High speed train from Avignon to Barcelona - anyone taken it?

Have you looked at what The Man in Seat 61 has to say? https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Barcelona.htm#Barcelona-other-france

https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Nice.htm#Nice-Barcelona

Thank you, Nigel, that website is very useful to know about! Unfortunately they do not seem to have the Avignon-Barcelona train listed. Perhaps it is still too new. I was able to chat just now with a travel person on one of the train websites and they confirmed that there is such a high speed train, it's run through Renfe rather than TGV (which I had not known) and that it takes about 4.5 hours. He said it would be faster than flying from Marseilles. But he didn't have any more info because tickets were not being sold yet.

I took the earlier version where you had to change once and it was very nice and VERY easy. So now that you don't have to change I can think of no reason not to take it.

Terrific! Thanks, Carol. And I have discovered that the Europcar office is at Avignon TGV station, so that makes it doubly convenient - i.e. take the train after dropping the rental car off. I was really not looking forward to flying out of Marseilles. I am so glad this option now exists!

Is the scenery really nice?

Barbara,
I hope you are picking up and dropping off the car in France because you'll incur a large drop fee otherwise.

Hi Barbara. The info is available on sncf.com, although tix for next May are not on sale yet. I picked a random date of Dec 20 and I see a direct train leaving Avignon TGV at 8:43, arrive Barcelona four hours later at 12:38; current price for that train is 43 Euro. Enjoy your trip!

Hi Bets, thanks for making that point. The plan is to take the TGV from Paris to Lyon and when we are ready to leave Lyon, then we would rent a car to drive to the Rhone Valley. The car would be returned to Avignon when we are ready to leave France. I did think briefly about driving back to Barcelona, but was deterred by the issue of the extra charges, which I know can be really excessive!

Barbara

Bob, that was really smart! I checked out that website and put in our date, and nothing was coming up. I wasn't sure why, so I utilized their chat service and they told me that it was too early for it to appear on the website. So I didn't pursue it. But thank you for doing so, really helpful! Sounds great.

Barbara

You seem to be pressed for time. You could save some time by not doubling back, that is, travel from Barc to Avignon, from Avignon to Paris, and flying home from Paris. You'd have an extra day to sightsee.

Even if you need to be in Provence at the end of your trip, I think you'd be better off flying home from Marseilles. The trains are pleasant, but why spend hours on one needlessly? You still will have to do the airport thing to get back to Boston anyway.

Hi Adam, thanks for your suggestions. I agree that it is worth comparing the two options closely and doing the math. The two givens for us are that we have to be back in Barcelona on the Monday so my daughter and her husband can work on Tuesday, and that we do the Paris-Lyon-Gigondas route, because we've made the hotel reservations already.

When I add up all the times, the two trips actually are not that far off. The direct high speed train from Avignon takes under 4 hours to get to Barcelona. It leaves Avignon early, and we would arrive at BCN shortly after noon. It is a 45 min drive from Gigondas to Avignon, and we have to be at the station about 45 min ahead. So that's about 5.5h total to get from Avignon to BCN. On the other hand, the drive to Marseille from Gigondas takes an hour and a half, and the airlines want you there at least 2 hr ahead. The Marseilles flight is 1 hr. So that's about 4.5h. Additionally, rental car return could take more time at the Marseilles airport than at the train station in Avignon, and the BCN airport is farther than the train station once we get back to the city. So in the end, the travel times are close enough that it's going to come down to which is the more pleasant, convenient, and relaxed trip, which will certainly be the train. And you're right, we have to fly back to Boston the next day, so not having to fly two days in a row will be a relief given how unpleasant flying is these days!

Sorry Barbara, from your post info I assumed you were flying home to Massachusetts, not Catalonya!

Adam, sorry to have confused you! Since our daughter and SIL moved to Barcelona earlier this year, it's been a home away from home for me and my husband. We all like to spend quality time together through travel. We just came back from a trip to Portugal with them that was structured very much like this France trip will be. So after leaving France, we return first to Barcelona to "drop the kids off" and then we head home to Boston ourselves the next day.

