Visiting Provence - should I fly into Marseille or take train from Paris?
Mar 26th, 2011, 04:09 AM
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Visiting Provence - should I fly into Marseille or take train from Paris?
Searching the Forum I see that a lot of people take the train from Paris to visit Provence.
Is there any advantage to doing that over flying directly into Marseille? I'm not planning to spend time in Paris. I'd like to base in St. Remy for four days and then travel on to Nice for four days and will fly home from there.
Also, if I stay in Nice for the second part of my trip is that an easy place to get into and out of with a car or would you have another recommendation.
Thanks very much,
Kennedy
Is there any advantage to doing that over flying directly into Marseille? I'm not planning to spend time in Paris. I'd like to base in St. Remy for four days and then travel on to Nice for four days and will fly home from there.
Also, if I stay in Nice for the second part of my trip is that an easy place to get into and out of with a car or would you have another recommendation.
Thanks very much,
Kennedy
Mar 26th, 2011, 04:49 AM
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If you have no intention of visiting Paris it makes perfect sense to fly into Marseille.
People also fly into Paris and then train to the south if they can only get a direct flight to France landing in Paris.
Nice is easy to drive into... and out of... the problem with a car in Nice is parking. You might want to check into flying out of Nice to save backtracking to Marseille.
People also fly into Paris and then train to the south if they can only get a direct flight to France landing in Paris.
Nice is easy to drive into... and out of... the problem with a car in Nice is parking. You might want to check into flying out of Nice to save backtracking to Marseille.
Mar 26th, 2011, 06:06 AM
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A agree with ParisAmsterdam. Since you're not planning to spend any time in Paris, it is much more efficient to fly into Marseille. (It's a very easy airport.) We normally fly over and connect in Amsterdam for Marseille. We find the Amsterdam airport easier than Charles de Gaulle.
You could probably do without a car in Nice, depending on how you plan to spend your time. There are good public transportation options from Nice if you want to day trip to some other smaller places in that area.
You need the rental car for St. Remy. You could drop it at the Aix TGV station, then take the train to Nice.
Your plan to fly into Marseille and out of Nice is a good one and makes best use of your time.
Kathy
You could probably do without a car in Nice, depending on how you plan to spend your time. There are good public transportation options from Nice if you want to day trip to some other smaller places in that area.
You need the rental car for St. Remy. You could drop it at the Aix TGV station, then take the train to Nice.
Your plan to fly into Marseille and out of Nice is a good one and makes best use of your time.
Kathy
Mar 26th, 2011, 06:32 AM
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We flew into Marseilles and out of Nice.
I would recommend keeping the car for Nice, as it allows you more flexibility for visiting along the coast and up into the hinterland. Nice is walkable to many sites, plus we used public transportation without any problems.
I would recommend keeping the car for Nice, as it allows you more flexibility for visiting along the coast and up into the hinterland. Nice is walkable to many sites, plus we used public transportation without any problems.
Mar 26th, 2011, 02:17 PM
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I fly into Marseille when that is the end point, but have taken the train when I was really going somewhere else that doesn't have a major airport like that, so I'd then have to get there from Marseille (eg, Montepellier). Actually, I flew into Marseille last summer and that was the start of my vacation so I stayed there several days. I like to do that to unwind and get over jet lag after a long trip. I've also flown into Marseille when I was going to Aix and renting a car, as it's pretty easy to drive to Aix from the Marseille airport as it's really outside the city quite a way.
It is easier than taking the train, often, as your bags are transferred for you, as long as you get a connecting flight at the same airport, of course. I almost always fly Air France and then adding on a connection to Toulouse, Nice or Marseille is easy and doesn't often cost anything, or hardly anything. Also, they have a lot of flights all day to these cities so I don't worry too much if my original flight is late or something and I miss the connection as I know there will be another flight in a couple hours. I've actually never missed the connection, though, but it's nice to know that. If you miss a train, given how long that trip is down there, it may make things more difficult, depending when the next train you can get a ticket on would be.
It is easier than taking the train, often, as your bags are transferred for you, as long as you get a connecting flight at the same airport, of course. I almost always fly Air France and then adding on a connection to Toulouse, Nice or Marseille is easy and doesn't often cost anything, or hardly anything. Also, they have a lot of flights all day to these cities so I don't worry too much if my original flight is late or something and I miss the connection as I know there will be another flight in a couple hours. I've actually never missed the connection, though, but it's nice to know that. If you miss a train, given how long that trip is down there, it may make things more difficult, depending when the next train you can get a ticket on would be.
