Huitres

Being that I have NEVER rented a car on any of my frequent travels to Europe, I can only attest to the reliability of train transportation. Generally, there seem to be more frequent trains and connections in the Paris region for obvious reasons: more people are there. However, in the south, I would agree with other posters that Avignon is the hub for all incoming train traffic to the Provence region. There are good connections between Avignon, Arles, Lyon, and some of the other towns even further south; however, the smaller Provence towns are often only connected via bus routes (St. Remy de Provence, Vaison la Romaine come to mind). This takes a bit more planning in terms of the flexibility in your day schedule, don't try to do more than one town in a day if there are no train stations serving the town(s). (I missed the return bus from Vaison la Romaine to Orange because bus driver decided not to stop at the bus stop -- and spent nearly 50 euros via taxi to return me to my hotel!) On the Cote d'Azur, the entire French Riviera coastline from Marseilles eastward is very well-connected via train lines and you can stop at nearly every city on the way (except St. Tropez, where you can only take a car or ferry over there as there is no train station). I have stayed in both Marseilles (in the west) and covered the ajoining towns there (St. Raphael, etc) and then made Nice (in the east) my base for exploring Cannes, Villefranche, Cap d'Antibes, etc. Between the 3 regions listed, Paris and the southern Riviera coast are best served by and easiest in terms of train/public transportation.

cmt

LVSue: I thought it was a good question, too. But I raised it on another forum (one devoted to France!) and some people got upset that I kept trying to elicit more responses. Strange reaction, I thought.

cmt

There was some helpful information posted in response to a similar inquiry on another forum. I'll cross reference it here as an aid to anyone trying to do a thorough search on the issue. Here it is: http://forums.delphiforums.com/PBPro...s/?msg=3426.46

cmt

I posted the wrong link. Here's the correct one: http://forums.delphiforums.com/PBPro...ges?msg=3426.1

jmw

Glad you've topped this, cmt, as I am a devoted train traveler. However, I see that I've already mentioned my favorite places to stay via train in France. I'll just underline Alsace. I loved my stay in Dambach-la-ville. Don't know if I included Annecy in my earlier post, but I thought that was a lovely location, too. J.

Patrick

I've just scanned through this so forgive me if I'm repeating. While I generally feel that away from the major cities, cars will allow to cover more and go more at will, we have done a number of stays relying on public transportation.

As mentioned above Avignon and Nice are good. We stayed a few days in Annecy without a car and were somewhat disappointed. While we did make a few day trips -- public transportation to the places we went took half a day to get where you could drive in less than an hour -- rather frustrating.

We loved Dordogne, but I would think it would be very hard to cover much without a car.

We also stayed in Monpelier without a car for five days and liked it very much. Many wonderful day trips with very easy train connections. Plus it is a lively and nice town to return to every night. In fact, this would perhaps be my number one choice for a southern France stay without a car.

cmt

Patrick, I'm just checking this thread moments after you posted. You confirmed a tentative conclusion that I'd reached. I am vaguely thinking of a trip to southern France for some time in the next year or two, and from what I've read, Montpellier sounds like the ideal base for me. I might also like to spend a few days in Nice, see the old section, and take bus trips from there to some hill towns. I think Montpellier/Nice/Paris might mke a nice two-week trip, all without a car.

What were some of your favortie day trips from Montpellier? Did you find the transportation not so time-sonsuming or complicated as to be frustrating? What time of year did you go? (I just returned from a trip in northern Italy and, in one of the places, I was annoyed to find that the public bus service to a place I wanted to visit ended for the season the day before I was hoping to take it, so I now realize that the season can be important, even for public transportation.)

Patrick

cmt, at home I keep my journals next to my computer for answering these questions. But I'm in New York for a few weeks at my laptop, without all the information.

I'm sitting here without a map for names of towns and reminders of where we went and I'm the world's worst speller, so forgive me. But we did a great trip to Colliour. Also to Arles. Also the better part of a day to Perpignan, and stopped in a small town on the way there and another on the way back. What's the town where the Midi Canal starts? Also visited there. Forget the others for now.

Transportation was very easy, with frequent departures from the Montpelier station. Also from there we went on to Barcelona -- quite quick, or you could easily do some day trips over the Spanish border if you wanted.

cmt

Patrick: It sounds ideal. I hope this thread stays active and as people plan specific trips, more precise questions will arise.

cmt

topping, now and then

Patrick

OK, at home now and my journal is open.

Our daytrips from Montpelier:

Arles (spent a full day there)
Perpignan and Colliore in one day
Narbonne, stopped at Sete on the way back to Montpelier.

cmt

Patrick: The trains (or buses) must have been pretty frequent if you were able to visit two destinations in one day. That's something I usually find hard to do. This is sounding more and more doable.

OReilly

cmt:

there is an article in the August "Living France" magazine on touring France by train. It lists some interesting tourism routes, and provides links for more information, as follows:

Alps:
montagne.chamonix.com/RemTMB.php3

Ardeche, Bourgogne, Provence:
www.trains.fr.org

Dordogne:
www.portail-regional.com/tourisme.php

Picardy:
www.chemin-fer-baie-somme.asso.fr

Pyrenees:
www.rhune.com

Hope this helps.

Regards .... Ger

cmt

Thanks. Those sites will be helpful. I'm having a really hard time downloading the pages of the article (as you know)!

cmt

keeping this thread active for any and all interested

Wayne

Though I wouldn't classify it as a southern region, the Massif Central is indeed a very interesting area and one that is less visited. Connections by train and bus from Clermon-Ferrand are excellent, as already noted by a poster. A couple of other locales you might consider, in a more southern latitude, are Toulouse and Albi. Toulouse is a big city with great connections to everywhere, and Albi (one of my favorites) is smaller but a pleasant place to stay if you don't want to stress your travel days too much. Good luck.

DougP

I don't think that anyone has mentioned this yet. There is another way to travel, by boat. Many of the rivers and canals have Barge cruises and there are day cruises on the Rhone river and likely others. This could be an interesting logistical challenge.

jmw

It really is a helpful thread, cmt. I'll repeat my recommendation for the Alsace, and ask you all if there is any other town in the south of France beside Avignon which is good for public transport daytrips? J.

cmt

Cross-referencing a thread about travel in Normandy without a car: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34459426

cmt

topping for susieQ