Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SNCF's flagship trains are high-speed
Train à Grande Vitesse
(TGV;
www.tgv.com
)
.
Avignon and Aix-en-Provence have out-of-town TGV stations, distant from city-centre
stations served by regional lines.
Sample 1st-/2nd-class single TGV fares between Paris and Provence: Avignon (€145/
80, three hours), Marseille (€155/88, 3½ hours), Nice (€180/100, 5½ hours) and Orange
(€145/80, 3¼ hours).
SNCF also operates cheaper, slower services. Both
grande ligne
(main line) and
Trans-
port Express Régional
(TER;
www.ter-sncf.com
)
link smaller cities to the TGV network.
Marseille's airport station (Vitrolles) links the airport with regional cities, including
Avignon (€16, one hour).
Many towns not on the SNCF network are linked to railheads by buses.
For discounts,
Click here
.
WITH BICYCLE
Bicycles can be transported as hand luggage when packed into 120cm x 90cm transit bags
(available at bike shops). On some main-line trains, flagged with bicycle symbols on
timetables, bikes are allowed in luggage vans without being packed down (but not during
peak times). On night trains and certain TGVs, bikes can only be transported in a four-bi-
cycle wagon, reserved in advance (€10). See the multilingual SNCF brochure
Guide Train
& Vélo
(free), available at stations, or
www.velo.sncf.com
(in French).
Bagages à domicile
( 3635, then say 'bagages' 41)
transports bicycles door-to-door in
France, for €80, delivering within 48 hours, excluding Saturday afternoon, Sunday and
holidays.
WITH CAR
Motorail AutoTrains carry cars and passengers. Cars are loaded one hour before depar-
ture, and unloaded 30 minutes after arrival. Services from Calais to Nice run late May to
mid-September, stopping at Avignon and Fréjus (rest of year, cars can be transported via
AutoTrain, but you travel separately; see
http://autotrain.voyagessncf.com
). Information
in the UK available from
Rail Europe
( in Canada 1 800 361 7245, in the UK 0844
848 5848, in the USA 1 800 622 8600;
www.raileurope.com
)
. In France, ticketing is
handled by SNCF.
FROM ITALY & SPAIN
Nice is the major rail hub, along the busy Barcelona-Rome line.
»Nice-Rome (1st/2nd class around €120/65, plus about €30 for a couchette, nine hours)
»Nice-Barcelona (around €150/110, 10 hours)
