How to Get from Orly Airport to Gare de Lyon: Every Transfer Option Compared (2026 Guide)

When you arrive at Orly, you have to go through the exit at Terminal 3 and then decide how to get across the city to Gare de Lyon in order to catch a connecting TGV. The distance is about 18 kilometres, and the journey can take anywhere from 30 minutes to more than an hour, depending on the traffic or the state of the trains that day.

The guide applies to anyone making that journey—whether travelling alone by train south, families heading to a hotel near the station, or business travellers with a tight connection to catch. While a pre-arranged private transfer removes the need to guess, it is by no means the only option, and the honest comparison below will help you choose the right one for your trip.

Quick Answer: The Best Way from Orly Airport to Gare de Lyon

For most travellers, a private transfer is the best choice because it has a fixed price, is door-to-door, and avoids carrying suitcases through metro corridors. If you're travelling with only light luggage and are going alone, the metro on Line 14 is by far the fastest and cheapest option. A taxi lies somewhere in the middle: although it is more expensive than the metro, it requires no changes and has a set fare.

Distance	Fastest option	Cheapest option	Most comfortable
~18 km	Metro Line 14 (direct)	Metro Line 14	Private transfer

Understanding the Orly Airport → Gare de Lyon Route

Orly is located south of Paris and spans two departments — Essonne and Val-de-Marne — while Gare de Lyon sits on the eastern edge of the city centre, where the A4 motorway meets the Seine at Porte de Bercy. This location is to your advantage because the car does not need to go through the city and can instead go around it.

When driving, motorists take the A106 out of the airport, which leads either onto the A6a through Porte d'Orléans or onto the A6b via Porte de Gentilly. The route then continues along the Boulevard Périphérique until the A4 is reached, which ends essentially at the front door of Gare de Lyon. One landmark encountered on the way is the Belle Épine junction near Thiais, where the N7 joins the A86—a point locals recognise at once and that serves as a good indication of how traffic is moving that day.

No single-seat train skips Paris completely, but there is now a direct metro service—more on this below—which has changed the situation compared with a few years ago, when everyone had to go back via Antony.

Your Transfer Options, One by One

Price and comfort are opposed in this case: the lower the price, the more effort it requires from you. The following shows how each option works on this route.

Private Transfer

At arrivals, a driver will be waiting for you, with no need for transfers and no timetable to check.

The Top Paris Transfer service picks you up inside the terminal, monitors your flight in the event of a delay, and takes the A106/A6/A4 route directly to Gare de Lyon—the journey usually taking between 25 and 40 minutes depending on the time of day. Although the price is €€€, it is charged per vehicle rather than per person, and you can request a child seat.

Pros:

• No transfers, no stairs with luggage
• Fixed price agreed before you land
• Driver waits even if your flight is late

Cons:

• Costs more than public transport for a solo traveller
• Needs booking ahead rather than turning up and going

This option removes all decision-making — you land, someone is already there, and that's it.

Taxi

You can use it at any time without booking in advance, although you will pay the city-centre rates.

With the official taxis in Paris charging a fixed rate for journeys from Orly to central Paris rather than using a meter, you know the fare before getting in. Taxis are picked up at the designated taxi rank outside each terminal – there will be a short queue during the early evening. The price level is €€€ and this is charged on a per-vehicle basis.

Pros:

• Available without pre-booking
• Flat fare means no meter surprises
• Fastest way to start moving if you land unexpectedly

Cons:

• Rank queues build up around evening arrivals
• No guarantee of an English-speaking driver
• Doesn't track your flight if you're delayed

Metro Line 14 (Direct)

It's the fastest way to travel along this route and doesn't cost much either.

In 2024, the automated, driverless Line 14 was extended all the way to Orly Airport and goes directly into central Paris without making any stops—passing through Gare de Lyon on its journey towards Châtelet-Les-Halles. The trip from the platform at Orly to Gare de Lyon takes about 20 to 25 minutes, with a train arriving every few minutes. However, you need the specific Paris Region ↔ Airports ticket, not a regular t+ ticket—that one tends to fool a lot of first-time visitors. Prices are given in euros and are charged per person.

Pros:

• No transfers at all — one train, one seat
• Fastest option door-to-platform on this route
• Frequent departures, little waiting

Cons:

• Stairs and gates are hard work with big suitcases
• Wrong ticket type is a common (and annoying) mistake
• Standing room only at peak times

Simply put: for someone travelling alone with just a carry-on, this is a good choice,, and I wouldn't advise you to abandon it.

