Train schedules and prices and Paris hotels

In June, everything will be gearing up for the Olympics, nothing will be affordable. Expect prices to be 4 times normal rates.

Train schedules are typically available around 4 months prior to travel.

You can estimate the fare by starting a "dummy" booking on the SNCF website for a date sooner, like in February, preferably on the same days of the week as you plan. For example, an evening TGV (Inoui) from Gare de Lyon to Arles on Feb 28, taking four hours, is priced at 45 euros for an adult in second class, and a return trip a week later is the same. There may be variations by season, and there will be by specific train routing, but you should be able to get a reasonable estimate this way.

Schedules and bookings will open up about three months out. The fare will be lowest when it first goes on sale, and will rise as the date gets closer (like airfares). Generally you can change a booking but not get a refund if you don't go. See The Man in Seat 61 for lots of info on train travel in France.

The train will get you to Avignon or Arles much, much faster than driving:

Paris to Avignon by train: from about 3 hr.
Paris to Avignon by car: from 6 hr. 43 min. (per ViaMichelin.com)

Paris to Arles by train: from about 4 hr.
Paris to Arles by car: from 7 hr. 15 min. (per ViaMichelin.com)

To get an idea of the rail fare if tickets are bought really early, you can take a look at costs for the latest week for which tickets can currently be purchased, matching the day of the week to your anticipated travel date.

www.TheTrainline.com is NOW selling train tickets through all of June 2024 and up to July 5, 2024. from Paris Gare de Lyon to Avignon TGV Station. There currently are tickets available for $33 on Ouigo trains. Return tickets from Avignon to Paris during June begin at $22. You can usually buy deeply-discounted TGV train tickets for Paris to Avignon 120 days prior to the train’s departure date at www.sncf-connect.com. This is the website of France’s national rail company which sells “Prem’s” tickets for as little as €19-€39 for tickets that cost closer to €125-€150 when bought just days before the train’s departure. Only a limited number of Prem’s tickets are available and once they sell out the least expensive tickets are gone.
Now, the reason I say the tix can “usually” be bought 120 days in advance is that SNCF will wait for the revised train timetables to be officially released on June 8 before they will sell online train tickets for dates beyond June 8. (Revised train timetables are also issued the second Saturday in December). This is why travelers planning for the summer often cannot find tickers listed for sale for trains departing after June 8. I have seen SNCF release them earlier. When you sign up on its website, SNCF will send you an e-mail notification when the date you want tickets for go on sale.

The Trainline contracts with SNCF to sell its train tickets and The Trainline’s computerized ticketing system is linked to SNCF’s system. The Trainline’s revenues come from advertising and nominal commissions of 3%-5% on train tickets which are already included in the ticket prices you see online.
Two good-value hotel chains to take a look at in Paris are the Ibis and Mercure hotels— both members of the Accor Hotel Group.

Would renting two cars and driving be faster/less expensive

Renting two cars and driving all that way would be both more expensive and take way longer than taking the train. The high-speed trains can go at a much faster rate of speed than any regular passenger vehicle on the road.

As for hotel rates in June: broadcast technicians, journalists, and who knows who all will be arriving in the weeks preceding the Games to begin their preparations.

Hard to give advice on hotels without knowing age of students, etc. I always rent apts but for a large group in a large apt it would be over $2K for a random 3 days in mid June.

A number of rooms in a hotel would be in he $1.5K range but again depends on relationship of the adults and the sex and ages of the students.

Metro fares are scheduled to be extremely high as well.

My BIL used to take students to France years ago and school always had accommodations that catered to students.

How far outside Paris are you willing to go? French trains are fabulous and with certain metro passes you can travel to zone 5 which in some cases can be an hour outside the city and rentals might be but probably not be a little cheaper. Need to offset travel time with convenience of a Paris hotel. Good luck.