kimder

I have train tickets from Arles to Paris that includes a bus from Arles to the TGV station in Avignon. The departure time from Arles is listed as 11:00 and the train leaves Avignon at 12:14. I found info that says the bus ride from Arles to Avignon is an hour. Does this leave us enough time to catch the train or should we take an earlier bus?

PalenQ

Arles is so close to Avignon TGV station it is hard to believe the bus takes an hour unless it takes a circuitous route but if your tickets are non-refundable non-changeable take an earlier bus and have a coffee at the station.

PalenQ

Checking www.bahn.de - the German Railways web rail schedule site it says buses between Avingon TGV station and Arles take all of 17 minutes. You have plenty plenty of time with your scheduled bus - which if written on your ticket indicates these are coordinated with TGVs to make it there well before the train leaves. You're fine, relax.

kimder

Thanks a lot, I will relax!

d_claude_bear

There is an 11:27 TGV from Paris to-Arles that SEEMS (from the schdule info) to go straight through to Arles. Is this correct? Or does it, too, require an Avignon-to-Arles bus?

Christina

Arles does have a train station, so there are ways to take the train to Arles, not just Avignon or somewhere else.

There are also trains from Arles to Paris that do not require taking a bus, the OP just chose to buy a trip that did for some reason, I suppose the time of day. I don't think there are direct trains, but you can take a train from Arles to Nimes, then transfer to a TGV to Paris there, for example.

The SNCF schedule says that bus takes an hour, so it may have lots of stops and I personally would believe them. I don't see how it could take 17 minutes, you'd have to be going almost 100 miles an hour to do that, I think. And the bahn.de website says buses between those cities take 30 to 50 minutes. There are trains that can take about 20 minutes or a bit less, but not buses. So 1 hr isn't much longer than 48 minutes which is about what the regular bus takes in mid-day, but that isn't the autocar train connection. If you look on bahn.de for a train trip at 11 am weekdays, it also shows you that bus connection takes 1 hr.

d_claude_bear

Christina--

Can you figure out from the SNCF site whether the 11:27 TGV from Pairs goes all the way to Arles? Unlike many other trains for that route, that one shows no train transfer and lists Arles as the final destination.

Merci

StCirq

d_claude-bear, the 11:27 train listed on www.voyages-sncf.com is a direct train, no bus, according to the information on the French site. Surprised me, as I didn't think the TGV went to Arles, but that is what shows on the SNCF site. It's also the cheapest fare right now (with a random September date plugged in).

d_claude_bear

Thank you. After posting the question, I looked in the Fodor's 2012 France book and found under the Arles train part there mention that "[o]nly one TGV train from Paris arrives daily."

Thanks for checking it out for me; we will certainly book that train when we travel in the Spring.

kimder

For future reference, the bus from Arles to Avignon TGV station takes one full hour (on a good day). Unfortunately we missed our train because there was a detour on the road. The bus also stops in Tarascon, which is at least 25 minutes from Arles. I think even without the road detour it would be cutting it very close to make it in an hour, and after the bus drops you off it is a good 5-7 minute walk to get to the train platform. The ticket you purchase from the train company includes the bus portion and has a stated time, so I don't know if they will allow you to take an earlier bus. We missed a 1/2 day sightseeing in Paris because of this. There are a couple of direct trains from Arles to Paris daily, but the times were not convenient for us.

d_claude_bear

Because of the schedules and our desire to use TGVS from and to Paris, we have opted to do the loop as Paris to Arles to Lyon to Paris.

PalenQ

For future reference, the bus from Arles to Avignon TGV station takes one full hour (on a good day>

again www.bahn.de indicates a 17-min bus transfer time from Arles to Avignon-TGV on multiple schedules - I have never known bahn.de to be wrong - are you sure you took the same bus www.bahn.de is referencing or are they wrong - but I think I would take an earlier bus just to be sure.

kimder

Yes, that is wrong. It is 35 km from Arles to the TGV station in Avignon. Google maps has a travel time of 42 minutes, but that doesn't include the stop in Tarascon. When you buy your train ticket for the TGV, it includes the bus segment, which normally would get you there just in time, I guess.

Christina

again, I see no 17 min bus transfer time on www.bahn.de from Arles to Avignon TGV, so I do not know what palenq is referring to. It is too far for that to be possible, in any case. Bahn.de is not wrong becaue it doesn't show that.

If you look at a schedule on bahn.de for a trip from Arles to Paris starting around 11 am, it will show you such things as a trip involving a bus to Avignon TGV which clearly takes an hour, it says that, then they show a transfer time of around 14 minutes which is solely the actual time allotted in-between the bus arrival time and the TGV departure time (in other words, you have 14 min. transfer time from the bus stop to the TGV quay). The bus time is clearly shown as an hour. The transfer time refers to walking from the bus stop to the TGV station and is given to show you how much time you have available to do that.

This is an exact copy of the schedule on bahn.de for a day this week:
<<Arles We, 22.08.12 dep 11:00 Bus
Avignon TGV We, 22.08.12 arr 12:00

Transfer time 14 min.

Avignon TGV We, 22.08.12 dep 12:14 TGV 6116 TGV Duplex

Subject to compulsory reservation, Special ticket or supplement required, Global price, Bar coach
Paris Lyon We, 22.08.12 arr 14:56>>

what that copy can't show is the lines where the transfer time is between the bus arrival time at 12:00 and the TGV departure time at 12:14. IN any case, it clearly shows the bus taking one hour.