Ride-hailing Apps

It is somewhere between a taxi and a pre-booked transfer, but the drawback is that the price is only fixed when you book.

At Orly, both Uber and Bolt have pickup points that are generally only a short walk from where passengers arrive and are indicated by signage. Prices vary with demand—during busy arrival hours, surge pricing can push fares to taxi levels or even higher. The cost per vehicle is in the €€–€€€ range.

Pros:

• Price shown before you confirm the ride
• No queue if drivers are nearby
• Door-to-door like a taxi

Cons:

• Surge pricing can spike unpredictably
• Designated pickup point can be a longer walk than the taxi rank
• Driver cancellations happen more than travellers expect

RER B + Orlyval + RER A (Legacy Route)

It still works, but the route is now much longer than Line 14.

For many years the recommended course of action was to take the Orlyval shuttle from the terminal to Antony, then change onto the RER B heading towards central Paris, and afterwards switch again to the RER A at Châtelet-Les-Halles—said to be the largest underground station in Europe, a place where you wouldn't want to rush through while carrying suitcases—and finally arrive at Gare de Lyon. Total travel time is nearly an hour, including transfers. The cost is €€ per person.

Pros:

• Useful backup if Line 14 has a service disruption
• RER B also connects onward to CDG if needed
• Frequent trains on both legs

Cons:

• Two changes, including one at a genuinely enormous station
• Slower than Line 14 for the same destination
• Orlyval segment requires its own separate ticket logic

Side-by-Side Comparison

Option	Door-to-door time	Price level	Luggage	Transfers needed	Best for
Private transfer	25–40 min	€€€	Easy	0	Families, groups, tight connections
Taxi	30–45 min	€€€	Easy	0	No-booking, any-hour arrivals
Metro Line 14	20–25 min	€	Hard	0	Solo, light packers
Ride-hailing	30–50 min	€€–€€€	Easy	0	Flexible budget, no pre-booking
RER B + Orlyval + RER A	50–65 min	€€	Hard	2	Backup option, budget travel

Which of the options is right for you? (Select according to your type of traveller)

For families who have small children the less there are transfers the fewer the meltdowns and a private transfer with a child seat available eliminates the need to go through the Châtelet-Les-Halles crowd entirely.

For groups of four or more people the per-vehicle fee for a private transfer is usually about the same as the cost of four Line 14 tickets, without taking the stairs into account.

— Going travelling on a sole budget with just a backpack is actually the best option here. It's fast, cheap, and there's no need to spend too much.

If you are a business traveller with a tight connection by TGV and have booked a transfer, then if your gate changes or your luggage comes out late someone will still be waiting.

If you have a lot of luggage the combination of the RER and Orlyval is really annoying since you'll have to deal with large suitcases; in that case a taxi or transfer is a better option.

For those who are visiting Paris for the first time, Châtelet-Les-Halles is not the best place in which to try to understand the platform signage, since there is a direct option that avoids having to do so.

Taxis and transfers that have been booked in advance are available day and night at Orly; the metro, however, does not operate all night.

The Case for Booking a Private Transfer with Top Paris Transfer

When you look at it honestly, the per-person cost often works out in favour of taking a transfer if there are two or more people: although four Line 14 tickets add up quickly, the €€€ private vehicle charge is on a per-car basis rather than on a per-head basis — so it can end up being cheaper per person than four individual metro fares, without having to climb the platform stairs.

The system considers price and keeps track of your flight, automatically adjusting the pickup time if you arrive late, so a late landing at Orly 4 won't cause you to miss your connection. Meet-and-greet is provided directly at the arrival hall using a name board, child seats can be obtained if requested, and the fare is settled before you land—there are no unexpected charges and there is no surge pricing at 11 p.m.

A good example of this is a group of five people who arrived in the evening at Orly 3 after their flight was delayed and then connected with a TGV departing at 9:40 p.m. from Gare de Lyon. Since they had three suitcases, two children, and forty minutes to spare, the stairways and queues at the metro station were not a problem—the pre-booked driver, who was keeping track of the flight, had the car ready by the time they had passed through the terminal doors.

👉 Book a private transfer from Orly Airport to Gare de Lyon with Top Paris Transfer: the price is fixed, and the driver will be waiting for you at the arrivals hall.

