kejohnson166

We will be in Ireland in August and have an apartment rented in the Provence area for September. We are trying to decide how best to travel between the two places. Air France has flights to both Marseille and Nice, but I'm not sure if a 50 minute layover at CDG is long enough. I read elsewhere on the Forum that it can take up to 3 hours to get through border security when flying from one EU country to another. Has anyone experienced this? My hubby thinks that if AF is willing to schedule flights with only 50 minutes of transfer time that it must be okay. Is he right? Aer Lingus has a non-stop flight to Marseille, but it leaves at 5:55 am so is not our preferred time. I have also read that AL has lots of extra fees that up the price of the seemingly low cost fare.

We could also fly to Paris and take the TGV to Avignon, which is very close to our destination. We can't see times/fares yet, though. Has anyone done this? How much time should we allot between arrival in Paris and leaving on the train from the CDG station? How about on the return--how much time between arrival on the train at CDG to departure on a plane back to Dublin?

The tickets for the RT flight from the US to Ireland are already booked, so we need to work around that schedule. I wasn't expecting the rest of the trip to be more complicated that making all the other reservations!

PalenQ

the CDG TGV station is in terminal 2 - a big sprawling terminal. I would try to leave as much time as possible before the train and at least one hour after arrival if you have checked luggage - I've had planes that deboarded in the middle of the runway and had buses slowly come out and pick us up to take us to the actual terminal.

Now why do you need to leave as much time as possible? Because you can save a ton of money buying online discounted CDG-Avginon ticket well ahead of time - dramatic savings over full and fully flexible fare where if you miss the train you could use that ticket on another train - but discounted tickets are train-specific and cannot be changed nor refunded. www.voyages-sncf.com or www.capitainetrain.com are two online sources - same trains same fares.

but actually getting to the Terminal 2 TGV station at CDG should not take that long if you arrive in terminal 2 - if in other terminals you have to take a VAL people mover between terminals. And again planes are not always on time.

For lots on French trains check www.seat61.com - great advice on discounted train tickets; for general info - www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. Many TGVs are double-deckers (TGV Duos) so if booking online book the upper deck if you want to see much of the pastoral French countryside en route - the sunken lower deck has views often blocks by retaining walls, etc.

Padraig

Marseille is by far the best airport from which to get to Avignon: it's a local train, reasonably frequent service, and not expensive.

I checked both AF and AL for flights between Dublin and Marseille on a random date in September. AL will get me there direct for about €75 (plus possibly an add-on for hold baggage, but otherwise all-inclusive). AF involves a transfer, takes more time, and costs over €300. Transfer time with AF is not an issue, because you stay airside until you reach your destination.

The only downside with the AL option is the very early flight time. But is is worth more than €200 to spend an extra 2-3 hours in bed?

PalenQ

Lyon Satolas Airport is not bad either - 1 h 30 to Avignon Centre by direct train from airport though schedules are rather sporadic but it's a short bus or cab ride into Lyon's two major train stations as an alternative.

Renting a car - pick it up at either airport and drive.

zorrosf

Please consider getting up early once on your vacation for the 5:50 Aer Lingus non-stop flight to MRS. Saves lots of time and money, both of which are precious commodities during vacation time.

flpab

I have only had one flight on aer lingus that cost me extra money. We ended up with a smaller plane and had to check our usual carry on and had to pay 25 euros. Otherwise is it my preference to spend the night at an airport hotel and take the straight thru flight.

rouelan

AF wont sell a ticket with 50 mns connecting as the MCT is 1 hour, which is still short because you have to clear immigration (Ireland not part of Schengen) and probably take a bus from a remote stand (Dub Cdg operated with small jet).
Did you try with Ryanair? I am pretty sure they operate Dub Mrs

Tony2phones

I'd be flying Ryanair/AirLingus from one of the Irish airports to the best fit French airport and sorting the Irish itinerary to end at Dublin, Cork or Ennis (for Shannon) Why would you want to have a layover in at CDG

kejohnson166

So we decided to get up early for the Aer Lingus flight on 9/3/16, but when we went to book the flight there is no return on AL available within at least 4 days of our needed date (10/1/16). Our flight out of Dublin back home leaves on 10/2 and we have an apartment booked in Menerbes, France until 10/1. Does anyone know if maybe AL doesn't book out that far or if they only fly certain days? Should we look into two one-way flights? We can find an AF flight from MRS to DUB that allows a 70 minute window between flights in CDG. Is that enough time? Will we have to clear customs in Paris to take an AF connecting flight to DUB? Ryanair's website says it doesn't fly from DUB to MRS.

I would like to manage bags only once each way, but we may need to take AL round trip from DUB to CDG and the TGV from Paris to Avignon and back. Could we rent a car at the Avignon TGV station?

PalenQ

Could we rent a car at the Avignon TGV station?> Probably but a shuttle train also goes into Avignon' center where you may find others too - just a few miles by trains to the center of Avignon - if planning on seeing Avignon - a wonderful old city with the Palace of the Popes being a huge attraction - stay the night there and save a day on a car rental.

Padraig

It looks as if the service is discontinued for the winter months.

There is nothing to stop you flying out to Marseille and coming back through Paris.

Christina

No other airline flies that route nonstop and Aer Lingus only does it in summer, I believe. They end those flights in early September.

Aer Lingus does fly nonstop to Dublin from Nice, however, at end of September/October, the flight leaves at 3:05 pm. You could easily get to Nice and maybe spend a day or two there sightseeing, anyway, for a relaxed end of the trip before flying home as you'll have the apt shut up and cleaned out. The airport at Nice is right on the sea and easy to get to from any hotel in the central city. Their fares are very competitive with Ryanair (who also flies that route nonstop, actually, but flight around 9 pm).

The train from Aix-en-Provence to Nice takes 2:30-3 hrs, there are a couple direct runs in the afternoon and one around 8 am. It's about the same time from Avignon, about 3 hrs, and there are a few more direct trains from there daily, so whichever works for you.

That's what I would do rather than fooling with train to Paris, then flight from CDG. Nice is a nice small airport and a pleasant city, anyway. Avignon TGV station has plenty of large car rental companies, it's a major destination point. You could easily return a car there, I've rented from Europcar there. I imagine Aix is also, although I haven't been to their TGV station but the city is about the same size, so I presume so.