Travel from Avignon to Lucca, Italy on Sat Sept 12, 2009

You've got a tough one on the train. It's 12.0hrs-15.0hrs depending on which run you select. The two main differences are the type of train you are on and the time spent in train stations waiting for the next train. You could rent a car and get there a lot faster but beware of the stiff drop-off charges in a different country. One suggestion is to set up a rental car in Avignon with a drop-off in Nice. (2.5hrs drive time). Then, take a short train ride from Nice-Ville train station to Ventimiglia just across the border in Italy (very cheap). Then, rent a car there with a drop off in Lucca or nearby Pisa. This is a 3.5hr drive plus time for gas, food, etc. Just thinking out loud.

You might look into a flight from Nice to somewhere in Italy and then rent a car. You can get to Nice easily on the train from Avignon. I haven't looked into the flights from nice so I am just throwing this out as a possibiiity!

See the timetables at www.bahn.de. Click on the flag drop-down menu for English. After you get summary timetables for Avignon-Lucca, click on the arrow to the left of each departure time to see the connecting points.

It looks to me like you only have two reasonable train choices. (1) You can leave Avignon at 04:23, make five connections, and arrive in Lucca at 16:27. (2) You can leave Avignon at 16:20 on Friday and go to Geneva where you would connect with a night train to Bologna, and then go on to Prato and Lucca, arriving at 08:30.

You also could fly Marseille-Lyon-Florence on Air France, departing at 06:35 and arriving at 10:35. Or you could fly Marseille-Brussels-Florence on Brussels Airlines, departing at 06:25 and arriving at 10:45. However, the bahn.de timetables don't show Avignon-Marseille trains leaving early enough for you to catch either of those flights. You probably would need to spend the night in Marseille.

Unfortunately, Larry's is probably the best suggestion - renting a car and dropping before the Italian border and then renting another car in Ventimiglia. Dropping a car in another country is expensive.

I think you have a tough schedule if you need to be in Lucca by 5 pm.

Ventimiglia is not very big. It may not be possible to rent a car there. You may need to take the train from Nice to Genova and pick up a car there.

According to viamichelin.com, it's about a two-hour drive from Genova to Lucca. (To be safe, allow up to three hours.) If you rent a car and drive to Nice in time to catch the direct train to Genova that departs at 10:02 and arrives at 13:06, you'll have plenty of time to drive to Lucca.

Thanks everyone. What about a train from Avignon to just across the border in Italy? Then rent a car in Italy to Lucca?
So anyone know how long it takes by train from Avignon to ????what border Italian city. Couldn't find one on the map or train route. Than how long in driving time from that "mysterious" Italian/French border city to Lucca?
Any guess on cost for 2 people?
Thanks,
Diane

Hi,
Just saw some responses. So cost and time from train from Avignon to Genoa? Then car rental there might work. What is driving time from Genoa to Lucca?
Making progress!
Diane

For driving time from Genova to Lucca see my previous post.

Ignore what I said in my first post about being able to take the train all the way and arrive in Lucca at 16:27. That would work on weekdays but not Saturdays. (You would arrive late because the schedule from Genova to Lucca is different on Saturdays.) However, you'll still need to leave Avignon at 04:23 in order to get to Genova at 13:06.

Again, see the timetables at bahn.de and be sure to enter 12 September for your departure date.

I have been grappling with this same travel dilemma for next spring -- getting from Lucca to Avignon on a Saturday. The other option I found was taking the TGV to Paris, then an Easyjet flight from Orly to Pisa (they just started flying that route). Pisa is just a half hour from Lucca. I know it sounds crazy, but it was the quickest routing I could find. Not sure what time the flight is to Pisa...our Pisa-Orly flight is early in the morning. Let me know if you find a good alternative.

Your best bet, if you can do it, might be to go from Avignon to Nice on Friday and from there to Lucca on Saturday.