Barbara

Like most fast trains in Europe, the price of this TGV can depend on how soon you reserve it. Tickets tend to go on sale 3-4 months in advance, but sometimes earlier for summer dates. I'd check in late December or January. The number of advance discount tickets is always limited and only a couple of trains per day run direct on this route, so they can sell out early. It's a cooperative project of France and Spain so both countries sell the tickets at https://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/ or www.renfe.com, as do outside agents like RailEurope.com and TrailLine.eu.

Thanks for all the info, Laura! I will keep an eye out for when tickets go on sale. I am glad to hear that you can buy tickets from a number of places, because the renfe website is such a headache!

For the sake of any future reader of this thread who might be thinking of taking this train... we were originally planning on dropping the rental car off and then getting on the train. But the only direct train that goes from Avignon to Barcelona leaves about 8:30 in the morning, and the car rentals (Europcar, anyway) open at 7:30. So it's cutting it really close although potentially doable. We decided to spend the night in Avignon, so we could return the car the day before and sightsee, then take a cab to the train station first thing in the morning. Your mileage may vary.

There wouldn't be any problem with an entire hour to drop off the car and get on the train. The TGV station in Avignon is just not very big.

Thanks, Kim. It sounds more relaxed than many of the larger stations we've taken trains from. We will be taking the train from Paris to Lyon earlier in the trip (no car involved). How early should we get there before departure?

Barbara

Another poster sent me a helpful PM message, giving me a heads up that much of Avignon is closed on Sunday, so there's not much to do and many restaurants are closed. So I wonder if we should slightly revise our plans. Is it worth trying to spend Sunday day there? Or should we just stay in Gigondas, where we are based, for a day hike or something? We can always visit Avignon on another day if Sunday won't work. If we don't sightsee in Avignon on Sunday, we can just drive to Avignon later in the day, return the car, and get to our hotel in time for dinner. (We will find someplace ahead of time that is open on Sundays and reserve it.) We do want to spend the night in Avignon so we can take the TGV train early the next morning.

Has anyone found enough things to do in Avignon on Sunday to make it worthwhile to spend the day there, or should we bag it?

Thanks, Barbara

One problem with visiting Avignon during the week is that we would have the car with us, and it sounds like that would be a hassle?

Visiting Avignon on Sunday would certainly be more convenient, but not if there's nothing to see.

Based on its website, the Palais des Papes is open every day of the year. The town was busy enough when I stayed there (I think it was early June) that I have a hard time thinking it would be totally dead on Sunday. It is not a small town.

What might be an issue is bus service to the neighboring cute town of Villeneuve-les-Avignon. I don't know that the buses run on Sunday. But if you want to walk around Villeneuve, you could stop off there before you drop the car. I can well imagine that there might be few people stirring in Villeneuve on a Sunday.

Thanks, acraven - we are also going to be there in early June when it is likely to be pretty busy. We could check out the village you suggest for an hour or two, maybe have lunch there, before we drop off the car in Avignon. Then we can see the palace in the afternoon, walk around Avignon a bit etc and have dinner in town. Sounds like a good plan, even if some places are closed. We will make sure to have dinner reservations.

Barbara

Is the car rental in Avignon open on a Sunday? I doubt it. Or would you have to drive to the TGV station and take a bus back? Kim has told you that the Avignon TVG station is small, so why not keep the car and drop it when you catch the train? You could stay outside the Avignon walls where it’s cheaper and easier to park.

You're right, Bets, opening hours are definitely a important consideration. I was very surprised to find out from the Europcar website that not only is their rental office open on Sundays at the TGV station in Avignon but it is open all day until 9pm (and even after 11pm, with surcharge). If we return the car before 8am (the train leaves about 8:30) on Monday morning, there is a surcharge for the early hour. So it would actually cost more to do it that way, in addition to cutting it close for the train. I realize it is a small station, and an hour is fine if everything at the rental goes smoothly. But if anything happens and it takes longer than expected to return the rental car, say any kind of dispute or employees showing up late or multiple returns, then we could have to dash for the train, which would be stressful. So I would prefer to return the car the day before, for peace of mind. We will probably take a cab to and from the TGV station since there are 4 of us and we will have our luggage. It is only 5km, <15 min by car, between the hotel in the city center and the station.

Now it makes perfect sense why you are doing it this way. Thanks!