I've been trying to find the best way to get from Loire Valley (Amboise) to Provence (Arles), either by Train or Charter Airlines.
Flight-wise, RyanAir flies from Tours to Marseills, however not on the day we are looking.
No luck with Easyjet or MyAir, either.
Alternatively, a train ride is about 7 hours. Does that sound right?
If that's the case, would it be better to take the night train so that we can make the most of the day time hours?
Tim will be along shortly to give you a definitive answer, but 7 hours sounds right and I'd be surprised if you could find a night train.
The reason is that France's rail system operates on a hub-and-spoke system centered on Paris. I'm guessing you're best bet is to go from Amboise to Paris and then TGV to Avignon and from there to Arles. But Tim will know for sure.
That's right. It would be going back to Paris.
It appears from my research that there is only 2 trains ~6AM that go from Amboise to Arles (via Paris).
Do you think it would be more worthwhile to head back from Amboise to Paris, take a low cost Charter Airline from Paris to Marseille, then make our way to Arles?
Seems like a lot of work, although surprisingly the Charter Airlines seem to be cheaper than the train.
An aside question, generally speaking, is it always cheaper to book ad hoc at the train station OR a few days prior OR online before we arrive in Europe?
It looks to me that most of the trips with the best times (6-1/2 hours or less) are not direct trains, but involve a change of station in Paris. So you are not limited to two trains a day.
If you are seriously weighing the airport option, with all the schlepping of bags that entails, such a change in Paris is not a big deal. You could even plan to have lunch there and catch a later train.
The other gambit, assuming you are planning to visit Paris on your trip (probably before the Loire) is to go to the Loire first. When you are done there, it's a short trip to Paris, and after that the trip to Arles is more manageable.
We did it in reverse a couple of weeks ago.
We took the TGV from Paris to Arles, piked up a rental car and toured Provence, and then drove the rental car 8 hours to the Loire, then Normandy, then back to Paris for our return flight.
The rental car was invaluble for our explorations, and the drive from Arles to the LOire was just absolutely beautiful.
Those are all great suggestions, thank you.
If I look at the plane option, is it convenient to get from Amboise directly to Paris Beauvais airport as that seems to be where RyanAir flight out of.
Wondering if I need to go to Paris first, then make my way to Paris Beauvais (which seems to be northwest of Paris).
A couple years ago, we flew into Paris and rented a car. We drove through the Loire, Dordogne, and Provence over 10 days. Then we returned the car in Avignon and took the super fast train back to Paris for a three day stay. We loved every minute of it and found the train very convenient.
You've gotten some good advice.
The best train timetable site is www.bahn.de. Click on the flag drop-down menu for English. After you get summary timetables for Amboise-Arles, click on the arrow to the left of each departure time to see the connecting points.
For train travel in France, booking well in advance (up to 3 months allowed) on www.tgv-europe.com will get you the best fares. (Exception: cheap regional trains for which the fare is always the same.) To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as both your country of residence and the country in which you will retrieve your tickets. If you get a Prem's fare, you print the tickets yourself. For any other fare you can pick up your tickets at any SNCF station or boutique (ticket shop) in France, even though you originally chose Great Britain.
No, it is not convenient to get to Beauvais. You have to take a shuttle bus from central Paris and you must leave Paris three hours before your flight's scheduled departure time. It will be much faster to take the train from Paris to Arles than to take the bus to Beauvais, fly to Marseille, and take the train to Arles.
Just as a matter of clarification, Ryanair and other airlines like it are budget airlines, not charter airlines.
