Going to Lyon
Mar 16th, 2010, 08:57 AM
#1
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Going to Lyon
I am planning a last minute trip to Lyon and Avignon next week and need some information about the train situation?My thoughts were that we would train down to Lyon,stay and then rent a car to travel around the Rhone Valley and do Avignon too. Then return the car to Lyon and train back to Paris-feasible? Or should I just rent the car out of CDG?
We are flying standby from the states to CDG and I was wondering if we could wait until we get to CDG to buy our TGV tickets down to Lyon for next Weds. March 24th?
Anyone ever rented a car down in Lyon?
Thanks for any help!
We are flying standby from the states to CDG and I was wondering if we could wait until we get to CDG to buy our TGV tickets down to Lyon for next Weds. March 24th?
Anyone ever rented a car down in Lyon?
Thanks for any help!
Mar 16th, 2010, 09:54 AM
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Hello,
I think it would be quite feasible to do as you suggest - or even rent the car in Lyon, return it in Avignon and then get the TGV from there straight to CDG (or Paris, if you are stopping off there on the way back).
As for whether to get your train tickets when you arrive, you'll probably pay the highest price for your seats but seeing as you are flying standby, I can understand why you'd be reluctant to book the tickets in advance. Of course there is a slight risk that the train will be full and you will have to wait, but I suppose the worst case scenario would be that you have to travel into Paris to get the TGV out of Gare de Lyon instead of going straight from CDG.
I think it would be quite feasible to do as you suggest - or even rent the car in Lyon, return it in Avignon and then get the TGV from there straight to CDG (or Paris, if you are stopping off there on the way back).
As for whether to get your train tickets when you arrive, you'll probably pay the highest price for your seats but seeing as you are flying standby, I can understand why you'd be reluctant to book the tickets in advance. Of course there is a slight risk that the train will be full and you will have to wait, but I suppose the worst case scenario would be that you have to travel into Paris to get the TGV out of Gare de Lyon instead of going straight from CDG.
Mar 16th, 2010, 01:35 PM
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Thanks hanl.I was under the impression that I would still have to get to downtown Paris first before getting over to the Gare de Lyon which for some reason I cannot find on my map-wouldn't it be down in the southern quadrant of the city?
Mar 16th, 2010, 01:42 PM
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Hi df,
I suggest taking the train to Lyon and picking up your car there. There are a "garage"* of rental cars at the train station.
From my trip report:
We stayed at the Axotel Perache (http://www.hotel-lyon.fr/axotel/axotel_perrache_acc.htm ) - less than a 10-min walk from the Train/Metro/Tram station.
Using a conveniently located open space on the street, we checked in, unloaded the car, and took our things up to our Prestige room.
This turned out to be a very nice place to stay. Our room was large, with a living room section with a couch, easy chair, desk and chair. Beds were comfy. Facilities were new. The hotel has "parking available", but not its own garage.
Using directions from one of the very helpful ladies at the reception desk, I drove SB through the truck depot area to a gas station (very reasonable rates) and back up to the Eurocar office at Gare Perache. The depot area is a sort of dreary place, but is populated by a fairly large number of very friendly presentable young women (some of them very young). All of them took time from their busy schedules to smile and wave at me.
Who says that the French are standoffish and formal?
Having unloaded the car, my Lady Wife and I wandered the immediate neighborhood until it was time to get ready for dinner.
George's (http://www.brasseriegeorges.com/ ) is several minutes walk from the hotel. It is a very large room, dating from far back enough to have been renovated in Empire, Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.
The staff is very well trained. Watching them navigate among the tables is like being at a stage show. Not one dropped dish all night.
Roberta had the "The Traditional" seafood plateau - 25E - 2 ea of 3 kinds of oysters, 3 mussels, 4 snails, 3 red shrimp, 3 grey shrimp, a bowl of periwinkles, a bowl of teeny, weeny shrimpies (sort of like popcorn), lots of bread, butter and the usual condiments. The oysters were particularly good.
