Hello, We are 4 adults traveling from Paris on June 27, 2013 and have to be in Barcelona by July 3,2013. We are celebrating our anniversaries. What to do with the 6 days. We know we want to see Aix. Looking for relaxing time. Do we spend time in Avignon or Marseille. Do not have car. Can we travel by TER. Prefer not to book in advance unless we have to. Other question, would car rental be more affordable than train. Do not know how we are getting to Barcelona. We would appreciate the advise of travelers familiar with these areas.Thank you so much.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Provence is a good choice. You are going in high season so make reservations soon. You've probably missed the best train fares for the high-speed routes. In Provence you can see a good deal by train but you will miss more without a car in the time you have. What exactly do you want to do in Aix? Charming town but kind of far from things. I would rent a car in Provence and pick a base in a small town (not Avignon or Marseilles) that is close to the things I want to see. Either some place in the Rhone valley or the Luberon. Drive to Perpignan on July 1 or 2, drop off the car, and take the local train to Coulliore, lovely small Franch Catalan town on the sea. Then proceed to Barcelona by train July 3. Note there would be a big drop-off fee for renting a car in France and returning in it Spain. Without a car, stay in a smaller city and visit other cities.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
A rental car might be nice but there is a very high-speed TGV run between both Paris and Marsaille and Paris and Avignon. For the Paris/Avignon TGV run, you end up at the Avignon TGV train station. This is not the Gare de Avignon Centre which is in the center of Avignon. A short 15-minute bus ride takes care of that. For visiting Provence, you really do need a rental car. Some of the most beautiful towns in France are located in Provence. It's very difficult to see these towns without a rental car. To get to Barcelona, you simply go into the Avignon Centre train station and buy a ticket to Barcelona. Interestingly, you can buy these tickets online in advance as well but you have indicated that you prefer not to do this. The routing of the train run is Avignon-Centre >Nimes on a regional train. At Nimes you transfer to a TGV for the ride to Figueres-Vilafant where you will change to a Spanish Renfe or AVE train for the ride into Barcelona Sants train station. Journey time is 5hrs 10min. Full fare is about 78Euro per person 2nd class one-way. Here's a link to a picture of the run information. We've done the reverse. Quite easy. http://gyazo.com/e09f76adb8f059152741166b67d5fb53