France - Train Schedule - Please Help!
 

Hi,
I have a quick question ... I need to purchase tickets from Strasbourg, France to Avignon and then another set of tickets from Avignon to CDG ... in August. I realize it's too soon to purchase the tickets. From what i've read on other posts, I should wait 2/3 months out.

My question is ... are train schedules the same now as they will be in August? The reason I ask, is because I'm trying to schedule pick-up for a rental car in Avignon as well as dropping it off in Avignon 4 days later so I would like to figure out what time I could possibly be arriving/departing into Avignon.

Also, what is the best train to take from Freiburg, Germany to Strasbourg, France?

Thank you for the much appreciated help!

Hi, the schedules will remain the same don't worry! :-)
Hope someone will answer about Freiburg...

Most European railways have standardised their timetables so that big changes occur together in mid-December. Schedules in August will be mostly identical to today's, though in holiday areas and routes used by holidaymakers, there are extra trains in July and August. For schedules, www.bahn.de covers most of Europe and gives schedules for almost every little station: try Flowery Field (near Manchester) to Hel (near Gdansk).

A good way to access the English page of the bahn.de German rail site is to visit: www.budgeteuropetravel.com and click on the link on the home page "All European Railway Timetable" and you'll instantly get the English schedule page, which can take some time to figure out how to reach if you go to www.bahn.de and get the German home page - budget europe's home page also gives valuable tips on using the fabulous German site - easier to use for me than the French rail site.
You're making two fairly long train trips in France - though you could go the perplexing PREM route at www.sncf.com and get cheap highly restricted fares you may consider the France Rail and Drive pass, where you get two days of unlimited rail travel (midnight-midnight) and 4 days of car rentals (24-hour period from when you pick it up) at a cost of from (for smallest car) and two persons - $570, including first class rail travel and all taxes like VAT and insurance included - cars are thru Avis, which is in most French stations - you can pick up at one station and drop off at hundreds of other stations or Avis offices.

Or you may consider the straight up rail pass for France, where you get 4 days of unlimited travel in a one-month period at $195 p.p. on a Saver Pass or $230 p.p. Saver pass - it can also be used to go from Paris to CDG airport - about $15 value each way. So if desiring flexibility once in France on which trains to take and not doing the PREM route this pass may well be cheaper than two regular fares, which you can check out at www.sncf.com site.
For details on the France Rail Drive go to www.raileurope.com - questions on the drive-train pass or train pass i always recommend BETS (800-441-2387), a RailEurope agent, for their competence in my years of dealing with them.
As for Freiburg to Strasbourg there are probably no direct trains but it's easy to do - take train first to Offenburg and then switch to the shuttle train that shuttles you across the Rhine to Strasbourg, taking two hours all told at most with frequent trains.

Thank you all for your help! PalQ, I will most definitely have to look into those alternative plans. It may make sense to get a pass. I am meeting my sister in Freiburg and we will be travling to Strasbourg for one night (hence the 1 way ticket) and then the next day traveling to Provence (Avignon) where we will then rent a car for 4 days, return the car at Avignon and then jumping on another train from Avignon to CDG. We will be flying out of CDG.
Thank you again!

I've done some research ... and if anything, it confused me more :(! Below is what I've found so far:

1. www.raileurope.com
Simple Ticket:
Strasbourg, France to Avignon: $164(2nd class) and $164(1st class). Avignon to Paris $77.00 (2nd classs) and $117(1st class)

2. reiseauskunft.bahn.de (clicked on all European railway from www.budgeteuropetravel.com)

From Strasbourg to Avignon:
It shows a train (TGV5405) departing Strasbourg at 8:26 and either stopping and/or connecting at 7 stops before reaching Avignon. Arriving Avignon TGV at 14:31. Roughly 6 hours (not sure what I'm getting into with all those stops .. whether they are just stops or change of trains???)

I then went to www.sncf.com
and it pulls up Strasbourg to Avignon ... same train TGV 5405.

Is this all one train with many different stops or 7 different change of trains? yikes if it is!!