I had the "Menu Lyonnais" - 25E - A salad with herring, lentils, greens, beans and calf's foot (XLNT), Choucroute of smoked fish (Yes, you can mix fish with sauerkraut), cheese, Rhum Baba for dessert.
With aperitifs and a bottle of dry Muscadet fuissé -100E.
The hotel's buffet breakfast was quite pleasant. We then visited the outdoor market on rue Charlemagne and then on to the metro.
At the Perache Metro, we bought day passes - 4.5E pp - and headed up to the Old Town. We arrived at the Cathedral St. Jean le Baptiste in time to watch the clock strike 12:00. Very interesting.
After that, we had a snack in the square and went on to Le Fourviere. Very impressive.
We had a very nice walked down from the hilltop.
Dinner was at the hotel. At the time, the kitchen was still a work in progress. If it gets itself squared away, it will be a very nice, reasonably priced resto.
The next morning, my Lady Wife always insistent that we can't afford to be late for a train, we left an hour early for the 10 min walk to the Gare Perache. Not much to do there for 0:45 hr.
The ride to Paris, through very pleasant countryside, was uneventful.
Enjoy your visit.
* Is "garage" a proper collective noun for rental cars?
I suggest taking the train to Lyon and picking up your car there. There are a "garage"* of rental cars at the train station.
From my trip report:
We stayed at the Axotel Perache (http://www.hotel-lyon.fr/axotel/axotel_perrache_acc.htm ) - less than a 10-min walk from the Train/Metro/Tram station.
Using a conveniently located open space on the street, we checked in, unloaded the car, and took our things up to our Prestige room.
This turned out to be a very nice place to stay. Our room was large, with a living room section with a couch, easy chair, desk and chair. Beds were comfy. Facilities were new. The hotel has "parking available", but not its own garage.
Using directions from one of the very helpful ladies at the reception desk, I drove SB through the truck depot area to a gas station (very reasonable rates) and back up to the Eurocar office at Gare Perache. The depot area is a sort of dreary place, but is populated by a fairly large number of very friendly presentable young women (some of them very young). All of them took time from their busy schedules to smile and wave at me.
Who says that the French are standoffish and formal?
Having unloaded the car, my Lady Wife and I wandered the immediate neighborhood until it was time to get ready for dinner.
George's (http://www.brasseriegeorges.com/ ) is several minutes walk from the hotel. It is a very large room, dating from far back enough to have been renovated in Empire, Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.
The staff is very well trained. Watching them navigate among the tables is like being at a stage show. Not one dropped dish all night.
Roberta had the "The Traditional" seafood plateau - 25E - 2 ea of 3 kinds of oysters, 3 mussels, 4 snails, 3 red shrimp, 3 grey shrimp, a bowl of periwinkles, a bowl of teeny, weeny shrimpies (sort of like popcorn), lots of bread, butter and the usual condiments. The oysters were particularly good.
I had the "Menu Lyonnais" - 25E - A salad with herring, lentils, greens, beans and calf's foot (XLNT), Choucroute of smoked fish (Yes, you can mix fish with sauerkraut), cheese, Rhum Baba for dessert.
With aperitifs and a bottle of dry Muscadet fuissé -100E.
The hotel's buffet breakfast was quite pleasant. We then visited the outdoor market on rue Charlemagne and then on to the metro.
At the Perache Metro, we bought day passes - 4.5E pp - and headed up to the Old Town. We arrived at the Cathedral St. Jean le Baptiste in time to watch the clock strike 12:00. Very interesting.
After that, we had a snack in the square and went on to Le Fourviere. Very impressive.
We had a very nice walked down from the hilltop.
Dinner was at the hotel. At the time, the kitchen was still a work in progress. If it gets itself squared away, it will be a very nice, reasonably priced resto.
The next morning, my Lady Wife always insistent that we can't afford to be late for a train, we left an hour early for the 10 min walk to the Gare Perache. Not much to do there for 0:45 hr.
The ride to Paris, through very pleasant countryside, was uneventful.
Enjoy your visit.
* Is "garage" a proper collective noun for rental cars?
