My family and I will be in france in August, only 3 people. We are spending 5 nts in Paris, 2 in Chamonix, 2 in Provence, 4 in Nice. I am thinking of taking tgv from paris to Lyon, renting a car in Lyon and returning in Nice. We will have the car for 4 days in Chamonix and Provence. Does this make sense from a time and cost perspective? Should I reserve tgv seats from Paris to Lyon, we will be leaving Paris on a Tuesday?
Posted by
Chicago
7811 posts
Yes your idea makes sense; buy a TGV Paris to Lyon`as soon as they become available online 90 days in advance for the best price.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
It seems that there are many sites selling the tgv tickets, any recommendations?
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Yes, sounds like a good plan.
Buy your TGV tickets as soon as they become available to get the best price. The tickets will be for a specific train, and will include reserved seats (seat numbers will be on the tickets). You DO NOT need a separate reservation.
Make sure you select "print-at-home" tickets, then you can have the tickets in your hand before you leave.
Either buy the tickets on the SNCF website, are at the more user-friendly Trainline (same prices): https://www.trainline.eu/
Posted by
Washington DC
27063 posts
If you are flying home from Paris and will need to take the train from Nice back to Paris, that's another ticket to be purchased as soon as tickets go on sale (assuming your travel date and time are locked in by that point).
Posted by
OP
7 posts
We will be flying into Paris and out of Nice. Any recommendations on car rental agencies, European vs American brand? Also, any general advice on driving in France?
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
I disagree with the plan to drive from Lyon. You really can't do anything with a car in Chamonix, so just take the train straight there, and then from there to Provence.
is it a long trip? Yes, but you don't save time by detouring to Lyon and renting a car.
You can use a car in Provence, though with only one day on the ground you really don't need it. Nor do you need it to get to Nice.
By the way: You are taking a bit of a risk going all the way to Chamonix to basically have a day there. The weather is changeable in the mountains and if it rains on that one day you will have gone all that way for very little.
If this is a family trip you might want to shake up your itinerary a little. However you travel, Chamonix adds a great deal of travel time to your trip, basically 2 full days of it. By contrast from Paris you can be in Provence in 3 hours and then in Nice in another 3.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
I agree going to chamonix is a big detour and for only one full day, risky with weather. My thinking was the cost of a rental car is about $100 (4 days) vs. The cost of train for 3 from chamonix to nice i think about 400 euro.
If we skip chamonix we have 4 nights between Paris and Nice. We could do 4 nts in provence, or any other suggestions?
Posted by
Nice, France & San Francisco
675 posts
Driving per your original plan will give you some optionality. August weather is pretty good in Chamonix, although anything can happen. It's not like September. If the weather is not good at the summit, you can drive into Geneve or Annecy, or smaller towns like Yvoire and lesser sights like La Saleve or go take a lift to a lower altitude, like at Les Houches or up into the Swiss side (towards Martigny).
Don't forget that toll fees are pretty extensive on the French highways. Driving from Lyon to Chamonix should be pretty easy, as the Swiss and French Haute Savoie roads are excellent.
If you skip, you can TGV direct to Aix and pick up a car for four or five days, and return it in Nice. There, you can rely on public transportation (traffic along the coast in August is at its peak)