Besançon to Saint-Etienne runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:42 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €32.79 and €36.63, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 2h 38m over 273 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 1 operator and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€32.79 to €36.63
- 138%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Besançon
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:42First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 5Services per day
- 20%Run direct
Trenitalia France runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this journey
Bookaway lists departures for Besançon to Saint-Etienne on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Besançon to Saint-Etienne on Bookaway
Or compare on TrainlineOr compare on 12Go
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and we earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €55.34Tue15
- about €60.29Wed16
- about €74.04Thu17
- about €60.84Fri18
- about €59.74Sat19
- about €58.09Sun20
- about €45.43Mon21
- about €39.39Tue22
- about €50.93Wed23
- about €47.64Thu24
- about €52.03Fri25
- about €45.99Sat26
- about €50.93Sun27
- about €36.63Mon28
- about €36.63Tue29
- about €32.79Wed30
- about €45.44Thu1
- about €44.89Fri2
- about €38.29Sat3
- about €38.84Sun4
- about €36.64Mon5
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Saint-Etienne. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Saint-Etienne for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from St-Étienne Châteaucreux and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Saint-Etienne on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Besançon to Saint-Etienne
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €44.8990 days
- €32.7960 days
- €36.6345 days
- €31.1330 days
- €36.6421 days
- €36.6314 days
- €45.437 days
- €74.043 days
- €55.341 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 30 days ahead, at €31.13.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 138 percent. The dearest point is €74.04, 3 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 30 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Besançon to Saint-Etienne and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
273 km
237 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs south-west.
Who lives at each end
128,426 → 176,280
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 273 km against 237 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Lyon, Villeurbanne, Grenoble, Dijon. The gap between arriving and leaving is 47 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 20 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
The fare from EBU into Saint-Etienne is the one price on this journey we cannot show you, because it is not ours.
A car waiting when you land in Saint-Etienne
Settled in advance, so the ride into Saint-Etienne costs what it said it would rather than what the rank says.
Book a transfer from EBU with Welcome PickupsOr check Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Left luggage near St-Étienne Châteaucreux
Most of the points near St-Étienne Châteaucreux open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Saint-Etienne on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Besançon to Saint-Etienne
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
The fastest journey from Besançon to Saint-Etienne takes 2h 38m door to door, of which 2h 3m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 2h 47m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
The cheapest fare from Besançon to Saint-Etienne is €32.79, as of 14 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €47.64. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
The cheapest way from Besançon to Saint-Etienne is by train, at €36.63 for one passenger on 30 September 2026. That journey takes 2h 47m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
Fares from Besançon to Saint-Etienne bottom out around 30 days before departure, at €31.13. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 138 percent, measured on 14 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Besançon to Saint-Etienne, at €36.64. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 14 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
February is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Besançon to Saint-Etienne, at €24.54 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
1 operators sell services from Besançon to Saint-Etienne across 1 mode: Trenitalia France. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
20 percent of the services we sell from Besançon to Saint-Etienne are direct. The rest connect at Lyon, Villeurbanne, Grenoble, Dijon, with about 47 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Besançon to Saint-Etienne use?
Services from Besançon to Saint-Etienne by train leave from Besançon Viotte and arrive at St-Étienne Châteaucreux. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Besançon to Saint-Etienne?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Besançon to Saint-Etienne allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Besançon to Saint-Etienne on 14 September 2026: 273 km of route against 237 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €32.79, and 2h 38m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Saint-Etienne is somebody else's catalogue.
Day trips out of Saint-Etienne and across France
Day trips that leave Saint-Etienne in the morning and cover a good part of France by evening.
See Saint-Etienne on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Besançon reaches 34 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 76 to 794 km. Saint-Etienne reaches 36 places in 4 countries, from 50 to 2,041 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Besançon
- 34Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 3Operators
Arriving in Saint-Etienne
Leaving Saint-Etienne
- 36Places you can leave for
- 4Countries
- 12Operators