bordeaux Saint-JeanNouvelle-Aquitaine22,612,37427,916,5112023National services
Paris AusterlitzÎle-de-France21,657,50922,602,3742023National services
Marseille Saint-CharlesProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur17,101,34124,430,4872023International services
NantesPays de la Loire17,082,58824,059,9832023National services
Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 TGVÎle-de-France15,394,51815,449,8222023Airport interchange
RennesBretagne15,169,00320,225,3372023International services
Toulouse MatabiauOccitanie14,526,19022,347,9852023National services
NiceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur11,229,43813,057,4862023International services
MetzGrand Est9,407,72813,634,3892023National services
NancyGrand Est9,228,58213,982,7012023National services
GrenobleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes8,121,33811,696,4042023National services
Rouen Rive DroiteNormandie8,094,6659,636,5062023National services
Montpellier Saint-RochOccitanie8,061,64012,796,2552023International services
DijonBourgogne-Franche-Comté7,653,38210,342,4082023National services
Lyon PerracheAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes7,637,07710,048,7862023National services
Angers Saint-LaudPays de la Loire6,781,53710,433,1342023National services
Lille EuropeHauts-de-France6,721,13310,668,4652023International services
ToursCentre-Val de Loire6,506,3138,132,8922023National services
MulhouseGrand Est5,637,6687,417,9842023International services
CannesProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur5,392,9216,657,9282023National services
Le MansPays de la Loire5,302,2468,157,3022023National services
ReimsGrand Est4,970,6765,287,9532023National services
OrléansCentre-Val de Loire4,853,1086,066,3852023National services
Chambéry – Challes-les-EauxAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes4,738,3465,922,9332023Gateway to the Alps
ToulonProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur4,733,1176,666,3622023National services
NîmesOccitanie4,575,7727,626,2872023National services
Clermont-FerrandAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes4,514,9005,643,6252023National services
Marne-la-Vallée ChessyÎle-de-France4,319,2524,490,6512023Theme-park station
Avignon TGVProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur4,179,1424,749,0252023National services
CaenNormandie4,134,9265,000,7222023National services
Aix-en-Provence TGVProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur3,697,0105,687,7082023National services
Valence TGVAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes3,550,5525,221,4012023National services
AntibesProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur3,153,6163,624,8462023National services
AnnecyAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes3,000,7153,750,8942023Gateway to the Alps
La RochelleNouvelle-Aquitaine2,925,2873,702,8962023National services
BrestBretagne2,572,7233,215,9042023National services
Le HavreNormandie2,116,6102,645,7632023National services
PerpignanOccitanie2,058,3692,572,9612023National services
Lyon Saint-Exupéry TGVAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes1,813,7372,267,1712023Airport interchange
Saint-MaloBretagne1,703,8662,156,7932023National services
BayonneNouvelle-Aquitaine1,475,3831,657,7342023National services
Saint-Raphaël ValescureProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur1,421,9231,777,4042023National services
Trouville – DeauvilleNormandie867,5581,084,4472023National services
BiarritzNouvelle-Aquitaine829,3551,036,6942023National services

Station footfall, SNCF Gares & Connexions, Fréquentation en gares, открытые данные; выборка — станции категории A, 2023. The register publishes two series: travellers, and travellers plus non-travellers — the second is its headline figure and the one the press quotes. Both are shown because they are not the same quantity. Neither is comparable with airport passenger volumes: an airport counts a passenger on departure and again on arrival.

Sea ports: cruise and ferry

PortRegionCruiseFerryYearNote
CalaisHauts-de-France—7,600,0002024Ferry only
MarseilleProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur2,600,0001,500,0002025
BastiaCorse—2,100,0002025Ferry only
DunkerqueHauts-de-France—1,601,0002025Ferry only
CherbourgNormandie312,878533,4762025
Saint-MaloBretagne45,000749,0002024
Le HavreNormandie476,205—2025HAROPA's three terminals combined: Le Havre, Rouen, Honfleur
CannesProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur460,000—2024
AjaccioCorse336,000—2025
SèteOccitanie—229,0002023
Villefranche-sur-MerProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur78,581—2025Scheduled calls, not an actual count
BordeauxNouvelle-Aquitaine67,000—2024
ToulonProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur——2025The port publishes one combined figure; no split is published
NiceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur——2025No passenger figure published; calls capped at 450 passengers since 2025

Cruise and ferry are separate markets and separate publications; they are not added together here. Where a port publishes one combined figure, both columns stay empty and the note says so — inventing a split would be inventing data. Figures are each port authority's own latest published year.

Long-distance coach stations

StationRegionBoardings and alightingsYear
Paris Bercy-SeineÎle-de-France5,400,0002025
Lyon PerracheAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes2,700,0002025
Marseille Saint-CharlesProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur1,500,0002025
GrenobleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes1,300,0002025
Toulouse MatabiauOccitanie1,100,0002025
Lille EuropeHauts-de-France1,000,0002025
Montpellier SabinesOccitanie800,0002025
Paris La DéfenseÎle-de-France600,0002025
Nice AéroportProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur300,0002025

ART, Rapport annuel du transport routier de voyageurs et des gares routières 2025; периметр — посадки и высадки. The regulator counts boardings and alightings, so a return trip counts four times: this column is not comparable with the rail or airport series and is not added to them. Values are read off the report's chart and are therefore rounded to a tenth of a million.

From Paris by rail

DestinationRegionJourneyService
ReimsGrand Est45 minTGV
OrléansCentre-Val de Loire1 h 0 minRegular train
LilleHauts-de-France1 h 2 minTGV
ToursCentre-Val de Loire1 h 10 minTGV
RouenNormandie1 h 15 minRegular train
RennesBretagne1 h 25 minTGV
MetzGrand Est1 h 25 minTGV
NancyGrand Est1 h 30 minTGV
DijonBourgogne-Franche-Comté1 h 35 minTGV
StrasbourgGrand Est1 h 46 minTGV
LyonAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes1 h 57 minTGV
BordeauxNouvelle-Aquitaine2 h 4 minTGV
BesançonBourgogne-Franche-Comté2 h 5 minTGV
NantesPays de la Loire2 h 5 minTGV
Le HavreNormandie2 h 15 minRegular train
La RochelleNouvelle-Aquitaine2 h 30 minTGV
Saint-MaloBretagne2 h 30 minTGV
AvignonProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur2 h 40 minTGV
Aix-en-Provence TGVProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur3 h 0 minTGV
ChambéryAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes3 h 0 minTGV
GrenobleAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes3 h 0 minTGV
MarseilleProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur3 h 10 minTGV
MontpellierOccitanie3 h 10 minTGV
BrestBretagne3 h 25 minTGV
QuimperBretagne3 h 30 minTGV
Clermont-FerrandAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes3 h 30 minRegular train
AnnecyAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes3 h 45 minTGV
Moûtiers – Courchevel, MéribelAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes4 h 0 minTGV
BiarritzNouvelle-Aquitaine4 h 5 minTGV
ToulouseOccitanie4 h 10 minTGV
Bourg-Saint-Maurice – Val d'Isère, Les ArcsAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes4 h 20 minTGV
PerpignanOccitanie5 h 0 minTGV
NiceProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur5 h 40 minTGV
Bastia – паром из Марселя или НиццыCorse—Ferry
Ajaccio – паром из Марселя или ТулонаCorse—Ferry