When to Travel: Traffic & Timing on This Route

Between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m., the Périphérique and the A6a become heavily crowded, especially around the merge at Porte d'Orléans—if you are travelling then, add 15 to 20 minutes. In the evenings, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., it's the opposite, with traffic building up on the A4 route into central Paris as the commuters pass by Bercy en route home.

The best times are midday and late evening, since a driver can often complete the journey in less than 30 minutes outside peak hours. One thing to be aware of seasonally is that when the French Open is being held at Roland-Garros in late May and early June, traffic on the southern routes into Paris becomes considerably heavier, so it's advisable to allow extra time if your travel dates fall during this period.

What This Route Really Costs (Including the Costs Nobody Mentions)

Although public transport appears the cheapest at € when looked at on paper, the figures change depending on the size of the group — if a family of four buys four tickets each way for Line 14, the total comes out to more than most people anticipate, and that doesn't even take into account the specific Paris Region ↔ Airports ticket that is required (a standard t+ ticket will not get you through the gates).

The cost of a taxi or private transfer, charged per vehicle, is where a true cost comparison can be made—when the expense is split among two or more people, it often ends up being even or cheaper than the metro after tickets have been purchased for each person. The RER/Orlyval combination has hidden costs, including the additional Orlyval fare added to your RER ticket and the fact that changing trains with luggage at Châtelet-Les-Halles takes longer than the timetable indicates. For an average group of three or more people, the fixed price of a private transfer is generally the more reliable—and in most cases not the more expensive—choice when you consider all factors.

Mistakes to Avoid on the Orly Airport → Gare de Lyon Journey

– If you buy the wrong kind of metro ticket, the standard t+ ticket will not allow you to enter the gates on Line 14; you must have the Paris Region ↔ Airports ticket for that.
– If the old RER B/Orlyval route is still the fastest one – then the combination via Line 14, which opened in 2024, has now become the slower alternative rather than the standard option.
– If your route goes through Châtelet-Les-Halles, don't forget to allow extra time; it is truly one of the biggest underground interchanges in Europe.

• If you choose to hail a taxi on a random street rather than using the official taxi rank at the terminal, then the flat-rate fare will only apply at the terminal ranks and not when hailing on the street.
• If you don't book in advance during the Roland-Garros season, traffic on the roads and the demand for transfers will both increase from late May through June.
• When cutting it very close in order to connect with a TGV, remember that the platforms at Gare de Lyon are only a short walk from the main concourse, so allow for more time than the transfer duration indicates.

FAQ

Is there a direct train running from Orly Airport to Gare de Lyon?

Yes, Metro Line 14, extended to Orly in 2024, goes directly to Gare de Lyon without any changes and takes about 20 to 25 minutes; it is currently the fastest option for single-seat public transport on this route.

What is the fare for a taxi from Orly to Gare de Lyon?

For this route, official taxis charge a fixed fare (€€€) instead of using a meter, so the price is settled before you begin your journey—this is useful when travelling with others and splitting the cost.

What is the duration of the road journey?

It usually takes between 25 and 45 minutes, depending on traffic conditions, by taking the A106 up to the A6, then the Boulevard Périphérique and the A4 into central Paris; during rush hour, it can be closer to the upper end.

Is a special ticket necessary when using Metro Line 14 at Orly?

Yes — a standard Paris t+ ticket won't work at the Orly Airport gates. You need the dedicated Paris Region ↔ Airports ticket, sold at machines in the terminal.

Is the RER B and Orlyval combination still worth using?

It's slower than Line 14 now, involving a shuttle to Antony plus at least one further change, but it remains a reasonable backup if Line 14 is disrupted or unavailable.

Is a private transfer worth it for a solo traveller?

For one person travelling light, Metro Line 14 is genuinely the more sensible choice. A private transfer earns its price with groups, families, heavy luggage, or tight connections where reliability matters more than saving a few euros.

Which arrival terminal at Orly is closest to the transport options?

Orly 4 (formerly Orly Sud) and Orly 1-2-3 both connect to Line 14 and have taxi ranks, though walking distances to the platforms vary—Orly 4's metro access involves a slightly longer walk than Orly 1-2-3.

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Looking for more Paris transfer guides? Check out our CDG to Disneyland Paris transfer guide or browse Paris airport transfer prices for other routes. You can also book directly on our Orly Airport transfer page.

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