scadmom

My husband and I are taking a Viking cruise September 25, 2011 of France's Finest. We are wondering how to get from Marseille airport to Avignon. The last train out of Marseille leaves at 2:03 pm and our flight arrives in Marseille at 11:35am. Should there b a delay in the airlines it is very possible we will miss that train. Does anyone know of another way to get to Avignon? Renting a car is expensive and I can't find any information on busses. Is anyone else taking this cruise? We are most thankful for any information.

Mimar

Where are you finding your train times? I see regular bus/train departures throughout that afternoon.

You will want to go to the Avignon Centre station; the TGV station is well outside of town. However, you can catch a bus or take a taxi from the latter.

Cowboy1968

Not sure where you got the info that the "last train" leaves Marseille (MSP airport station, which is called Vitrolles Airport, I assume?) at 2pm?
There are many more connection, also after 2pm.
You take a shuttle bus to Marseille Provence airport to Vitrolles airport station, and a regional train from there to Avignon centre.
No need to rent a car.

Mimar

I see your cruise leaves the same day. Generally it's not a good idea to leave on a cruise the same day you arrive by plane, especially if your plane trip is a long, multi-leg journey. Too many things can go wrong. (I remember a flight into Venice when a number of us were missing our luggage upon arrival. The people leaving that same day on a cruise were irate.)

Anyway, just take a taxi to the dock from either Avignon Centre or Avignon TGV station.

Christina

I seem to recall that trains aren't that convenient from MRS. I landed there and the bus was more efficient than the train for getting into the city (to the main train station where this is a bus depot, also). There weren't hardly any trains from that station in MRS, and it's not right at the airport as I recall (but you can get a shuttle there).

I don't really understand what you are doing. Are you saying you are taking a cruise from Avignon? If so, when do you have to be in Avignon? If it is the same day you arrive in MRS, you can always get there by going to the train station in the city rather than the one at the airport. They have cheap airport buses to the main train station all day, as I said, that's what I took. They are every 30 to 60 minutes, as I recall.

I thought you usually left on cruises in the morning, but if you just have to be aboard by nightfall, there shouldn't be any problem.

Southam

Yes you can go by train from the Marseille airport to Avignon, avoiding the lost time and expense of commuting into the city where the tempestuous main train terminus is a distinctly non-Provence experience. Here is a website for the airport train stop http://www.mrsairport.com/eng/acces/acces_train.jsp
Some words of advice, learned the hard way. This is more like a bus/coach stop than a station. More particularly, it is automated. So you must have a credit card with a chip. Train tickets are sold by machine only. Or buy an advance ticket (www.tgv-europe; specify any English-speaking country except the US to avoid the costly embrace of Rail Europe.)
Some of the trains go directly to Avignon Centre, which is more convenient than the Avignon TGV station outside the city. Others connect through the Aix TGV station. No seat reservations on local trains and some can be pretty scruffy, but they will get you to Avignon quickly.
One other point: the full name of the airport is Vitrolles Marseille Provence Airport which you may need to enter on the train search site. The result can be confusing, since it looks like there is a connection between the airport and the hamlet of Vitrolles but that's just the shuttle bus (navette).

Mimar

To the OP, when Southam says you need a credit card with a chip, he means a non-American credit card. (European credit cards have a chip and a PIN; one has to enter the PIN to make a purchase.)

Southam, won't the machines take cash? The ones at tollbooths do.

Christina

Maybe the fact that it was automated was one issue why I didn't use it (I couldn't, obviously). Or maybe it was because I was going into Marseille, and it's not efficient for that purpose. I think that was a lot of it. It isn't that expensive to take the bus into Marseille (around 8 euro, as I recall) if you have to, but if it's easy to take the train from MRS and you have a French CC, sure, sounds like the way to go. The MRS train station isn't tempestuous IMO, it's rather small and manageable, I thought, compared to some in Paris, for example. I think it's kind of a nice train station, actually.

Christina

I meant the main train station in Marseille wasn't difficult to me, I didn't use the one at MRS since it wasn't at the airport.