Avignon - spend the night in the city or near the TGV station?

I'd stay in the center of Avignon. I visited in May - stayed in Arles and day tripped to Pont du Gard via Avignon. I walked from the Centerville station into town - didn't find it far at all (10 minutes?), and I would have had no trouble dragging a bag from the center to the Centerville station from town and then taking the TGV connector train, but I am used to walking and dragging bags. Some people don't want to or can't walk far or have a lot of bags - so just take a cab in that case.

Taking a cab directly to the TGV station would cost more but save you maybe half an hour and some hassle? I'm not sure what the cab would cost - I rarely take them in Europe.

The Avignon Centre-to-Avignon TGV station runs frequently and takes less than 10 minutes.

We stayed at Hôtel de l'Horloge, walking down Rue de la Republique and really enjoyed that location & hotel.

Thanks, Jean and Andrew. It sounds like what you're suggesting is that we return the car to the TGV station car rental place, take the train to Centre-ville and then walk or take a cab with our bags to the center of town, where we will go to our hotel to stay the night? Presumably then the next morning, take a cab back to the TGV station to catch our train? If that's what you're suggesting, that would work...

I have spent about 2 months over the last few years in Avignon. Drop the car off at the TGV station, take the 10 min train to centre ville and walk or cab to your hotel. Avignon within the walls is pretty small. Stay intramuros (inside the walls) and take the train out the next day. If you want a very reasonable and memorable dinner in Avignon, go to Numero 75. It is a remarkable restaurant with a menu for around 40 euros. Robert Brunel is the chef and it is a wonderful Provencal restaurant. It is one of my favorite restaurants in all of France. I would check RS for a hotel recommendation.

I definitely recommend staying inside the city. I also turned in a car at the TGV station and took a bus (no train at that time) to the central station. I stayed in the city at the Central Hotel. It was an easy walk from the bus/train station - maybe a block and 1/2 or 2 blocks. Nothing fancy but a very nice convenient hotel, with friendly staff, very clean, very reasonable cost, well reviewed and rated on booking.com and TA.

From my perspective, I stay as close as I can to the station I am leaving from. Plane, train, bus, etc. I get a lodging close by then go into town the reverse way I would have ridden if I had stayed in the town center. I spend the evening in town, and take the same train, bus, etc. back to my abode. I get up, shower, finish packing and go to the vehicle I am leaving town on. I do this because one time, we stayed in town and were leaving the next day by train. The short haul train that was to take us to the station, the conductors and engineers went on a strike. So, instead of the short haul train leaving every 15 minutes, it was every 90 minutes. We made our connection, by 3 minutes. Lesson learned. Be within walking distance.

I would also stay in town. You could get a cab back to the TGV station (that's what we did) or take the local train back to the TGV station, depending on timing and how much you want to economize.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your suggestions and advice! It's all been very helpful. The plan seems pretty straightforward now. Because there aren't any hotels located very close to the Avignon TGV station, we will stay in the city, in accordance with most of the advice being given here. I booked rooms at Hotel de l'Horloge, a RS choice and also suggested by Jean. So on Sunday, we'll drive from Gigondas, drop the rental car off at the TGV station, take a cab to the hotel to drop our bags off and then sightsee for the day. That evening we will try to eat at Numero 75 (thanks, Cyn, it sounds great!). The next morning we'll take another cab from the hotel to the train station. According to Google, it is only 5.4km, a 12 minute cab ride. I think distances in Avignon are less than I believed initially, but now this seems like a reasonable plan.

Barbara