I´m in Pamplona and want to head back into France - Avignon to be specific. Please tell me the least expensive, most efficient way to do this. I´m having a very difficult time getting train information. I don´t mind taking a bus to Irun but I´d prefer to go straight to Avignon from Irun without having to make a million changes or having to change between train to bus. Thanks for your help!!
Posted by
San Francisco, California, USA
446 posts
It's a long train trip to Avignon from Pamplona, and not very convenient. Most schedules seem to have four or more changes of train.
The least change of trains would be to take a train from Pamplona to Barcelona. There is a direct train at 10:03 arriving Barcelona at 13:59. Then, you could take a train leaving at 15:16, arriving Avignon at midnight. This would have three changes of train. Better would be to stay in Barcelona overnight and take a morning train to Avignon. There is one at 8:00, arriving 15:58, with only one change.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
It's relatively easy to get to San Sebastian by bus or train....journey takes about an hour or so.
From San Sebastian, Alsa has two overnight buses that make the run. One leaves at midnight and arrives in Avignon at 1015 am (5 stops along the way.) The other leaves at 1 am and arrives at 1045 am....a little faster, but it makes 10 stops on the journey. Fare is 53 Euro. Click here to see the Alsa website and check the latest info.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
The best train timetable site is www.bahn.de. Click on the drop-down flag menu for English. After you get summary timetables for Pamplona-Avignon, click on the arrow to the left of each departure time to see the connecting points.
It looks to me like your best route is Pamplona-Vitoria/Gasteiz-Hendaye-Bordeaux-Marseille-Avignon Centre, leaving Pamplona at 13:10 and arriving at Avignon Centre the next morning at 07:34. The Bordeaux-Marseille leg is a night train.
Check www.eurolines.com. You might be able to take a bus all the way from Bilbao to Avignon. That would be a lot cheaper than a series of trains.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32349 posts
jessica,
The shortest route I could find between Pamplona and Avignon was a train departing at 06:45, arriving Avignon TGV at 21:02 (time 14H:17M, 4 changes in Tudela de Navarra, Zaragoza Delicias, Barcelona Sants & Cerbere, reservations compulsory for some portions).
If you have a "generous budget", another method would be to travel by train to Biarritz (shortest time 3H:12M, 2 changes), Fly to Geneva via Baboo (flight time 1.5H, lowest price I could find was €178, but this will vary depend on which flight is selected) and then by train to Avignon (shortest time 2H:59M, NO changes). Total travel time in that case about 7H:41M (not including travel time to and from airports and of course check-in, security and so on). This method would be considerably more expensive, but shorter travel time.
Good luck!