No Car_TGV to Arles
 

I plan on taking the TGV when I land at CDG mid March. My niece is teaching in Arles and does not have a car. Should I take the train to Nimes or Avignon or Marsailles and how can I get to Arles without renting a car (are there buses)? (it doesn't look like the train goes to TGV)

Can't your niece help you? She should know. You could also check the SNCF.com site for schedules to see if there is a local train that goes to Arles from Avignon or Marseille.

Take the TGV to Avignon and the bus to Arles. You're neice should be able to help you with the bus aspect. There may also be a local train as well. It's only about 30mins from Avignon to Arles.

But what are you going to do about getting around after you get to ARles, or are you just going there and nowhere else. Rent a car and have a good time sightseeing in the larger area.

GoGo Girl,
We took the TVG from CDG to Nimes in Oct 2002. I think that we opted for Nimes because the arrival and departures were more convenient than Avignon. We rented a car which turned out to be a Ford Focus from Avis right at the train station and drove to Arles where we based for 8 nights. There are local trains that come into Arles. The problem, I think, is that the TVG has separate stations. In otherwords if you took the TVG to Avignon, you would have to take a cab to the other station to take the local train to Arles. I don't think that this is difficult, just confusing.
JoeG

Thanks for the help..I like swalter's suggestion best and it actually answered my question. It's very expensive to call my niece's cell phone (she does not have a land line and has very limited access to using her e-mail).

Not sure what I'll do once I get to Arles...personally, I won't be driving (no desire!). I'm only staying there a couple days to visit my niece, see where she is living and working, and enjoy the surrounding area. She may be able to borrow her boyfriend's car...we'll see. Then we will head back to Paris for 3-4 days where I will just be touristy and carless.

I enjoy the info on this site....There sure is a lot going on for the Europe site!

SWalter's suggestion is a good one, but JoeG makes an important point. Know which train station you are going to. There is a TGVonly station in Avignon that is outside of the city. You can take a bus to the Avignon central station and then get to Arles from there. TGV's stop at the Avignon central station including a few that head on to Arles, but the trains are infrequent. It can be confusing especially if you don't know French, I'm guessing your niece can help. You can take a TGV train straight to Paris from Arles.

I much prefer trains to buses myself, especially with baggage. If you take the TGV from CDG to Arles as a route, you will go through Avignon or Lyon (another choice you didn't mention). Or you can go to Nimes by TGV and then take a local.

I'd just choose whichever time suited you best, you can see all routes and times on sncf.com . I would go the entire route by train myself, probably through Avignon, but that might not suit your schedule.

The SNCF site will sell you the bus ticket as well. I checked some of the morning schedules and you would take the TGV from the CDG TVG station to the Avignon TGV station and then a bus from there to Arles. Your train ticket will include the bus transport and the times are displayed on the sncf site (http://www.voyages-sncf.com) .

Have a great trip!