This is what I'm trying to accomplish and I realize it may be too soon.

8/12: Freiburg to Strasbourg via Train
8/13: Strasbourg to Avignon via Train
Rent a car for 4 days
8/17: Avignon to Paris
**early train departures**

I'm thinking www.sncf.com is the best bet to go in booking all of these different tickets ... well, except for Freiburg to Strasbourg which I can easily get on www.bahn.de

I don't think a railpass is cheaper.

Also, what is the best/nicest train to travel on. While on one of the web sites I noticed trains IC, OSB, ICE, RE ... and I'm assuming TGV is different? What are the differences? and what is the fastest one to travel on ... but at the same time being able to look out the window and catch what is outside .. if that's at all possible??

I realize I probably confused you all more with my rambling. The train rides seem to be the toughest part of the trip planning process.

Thanks! :)

Forgot to ask when is the earliest to book these tickets ... I believe I read somewhere that it's 2/3 months prior on www.sncf.com and 3 months for www.bahn.de?

Thanks!

Hi,
I looked at the french sncf site and found only one train from Avignon to PAris on 17 August (I'm surprised I thought there'd be more).

It's a TGV, so you need to reserve a seat in advance, and the schedule is:

AVIGNON TGV 20h01 7904
PARIS GARE DE LYON 22h41

2nd class = 24.90; 1st class = 39 euros
It looks like they do e-tickets now so since August is part of a big holiday weekend, I'd try to reserve now.

I just checked the SNCF site, and found 4 in the morning, another in the evening - have another look.

TGV 5405 is a through train from Strasbourg to Avignon TGV (there is a station in the town, Avignon Centre, but this train goes to the TGV station outside the town and there is a connecting bus). On the Deutsche Bahn schedule, you can look at the details of each journey and it tells you if you have to change trains - each train has a different number.
For most journeys, there's no need to worry about which type of train to choose: pick one with times that suit you. TGVs do 186 mph on new high-speed lines, but are slower on older routes: from Strasbourg to Avignon, part of the journey will be on old lines and part on a high-speed line.
From Avignon to Paris, there are lots of trains (all TGVs) but they probably don't appear on the SNCF web site till bookings open. The German web site usually gives schedules more quickly because it does not check for availability.

Moxie, there are 12 TGV from Paris to Avignon TGV per day. If you perform a search to purchase tickets it will only show you what is available now. The fare you are seeing if for the iDTGV which is open for reservations well in advance. Classic TGV trains only open for reservations 3 months in advance. To see those times you would need to chose to look at the schedule rather than to purchase.

The fare on the iDTGV is a great deal and if it works for the original poster they would do well to buy it now as the price goes up as seats are sold.

ttt

I hope katzen noticed the difference between the fares quoted on RailEurope and the fares moxie found at www.sncf.fr. RailEurope is notorious for overcharges on rail tickets. There's a English version of the French train site and you can print the tickets at home.

Mimar, yes, I did notice that the fees were more expensive on RailEurope. :) My mind was so 'burnt out' last night after I was done researching the different train sites that I had to take a break from it all. I'm about to jump back in and figure this all out. I'm assuming from what MorganB wrote that I can't purchase until 3 months out. oh boy!

Ok, unless I'm doing something extremely wrong ... I pulled up the same train schedule/fare that Moxie pulled up and the fares were higher. I selected the English version, advanced search, filled out the info t they requested (direct route only, 2nd class, date was august 17, 2006, and hour was 05h). Am i missing something?

alright, the reason it is more expensive is because I entered 2 passengers not realizing that the price they quoted me was for 2 people and not 'per person.' now, am I too assume that the iDTGV is the only train that I can purchase tickets for today and if so, there is only one train available and that departs at 20h? If so, I will have to wait for the regular TGV availability to come out 3 months to august which will be May in order to purchase tickets for a 'morning' train schedule departing Avignon around 8:00.

