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Getting from Bordeaux to Avignon - Rail Disruptions

Posted by (Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada) on

We are wanting to travel from Bordeaux to Avignon on Saturday, May 11. We are finishing up a bike trip in Dordogne and heading over to St Remy De Provence for a week.
When I originally mapped out our itinerary, I was not aware of rail disruptions https://www.sncf.com/en/booking-itinerary/traffic-info/gl between Bordeaux and Nimes that are occurring from May 8 to May 12.

It seems we have 2 options:

Rent a car in Bordeaux and drive to Avignon, drop the car at TGV in Avignon and then bus to St Remy (we don’t want a car in St Remy as we are renting bikes to do day trips).

Take the train through Paris. This involves changing stations in Paris from Montparnasse to Gare de Lyon (with 75 min to transfer).

Am I missing another solution? I see pros and cons to each of these plans but perhaps I haven’t thought of something that would make the decision more clear cut.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Posted by
1653 posts

You have a third option: Wait a bit, till the modified schedule for that line is published.

Posted by
10192 posts

The missing elements from the schedule are the slow, clunky Intercités and local trains. Since there are two routes between Bordeaux and Avignon, north around the mountains or south around the mountains, it really comes out the same. You have to change trains either way. In fact, going north can be faster because you are in high-speed trains the whole way.

To make it easier, some of the trains posted for May 11 have their change at the Massy station, which means you don't have to go into Paris and change train stations from Gare de Montparnasse to Gare de Lyon.

Watch to see which brand of train you'll be taking: TGV, INOUI, OUIGO and remember that no food or drink is sold in the OUIGO; you have to pack a picnic. It's the budget option--though if bought at the last minute tickets can be just as expensive as the others. One train I saw from Massy to Avignon was a OUIGO. Even on the others, the train food isn't so great, so you might want to bring your own food onboard no matter what.

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