Will be arriving at Avignon TGV station and picking up a car from National through Autoeurope.

Will the rental agency be at the TGV station or the regular train station; and are they the same place?

If not, how far apart are they should I have to go to the main station to pickup my car?

There definitely are huge care rental facilities at the Avignon TGV station -- that's where I dropped off my rental car. You should check with Autoeurope to make sure that you've arranged to get your car at the TGV station, rather than somewhere else.

hawksbill, we are planning to drop our car (rented in Zurich) at the Avignon TGV station also in Oct. Was it a relatively easy process or should we build some time into just the dropping off process. Our train would leave for Paris at about 13:00. Also, being in the US, is it ok to use the UK site to book the train from RailEurope, it offers the time & class I want which wasn't shown on the direct RailEurope.com site. Thank you!

One year we dropped our car of at the Avignon Airport and took a plane to Paris to catch our flight to Boston. it was an enjoyable experience and at the spur of the moment .

What does your voucher say? If it says TGV station, you just get off the train and cross the one-lane drop-off road to the large area where the car rental agencies are. It's a breeze. If you arranged for a car at the regular station you should be taking a train there instead of to the TGV station.

We will be dropping our car at the TGV station & catching the train to Paris. So that sounds like a breeze! Great! I haven't purchased the train tickets since it is in October and averyone says you can only purchase 90 days out.

PeggyE, I'd say you'll need to build some time into the drop-off process.

I did this two years ago, only once, so others may have more detailed recollections. When I dropped off my car, there were huge parking lots with numbered spaces for all of the rental cars. I had to drive to the spaces designated for my particular car company, leave the car in a numbered parking space, and then walk over to the centrally located office with my keys and rental agreement. There was little or no discussion required, I just dropped off the keys and the paper, and then walked toward the train station. But the lots were pretty big, and the walk from the office to the station was nontrivial. All in all I'd say it took about half an hour or so from driving into the station to arriving at the train platform.

gals:

Just last year we dropped our rental car off at Avignon TGV..beautiful newer station, easy access. I drove my wife to front door of station, dropped off our luggage, then drove to the next level below where all the rental agencies are. I had a National car, couldn't find a space in the lot, so I parked it there in a non-space, went in to check out, they went to look at the car and moved it themselves. Whole process took ten minutes and I walked up the ramp to the station where wife was waiting. Caught train to Strasbourg. It's really quite an easy process...but, as always, give yourself plenty of time, regardess.

stu t.

I've dropped off many cars at Avignon TGV. It's exactly as Stu T describes it: drive the car to the rental booth, leave it as close to the office as you can get, unload your luggage, drop off your keys, and walk up a few steps into the station. It has never taken more than 10 minutes, but I always allow some extra time for line-ups. They will then move the car to wherever they want it (I assume they wash them and then re-park them in a numbered spot in the big parking lot).

Anselm

Hi PE,

>is it ok to use the UK site to book the train from RailEurope,..<

Of course. YOu will be billed in GBP not USD.

Have you looked at schedules and prices at www.voyages-sncf.com? You might find a lower rate.

>we are planning to drop our car (rented in Zurich) at the Avignon TGV station ..<

Have you checked to see if you will have to pay drop off charges? They can be quite high.

I'll defer to Stu t. and Anselm -- their experiences are more extensive and more recent.

Thank you for all the great information! Sometimes it is the little things that can trip you up & having the info ahead of time can be a worry saver. The drop off charges are not as bad as some (around $200.00) but we are still looking at sites & rates so any experience is welcome! Last year we rented in Rome & dropped off in Venice thru Autoeurope and it all went quite well. We will pick up in Zurich, take a week to drive to southern France, spend 8 days in Provence, drop the car at Avignon, take the train to Paris for 6 nights, then fly home to LAX. Can't wait!Thanks again for the info and eurogals, good luck on your trip!

Thanks for all the helpful information. We will be arriving at the TGV station in Avignon to pickup our car.

Sounds like it should run smoothly.