Train Cost/Price in France - Paris, Arles, etc.

Susan....Yes, and yes. Raileurope is owned (mostly) by SNCF, the French national rail service, and is primarily aimed at selling rail passes to Americans, as well as point to point tickets at a rather large markup. It does not list all the trains that run, and it ignores most discount fares. There's nothing that says you MUST buy your tickets from RailEurope...if you were an American visiting Paris and went to the ticket office, you'd be able to purchases these fares, so why not over the web? And yes, some of the TGV trains do go to Avignon Center...ones that terminate in Avignon. I took one about 18 months ago. Others running to, say, Marseilles or Nice, stop at the new TGV station just outside the town. There is a bus that connects the two, with the journey taking, if I remember, 20-30 minutes. To catch the regional train to Arles, it would be more efficient to take the train directly to Avignon Center if it fits her schedule.

Thanks Norm. This is just the information I needed. I love this site and all the good info it contains.

Norm,

Thanks for responding!!! Having traveled by train through Germany and Italy- the fare for $158 did seem high!

What am I doing wrong though? After I saw your reply I went to this site: http://www.tgv-europe.com/ and I selected my country as Great Brittain. We need to depart on Friday, 04 September from the CDG airport in Paris and arrive in Avignon (to take the train to Arles). Choosing "paris" as my departure and "avignon" as my arrival gave me ticket prices upwards of 100 euro...which is about $150.00. Then I tried to search CDG Airport to Avignon, and it said no train matched my travel.

I never by rail tickets in advance in Europe- I always buy when I'm there, but I always get an idea of schedule, as well as price since I'm travling on a budget. But I read in Rick's book that you should by the TGV tickets in advance- as much as that pains me.....

Help?

Amanda - I think to purchase TGV tickets here in the US you have to go through Rail Europe. I am not positive of this but we have always purchased our tickets on the TGV this way. $158.00 sounds about right. I don't think there is a TGV from CDG to Arles. I think you would have to go to Avignon and then catch a train (local) to Arles from there. (Although the local trains leave from a different station in Avignon so you would have to take a cab to the other station). Perhaps there is a local train (not high speed) from CDG to Arles, I'm not sure.
The TGV is wonderful. Very fast, very quiet. It is definitely worth the money just by virtue of the time saved. The direct train from CDG to Avignon is only about 3-1/2 hours.

To keep it in English, and to avoid going to the RailEurope site, go to the TGV-Europe site and simply set your country of residence/country to pick up tickets as either Canada or Great Britain. Since you will either be able to print out your tickets, or pick them up at a train station ticket office in France, the country setting won't matter (except to keep you from RailEurope!) You'll find non-refundable, non-changeable second-class PREMs tickets from 22 Euro for Paris-Avignon...that's about $31!! Much more flexible "Loisir" tickets are 53 Euro, about $75. Interestingly enough, it's probably cheaper to get a ticket from Paris to Avignon, then just purchase a ticket in Avignon for the commuter train journey to Arles. See if you can get the TGV to Avignon Center station rather than the TGV station, since the connections to Arles will be better.

Norm - You have confused me a little. Are you saying she should say she is from Canada or Britain even though she isn't and that the TGV price from Paris to Avignon would then be over $100.00 less?
Also I did not think that any TGV trains went to the Avignon center station anymore. I thought they all came in to the new (relatively) station outside the city. Have you been able to take a TGV from CDG to Avignon City Center?
Thanks for your help.

Amanda...try using "Roissy" as your departure point....that's the town near where CDG is located. It will come up as "Airport CDG 2 TGV," Terminal 2, which is the location of the TGV station. I see tickets from Paris Gare de Lyon for 65 Euro (in first class!) and from CDG on that date I see 45 Euro for the 11:43 am departure, and 67 Euro for the 12:48 departure. Don't forget, low-priced tickets always go early, and TGV tickets can been booked 90-120 days out. Since September 4th is only about 5 weeks away, you may pay more...but still not as high as RailEurope. If you can't find these, PM me your dates and times and I'll see what I can locate.

Adding to Norm's very helpful notes. Both the 11:43 and 12:48 TGVs go directly from CDG to Avignon TGV (not Avignon Centre), but your ticket includes a bus operated by SNCF that goes directly from Avignon TGV to Arles.