We will be in Avignon October 15 - 21 and plan to visit smaller cities by train. Is it necessary to reserve these trips ahead of time, or can we but tickets the day of the trip?
We will be on five other trains before Avignon. Is buying a rail pass worthwhile?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33820 posts
which 5 other trains? over or under 26? how many is "we"?
Posted by
OP
Tempe, Arizona
27 posts
Two, my wife and me. Way over 26. Trains: Paris to Tours; Tours to Bordeaux; Bordeaux to Carcassonne; Carcassonne to Nice; Nice to Avignon; Avignon to Paris. Six trips plus the Avignon trips. Thanks
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Also, which other cities/towns in Provence do you want to visit? Have you checked that they actually do have railway stations? Even a place the size of Brignoles no longer has a passenger rail service.
If you are planning to travel by TER local services, you do not need an advance reservation and will not get any discount for advanced booking. If the trains you want to take are TGV or Corail, you will get a discount for advanced booking and you will have to reserve a seat on a specific train even booking on the day.
It is very rare for TGV or Corail services to become so heavily booked that you cannot get a normal rail ticket on the day. However, one disadvantage of using rail passes in France is that there are only a limited number of reservable tickets for pass holders on each long-distance train, and it is not unknown for them to sell out and for pass holders to have to buy a full-price ticket.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The France Pass is a good value to cover those six longer trips for $384 per person in 1st class, as long as you're prepared to reserve ahead for the faster trains; extra days cost about $30 per person per day. If you already have hotel reservations, then I would make TGV seat reservations at the same time that you buy the pass online, generally available from three months in advance of travel dates.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33820 posts
If you are sure enough of things to make your reservations early with a pass, then you may try a nice really cheap TGV fare with PREMS or an idTGV. Done right they can be seriously cheap.
It is only a 20 minute TER trip from Tours to the front door of Chenonceau by the way, and one TER stop Tours St Pierre des Corps to Amboise.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33820 posts
You will need to do the arithmetic, and decide if the extra cost, especially when adding in the extra costs for the high speed mandatory passholder reservations (included in non-passholder prices) is worth it for you to balance some additional convenience - remembering that sometimes you may not be able to get passholder reservations on the trains you want.