Aix to Strasbourg...night or day train?
Mar 9th, 2001 | 02:18 PM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Aix to Strasbourg...night or day train?
I have a month planned in France in September. It's a full but comfortable schedule except for the stretch we need to do between Aix-en-Provence and Strasbourg. This section of our trip is dictated by a couple of set dates. It is a long journey and we wonder what the scenery is like? If it is interesting we would lean towards using the day train but if not, the night train might maximise our time and comfort. Thought of breaking the journey but time constraints exist and anyway our choice of stopover would make it a longer trip in total than the straight through trip. Any comments or recommendations?
Mar 9th, 2001 | 09:47 PM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
You are quite right - it is a long journey, involving one or two changes of trains, and whilst the scenery is pleasant, I doubt that it is stimulating enough to compensate for a 10 hour journey on fairly ordinary trains. <BR>Therefore, the solution seems to be the night train, which runs direct from Marseille to Strasbourg, with reasonable refreshment facilities also. To catch this you would leave Aix shortly after 9 p.m. to connect at Marseille. I'm assuming you will book a sleeping compartment rather than those horrible couchettes. Worth the extra! <BR>With a whole month in France can't you squeeze a day or two out of the itinerary elsewhere to give you time to enjoy a stopover en route to Strasbourg?
Mar 10th, 2001 | 01:27 AM
#5
Guest
Posts: n/a
Fodors <BR> <BR>Ah, but if I may say so Mr Albury is a special Australian: he is nearly always right in his advice on travel in Europe. <BR> <BR>If I may take the words ftrom his mouth, the couchette supplement is 15 US dollars a person, and the sleeper supplement 45 dollars. As you say, the couchette beds six, and they're mixed sexes, so you don't change into pyjamas and you're crowded. Then, the washbasins and loos are down the corridor. All in all, the extra thirty are worth it. With the e-mail version of this message I am attaching a note I keep on disc about night trains in Europe, in case it prove useful. If it won't unpack please tell me. <BR> <BR>September has summer times, but they differ little from those of winter. Presently, the Riviera Alsace Express leaves Marseilles at 2249 and reaches Strasbourg at 0758. In second class it carries 6-berth couchettes and 2-berth sleepers (so two of you could be private, and the third would share with a French person of the same sex). The full story for day trains in summer isn't yet in the Thomas Cook European Timetable, but I see that a Train a Grande Vitesse, TGV, will leave Marseilles at 1207 and reach Dijon at 1344 on the way to Nancy, two hours further on. There I think you'd change, and reach Strasbourg by 1811 or earlier. A short trip, certainly, but even on a non-TGV train not very scenic, and on a TGV at this magnificent speed I don't know how much you'd see. <BR> <BR>If you ask again in May we'll know more. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR> <BR>
Mar 10th, 2001 | 06:47 AM
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
On a trip last summer, I made the decision to fly from Strasbourg to nice, and the airfare is not as bad as you might suppose. As is too often the case, the roundtrip is cheaper than the one-way (I'm sure you would know what to do with the unused return portion). Even cheaper is an open jaw - - SXB-NCE/NCE-LYS. <BR> <BR>I realize that Nice is not that close to Aix, but if you plan to have a car anyway, it's an interesting 3 hour drive (pushing it). It looks like Arizona for a considerable stretch. <BR> <BR>Air Littoral (part of Sabena) also has a non stop from SXB to Montpellier, which is slightly closer to Aix, but it's more expensive. You can make it cheaper by purchasing SXB-MPL/MPL-CDG - - but then the SXB-MPL will connect through Paris, making it much less convenient. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>