Am I getting this right?

what is the difference between Avignon Centre and Avignon TGV? Is the Avignon TGV for TGV trains only? I noticed when I did a search on the SNCF site for travel from Strasbourg, France to Avignon it pulled up both. I will be picking up my rental car in Avignon ... I guess it would help if I found out at which rail station? Or is one station buses only?

To make it easier to understand I posted what I was referring to in the above post.

Departure and destination stations Times Train(s) Journey time: 08h03

STRASBOURG GARE 08h04 4251
AVIGNON CENTRE 16h07


Departure and destination stations Times Train(s) Journey time: 08h36

STRASBOURG GARE 08h04 4251
LYON PART DIEU 14h02



LYON PART DIEU 14h19 17439
choose this outward journey
AVIGNON CENTRE 16h40


Departure and destination stations Times Train(s) Journey time: 06h18

STRASBOURG GARE 08h33 5405 Peak period
AVIGNON TGV 14h31



AVIGNON TGV 14h41 Coach 49154
choose this outward journey
AVIGNON CENTRE 14h51

Not all tickets can be self printed from the French Rail website. Mostly it is the train specific, non-refundable, discounted PREMS tickets, but then those are about the only tickets a rational person would want to buy in advance. Other tickets can be purchased online and picked up at a ticket machine in France, but, of course, that doesn't do you any good if France is your destination.

As for RailEurope, people should realize that 1) it is not Eurail, and 2) the major shareholder in RailEurope is French Rail (SNCF).

RailEurope's point to point fares are generally high, but I am not sure you can blame RailEurope. I think the price of these fares are negotiated with either Eurail or the individual national rail companies. If you actually want to have tickets before you leave the US, first check what you can get online from the national rail companies, then compare it to RailEurope's price. If you only want to get point to point prices to estimate the cost vs. a rail pass, DO NOT USE RailEurope if at all possible. Their prices are not representative of what you will pay in Europe.

Thank you Larryincolorado!

I plugged in different dates (june 24) to see what the PREM fares would be (3 months from today) and it showed:

Strasbourg to Avignon Centre on a 425Coral Train??? for 2nd class 84Euro departing at 08h09.

I find this strange because if you look at my above post listing the departure/arrival times and destinations (which was the schedule that i pulled up for August 13 off of SNCF) it doesn't show this schedule on there. So I'm totally confused. 8 posts and 3 headaches later!

Got it! I figured it out! (I hope)

I think I found direct from Strasbourg to Avignon TGV on TGV 5405, which departs at 08h33 and arrives at 14h31. I plugged in June 24 (3 months from today) and the PREM for 2nd class was E25 and 1st class was E45. Hopefully they have the same prices for August 13th.

Is there a major difference between 1st and 2nd class? What are the differences? Not price ... but what is the benefit of sitting in 1st versus 2nd?

I would also like to confirm that 3 months prior to travel is the earliest one can purchase tickets on TGV trains through the www.sncf. com site for PREM tickets?

The Avignon TGV station is to the south of town and has a number of car rental offices. It would be the place to pick up your rental car.

The main diffenence on TGV between 1st and 2nd class is that first has 2+1 seating and 2nd has 2+2 seating. Ergo, roomier seats in 1st.

There isn't really a railroad called "Eurail". That's just the name of a marketing product -- the official name of the French railroad company is not Eurail (re someone saying Raileurope wasn't Eurail). Actually, I think they may be Eurail in that it's their product maybe, but Eurail isn't the name of European railroads.

Did you find out about the stations? Avignon Centre is right on the edges of Avignon -- the new TGV station is on a highway outside Avignon a little in an industrial park area. I'd guess it's maybe five miles away? There are car rental stations at both. Most TGVs go to the TGV station (no regular trains will), but I think some TGVs will stop in the central station -- all TGVs used to stop there until they built the new one. YOu will have more choices of TGV stations from the TGV station, better schedules probably.

Thank you Hopscotch and Christina. I contacted Andrew Bestor at www.gemut.com who I am making my rental through and he informed me that Avignon TGV is the station I will be picking up my car from.

For the most part I think I answered my own questions after I rambled on 8 posts later! :)