We'll be in Aix mid-September following the RS' Eastern France Tour and will then head to Nimes for 2 nights.
I just realized today that the TGV station outside of Aix has a train that goes to Nimes, with a transfer in either Marseille or Avignon. So we'll reserve seats sometime this week. We already purchased the Senior Advantage Card.
Questions:
We'll take the bus from Aix to the TGV station. Do the buses run frequently and do we need to reserve ahead of time? Where can I find the bus schedule?
Which TGV station is more "transfer-friendly;" the one in Marseille or in Avignon?
Thanks for any info you can give me.
Posted by
283 posts
I just spent the month of March 2024 in Provence. My apartment in Aix was about 1 block from the train station and 2 from the bus station. I went to Nimes from Avignon, not Aix.
My procedure was to utilize rome2rio.com, check it out and then verify by going directly to the bus and/or train site. You might want to do that as well. It appears more convenient to take the bus from Aix to Avignon and then get the Avignon Centre train. Bus station is across the street from the train station. Appears there is an 18 minute connection so you can't dawdle. I would check for your exact date and time. Not sure why you feel you need to reserve tickets except from Avignon to Nimes but you can do that the day before so you have it and not worry about buying it from the ticket machine as time is critical.
Posted by
OP
Southern Oregon
682 posts
Janet,
Rome2Rio recommended the route I posted above. That's when I found out that the TGV went to Nimes. And I assume that reservations are recommended for traveling via TGV.
I appreciate your suggestion to take the bus to Avignon and then the train to Nimes. Do you know where I can find the bus schedule to Avignon?
Posted by
Lake District, England
7843 posts
Rome 2 Rio always tells you the operator in the details - in this case Zou! Lignes Express Régionales, their route 63 for Aix to Avignon.
So you go to their website and you find this- https://storage.googleapis.com/is-wp-22-prod/uploads-prod/2024/04/ZOULER_Ligne63_AVIGNON_AIX_2024.pdf
From Avignon to Nimes the trains are TER trains
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
Flixbus goes Aix to Nîmes directly. You just have to get to and from the bus stops. I'd take a taxi to the bus stops.
There are no TGV trains between Aix and Nîmes or Avignon and Nîmes. The distance is too short; you have to travel north to Valence to find a TGV that stops in Nîmes.
Of the trains that do go between Aix and Nîmes, some of the connections between the two cities put you on TER trains with fixed prices, no reserved seats and no senior card discount. Other connections put you on an Intercités train with a tiny discount and reserved seats. Read all the itineraries on SNCF Connect carefully.
Do not take a train to Nîmes Pont du Gard. It leaves you out in the countryside and then you have to take a bus into Nîmes. Be sure your train goes to Nîmes Centre.
Unless you are traveling around France a lot before your tour, you won't recover the cost of the card. Is it refundable?
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
If "bus the whole way" does not appeal, the second best option IMO is to take the train or bus from Aix downtown (Ville) to Marseille Saint Charles, and the train to Nîmes. You're looking at 2.5 hours; I suspect the bus is faster.
Posted by
OP
Southern Oregon
682 posts
Thank you to the following 3 from Europe who gave me additional information traveling from Aix to Nimes:
isn31c: Thanks for the info on the bus company, as well as the train (TER) from Avignon to Nimes. I incorrectly assumed that a train leaving from TGV Aix was a TGV train.
Bets: I looked at the route for the Flixbus and both stations/stops would require a taxi. However the Flixbus would be the shortest. I'm kind of leaning on choosing the Flixbus because I think it would be the simplest. We used it last year going from Ljubljana to Trieste.
(Senior advantage-we already purchased the cards because we have other TGV reservations)
Balso: Thanks also for your suggestion, but I think going to Nimes via Marseille would be my third choice.
Now that I know the train on that route is not the TGV, reservations now are not necessary so I don't have to decide this week.
Posted by
OP
Southern Oregon
682 posts
I/we made a decision. We chose the Flixbus because it was the shortest time-wise. We booked our tickets last night.
Bets, we'll also follow your suggestion of taking the taxi to the Flixbus stop, rather than depend on the bus.
After doing a "search" on the Forum, we chose to reserve our seats, but another "search" said to pay in euros and not dollars. We paid in dollars, because that's what showed up. I didn't know how to pay in euros.
I really appreciate the advice I got here.
Thanks!
Posted by
Lake District, England
7843 posts
What probably happened is that the flixbus site defaulted for you to the international one. If you had switched to the French site at top right of the home page on a PC (maybe different position on mobile) it would have given a Euro Cost.
There is an English (UK) site and an English (North America) site, also a French (France) site and a French (Canada) site!!
If I choose the Hungarian site to book Budapest or Bucharest to Manchester (change at Paris and London) it offers me a price in HUF, on the UK site in £.