Mar 16th, 2010, 02:33 PM
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Thanks one and all for the info and tips-Ira the seafood platter sounds wonderful but we will be going exteme budget on this trip so are staying at the Hotel Le Residence in Lyon.
I am having a problem trying to time our TGV train to Lyon.My daughter is flying from Southampton to meet us at CDG arriving at 925am and we are flying standby to CDG from the states arriving at 715am. The cheapest TGV train is at 1100am which makes me nervous if there is a slight misconnect between all of us but the difference in price is unbelievable.
1100 is 97 euros for 3 and if we go after that it is something like 240 euros for the three of us.
Does anyone know if the prices are like the airlines and get
more expensive as the day gets closer?Considering the price should I just go ahead and rent at CDG and just drive to Lyon(which I would rather not do with jet lag).
Did you all take the TGV straight from CDG without problems because the only other way would be to go into Paris and leave out of Gare de Lyon which would be a major hassle. Thanks!
I am having a problem trying to time our TGV train to Lyon.My daughter is flying from Southampton to meet us at CDG arriving at 925am and we are flying standby to CDG from the states arriving at 715am. The cheapest TGV train is at 1100am which makes me nervous if there is a slight misconnect between all of us but the difference in price is unbelievable.
1100 is 97 euros for 3 and if we go after that it is something like 240 euros for the three of us.
Does anyone know if the prices are like the airlines and get
more expensive as the day gets closer?Considering the price should I just go ahead and rent at CDG and just drive to Lyon(which I would rather not do with jet lag).
Did you all take the TGV straight from CDG without problems because the only other way would be to go into Paris and leave out of Gare de Lyon which would be a major hassle. Thanks!
Mar 17th, 2010, 12:44 AM
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Hello,
Yes, the prices will get more expensive as the date gets nearer: basically there is a set number of seats in each price bracket, and the cheap seats almost always sell out first.
The only advantage with the more expensive tickets is that they are more flexible and may be exchangeable or partly/fully refundable.
Some TGV tickets allow you to get onto the next train if you miss yours. I don't know if that would apply to your 97 euro fare, however.
Yes, the prices will get more expensive as the date gets nearer: basically there is a set number of seats in each price bracket, and the cheap seats almost always sell out first.
The only advantage with the more expensive tickets is that they are more flexible and may be exchangeable or partly/fully refundable.
Some TGV tickets allow you to get onto the next train if you miss yours. I don't know if that would apply to your 97 euro fare, however.
Mar 17th, 2010, 06:27 PM
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We have decided now (especially since Air France may join BA on a strike issue) that we will just rent the car at CDG. Now I think that I want to only drive as far as Dijon the first night because of the overseas flights and trying to meet up with my daughter.
Questions-anyone like anything special in Dijon or Beaune that is reasonable to stay at that they would share?
Should we just do the Burgundy thing along with the area of Lyon and forget Avignon because it is so far down there or just hop on the highway and go there-already have a hotel but it sure seems far now that I have been looking at the maps. I am thinking that maybe we should do a Provence only tour at a later date and include that?
Any towns between Paris and Lyon you loved? Any hotels that you love in Paris-hate to stay at our crew hotel!
Thanks!
Leaving for a 3 day Rome trip for work tomorrow morning so will check back on Saturday or earlier-Ciao!
Questions-anyone like anything special in Dijon or Beaune that is reasonable to stay at that they would share?
Should we just do the Burgundy thing along with the area of Lyon and forget Avignon because it is so far down there or just hop on the highway and go there-already have a hotel but it sure seems far now that I have been looking at the maps. I am thinking that maybe we should do a Provence only tour at a later date and include that?
Any towns between Paris and Lyon you loved? Any hotels that you love in Paris-hate to stay at our crew hotel!
Thanks!
Leaving for a 3 day Rome trip for work tomorrow morning so will check back on Saturday or earlier-Ciao!
Mar 17th, 2010, 07:42 PM
#9
I have no answers to your questions, but I have to say that the thought of showing up in France with less than a week's planning and having all of the countryside before you with all of its possibilities sounds exhilirating to me.
Have a great trip!
Have a great trip!
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