In France, the train is just so much more convenient, provided one of your stops is Paris.
Take Paris-Lyon for example
- by train :
1. depart from Paris Gare de Lyon (inside the city), arrive at Lyon perrache (inside the city). 10€ to 30€ (ouigo), ~3h.
2. recommended arrival time : 30min early
- by plane:
1. go from Paris to ORY (~40min, ~10€ in orlyval/orlybus or RER)
2. recommended arrival time : 2h early
3. 1h of flight, cheapest 50€, most prices are around 100€
4. Get from Lyon airport to the city whith rhonexpress, 15€, 30min
Result : even though the flight time is a bit shorter, the plane trip is actually way longer and way more expensive
The only time when plane is more convenient than train is when you want to travel between two cities that are not linked by rail, and the correspondance in Paris is too much of a detour, such as bordeaux-nice
Take Paris-Lyon for example - by train : 1. depart from Paris Gare de Lyon (inside the city), arrive at Lyon perrache (inside the city). 10€ to 30€ (ouigo), ~3h. 2. recommended arrival time : 30min early
- by plane: 1. go from Paris to ORY (~40min, ~10€ in orlyval/orlybus or RER) 2. recommended arrival time : 2h early 3. 1h of flight, cheapest 50€, most prices are around 100€ 4. Get from Lyon airport to the city whith rhonexpress, 15€, 30min
Result : even though the flight time is a bit shorter, the plane trip is actually way longer and way more expensive
The only time when plane is more convenient than train is when you want to travel between two cities that are not linked by rail, and the correspondance in Paris is too much of a detour, such as bordeaux-nice