Do we have the time? We're flying into Paris for 4 nights. Then we were planning on taking a train to Avignon and visiting some towns like: Arles, Nimes and Aix-e-Provence for a total of 5 nights. Then back to Paris and a plane to Prague for 5 nights.
Will we run ourselves ragged heading south? How difficult is it to take a train or bus from town to town? Should we sleep in a few towns or have a home base? Have I seen too many romantic movies based in Provence?? Also, I'm getting conflicting reports on the length of the train ride from Paris to the Provence region. 3 hours? 5 hours?
I'm stuck not knowing what to do and need advice. Thanks.

You can do it - it just depends on your style of travel. The train ride to Avignon is really not the issue. If you go, you should rent a car to keep the train and bus schedules from dictating your movements since you have such a short time. Our first trip to Provence was 5 days and it was great - a taste that made us want more and we have been back twice.

Have a home base and explore the region around your base. Do some research to determine what part of Provence you want to see. What time of year do you plan to go?

Paris-Lyon to Avignon TGV in less than 3 hours with hourly or so service. www.voyages-sncf.com has all the schedules and prices. From Avignon-TGV station, a few miles out of town, there are shuttle buses coordinated with trains to whisk you to the center of Avignon.

Good train info sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com

We took the TGV from Paris to Avignon, which was less than 3 hours. We rented a car in Avignon, based ourselves in St. Remy, and drove everywhere. The drives were easy and not long at all. We were able to see alot of Provence in a short time.

I suggest you take the TGV directly from CDG to Avignon on arrival rather than going into the city, then return for your days in Paris after your time in the south. It will streamline your movements a bit which is essential to get the most from a short trip.

You can buy the CDG-Avignon TGV tickets on the SNCF website above. And help with the site is available on the Seat61 site if you need it, also posted above.

Thank you for the responses.
We're arriving September 5 and enjoying Paris with friends.
Then leaving Paris on Sunday, Sept 9, to ? somewhere south. I like the idea of renting a car upon arrival but read that parking can be a problem.

>> but read that parking can be a problem<<<

Where have you read that??? We've spent over 18 weeks vacationing in Provence. We've never had problems parking - as long as you don't get the foolish idea of trying to drive into the center of a large city like Avignon or Aix. There are plenty of parking lots just outside of the fortified walls of Avignon, Aix, Arles, Nimes, etc - as there are outisde of Gordes, Roussillon, Lourmarin, Carpentras, l'Isle sur la Sorgue, St Remy, Uzes, etc.

I've developed a 27 page itinerary for Provence that I've sent to over 3,000 people on Fodors (really!). E-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail. Do so soon - we leave for Paris in a little over 2 weeks.

Stu Dudley

We've never had a problem parking in Provence and HAVE driven right into the center of Avignon - and parked in the underground garage where you exit the garage stairs right in front of the Pope's Palace. We drove right into L'Isle sur la Sorgue and St. Remy and parked as well.

I wish I'd gotten your itinerary for our last trip, Stu! Maybe next time...

Yes, we have done that and had a fine trip. We stayed in Avignon and travelled out from there each day. Want to do it again! The only parking problem we had was in Aix, probably the reason that is not on my list to return to.

One thing to look into - there's really no need to go back to Paris before heading to Prague. Air France has just opened there first "non-Paris" hub in Marseille. They are making a big deal about cheap flights from Marseille direct to many pla

Sorry -

to many places in Europe - one of which is Prague. This will save you a lot of time and effort and money.

-Kevin

Kevin - where else does AF fly to from Marseille.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu -

Quite a decent list of places which you can see on this link http://tinyurl.com/cp47td6 and then click on "Decouvrir nos nouvelles destinations".

Their idea is to compete with the low cost carriers and provide flights that are cheap but still have the service of a regular Air France flight (such as they are)...

You can get tickets to Prague or Athenes for 50-odd euros one way as an example, but you need to plan pretty far in advance.

-Kevin

I don't feel so overwhelmed anymore. Thank you all.
Next time I'll post my troubles earlier so that our (FREE! Mileage Plus) plane connections make for a more efficient trip.

If you decide to take the train to Avignon, you might want to sign up to get an alert email from SNCF when the deeply discounted tickets for the TGV and iDTGV trains go on sale.

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/weblogic...0R%25C3%25A9sa

The form is in French, but you only need to fill in your departure city, destination city, date you wish to travel, and your email address. Tickets for TGV trains go on sale 90 days prior to departure. iDTGV sale dates may be different. When I bought tickets, iDTGV tickets were a little less than the TGV discounted tickets (PREMS).

I did this earlier this year and got the alert emails the day prior to ticket sales. For more general information, see the iDTGV English site - http://www.idtgv.com/en/ . For TGV schedules and information - http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ (French site) or http://www.tgv-europe.com/ (in English) . They will not have schedules or fares for next September at this point.

Using the TGV-Europe site can be tricky when it comes to actually purchasing tickets.

As ggrace says above, it would be easy to get a car at the Avignon TGV station and drive to St.-Rémy in less than 30 minutes. It's well located for visiting many sites in Provence. When we stayed there for a week, we visited Aix, Cassis, Gordes, Roussillon, Avignon, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Vaison-la-Romaine, the Gorges de l'Ardèche, Les Baux, Arles and more. I wish I had had StuDudley's wonderful itinerary back then.

I will definitely sign up for the SNCF email alerts - I love a deal!!

also rent a small car if you want to visit the picturesque and perche villages. Diesel and shift are less expensive.

Diesel and standard-shift cars are a good idea, but if you need an automatic transmission your best bet for getting one is at a large airport. Automatics are not common in France, and even though you might think you have reserved one, actually getting it is another matter.

Good sites for rentals are sixt.com, autoeurope.com, and kemwel.com. The latter is a sister company of autoeurope but sometimes has better rates and a wider selection of cars.