DeborahAnn

Nimes and Montpellier are just about equal distances from Saintes Maries de la Mer according to ViaMichelin. We missed Nimes the last two times we were near and want to visit the Roman arena. Paris to Nimes seemed like the best choice for train travel. Our daughter and her husband have to return to Paris after the wedding and it would appear maybe because it is a university town that Montpellier offers more direct trains, more often to Paris than Nimes.

Does it make sense to arrive in Nimes and depart out of Montpellier? Is there anything I am not considering like ease of driving in and out of the train stations of either city? We have not been to either Nimes or Montpellier previously.

Next will come my rental car question, and you thought this post was more information than you needed to know Thanks, Deborah

blackduff

Hi DeborahAnn
I think that Montpelier may have a better train to Paris. The train will go down the same tracks but maybe the TGV can be started in Montpelier. I'm not sure if the TGV will stop at Nimes when it's going towards Paris.

http://www.sncf.com/

Have a look at this site and see if it might give a bit more information. The TGV isn't as fast as the train from Nice but it does goes faster than it did before.

Hope that this helps a bit.

Blackduff

ira

Hi DA,

At www.voyages-sncf.com click "Toutes nos offres Prem's".

You will see cheap fares for Paris to Avignon, Montpellier and Nimes.

Check car rental at www.novarentacar.com and www.autoeurope.com.

I expect that they will both have offices at the train stations.

www.viamichelin.com and www.mappy.com will give you driving directions to the train stations.

NOTE: The Avignon TGV station is not in the city.

Hope this helps.

DeborahAnn

thanks blackduff, I have looked at the train site for sncf. I just hoped I had taken all the possibilities into consideration Deborah

Christina

Not all of the TGVs from Montpellier to Paris stop in Nimes, but a lot of them do. YOu'd have to check the schedule to see if there is one suitable for you, but even from Nimes, they are about every other hour in the morning (every hour from Montpellier).

I think driving in/our of Nimes train station is probably a little easier than Montpellier, which is in a somewhat crowded and confusing part of the city. It depends on how good you are with those kind of things. It's not super-hard, I managed it but partly by luck. Montpellier is larger than Nimes. Last time I was in Montpellier (last summer), there was tons of construction going on around the train station in all directions, so that added to the problems. Maybe it's all done by now. That also meant the car rental places were farther away from the train station -- I walked it, but they do have some golf cart like shuttle to take you to them (I didn't want to wait). It's not that far as long as you don't have a lot of luggage (probably about 1/4 mile).

DeborahAnn

Christina thanks I appreciate your information. Please tell me if this makes sense to you.

We are coming into Nimes so we can see the roman arena but the train schedule from Montpellier to Paris has alot more nonstop afternoon trains back to Paris than those from Nimes. That is why I am trying to decide on the schedule because that in turn affects where I arrange rental car pick up and drop off

When we are in the Camargue we need a car for 4 people one is 6'7'' but the tall one and my daughter are going back to Paris and my husband and I want a much smaller car for the Alps. Husband is only 6'2" So we pick up one car in Nimes and exchange it in Montpellier for a smaller one to be dropped in Lyon.

Clear as mud, right Deborah

DeborahAnn

oops, 6'7" tall

DeborahAnn

wait, what is going on here. Johnny is six feet seven inches, somehow using the short version keeps looking like he is 67 inches tall

Christina

hmmm... okay, I guess. I don't understand the Lyon thing, though, or what that has to do with nonstops to Paris from Montpellier. Valence is a real easy TGV station to drop off a rental car, and that's below Lyon.

DeborahAnn

Christina, thanks for your information about the Montpellier train station, hopefully through Michelin or somewhere I can find out if there will be any major construction going on. I won't be there for several months yet Deborah