Travel from Avignon to Venice
 

Hi All,
Travelling to Avignon in November then going to Venice. Looking at getting a France/Italy rail pass but not sure of the time it would take between the 2 cities. Would it be better to fly from Nice ? Thank you in anticipation of your help.

Hi trumps,

Have you looked at www.railsaver.com to see if you should purchase a railpass?

The reference library of a city near you may have the Thomas Cook European timetable. Table and 90 show connections thus. The fares I give are approximate. In November few people travel: you can book your train in Avignon. I have failed to find a no-frills flight.

Avignon TGV station 1649, Nice 2006 to 2025, train with 1, 2 and 3 berth sleepers and 6 berth couchettes, Venice 0736. Fare with a berth in a 2-berth sleeper 160 euros, in a 3-berth sleeper 110 euros, in a 6-berth couchette 85 euros

Avignon Centre 0552, no catering, Nice 0952 to 1002, buffet car train, Milan Central 1450 to 1505, buffet car train, Venice1809. Second class fare about 60 euros

Avignon Centre 0658, no catering, Nice 1101 to 1309, Ventimiglia 1358 to 1458, buffet car train, Milan Central 1850 to 1905, buffet car train, Venice 2209. Second class fare about 60 euros

I should certainly take the night journey. My note on getting the best from sleepers and couchettes is at http://www.geocities.com/rexbickers/tipsnighttrains.htm

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Trumps,

There are no flights from Nice to Venice. The closest larger airport to Avignon is Lyon St. Exupery, which is directly served by 2-3 direct TGV trains a day from Avignon, the fastest of which take less than an hour. For easy to read schedules, check:
www.rail.ch
Enter "Lyon St. Exupery" as your destination.

To book the train, go to:
www.sncf.com

From Lyon, there are 1-2 nonstop flights a day on Air France (1h20 flight time). Booking at:
www.airfrance.com

If you are able to snag a decent airfare (roundtrip with a Saturday night "stay" is probably cheaper than one way), that is by far the best way to get from A to B.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Thanks for the info I am from downunder ( Australia ) so working a diffrent timeframe so you have given me some work for this evening surfing the websites you have suggested. Did find out from the French Tourist Bureau in Sydney that there is a flight from Nice to Venice with Brussels Ailines being the cheapest at 240 Euros one way Air France is apparently 490 Euros. Somehow think at that price will get the train.
Thanks again.

trumps,

Neither Air France nor SN Brussels offer direct flights from Nice to Venice! You would be connecting in either Brussels (SN), Paris or Lyon (AF), so time-wise this makes no sense vs. flying from Lyon.

I checked fares on Air France for the Lyon to Venice flights and found a roundtrip fare of EUR 246 all in. This is cheaper than a one way fare, so you would just throw out the coupon for the return leg.

If you decide to take the night train, the simplest and cheapest way to book it is also on the SNCF I mentioned above.

Hope this helps,
Andre