Train travel

We are going to France in July and are trying to decide whether to hire a car for all of the time or whether train travel would be an easier option. As a family(children 17, 15, 13 %26amp; 13) are there any good deals available for tickets/family railcards etc?

Fly into Paris

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It%26#39;s hard to give you any kind of worthwhile answer without some idea of your itinerary. Some places you really need a car, other places a car is the last thing you want.

There are significant advance purchase discounts (non-refundable) for longer trips and also some discounts that will apply automatically if you are booking for a party of six.

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Thanks IrishRvr

Our problem is that we haven%26#39;t decided where we are going other than that we are flying into Beauvais, Paris and are going to the Genesis concert at Parc Des Princes. We still have to decide whether we are going to travel a bit %26amp; come back to Paris to fly home or travel south as far as Marseille to fly home or Grenoble if Ryanair eventually put on flights back from there!! We have been advised not to hire a car in Paris!!

As I%26#39;ve asked in a previous forum any suggestions would be welcome!

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First off you definitely do NOT want a car in Paris. Probably the chepaest way for you to get from BVA to your hotel would be to take the airport coach to Porte Maillot on the western edge of Paris (13€ pax) and then, assuming you are travelling reasonably light, the métro from there to your hotel.

Obviously in July the south of France will be very busy, especially along the coast. What I would be tempted to do would be take the TGV (high speed train) from Paris to Avignon and then pick up a (large!) vehicle and head AWAY from the coast and the most touristy parts of Provence, either NW up into the Cévennes or NE up into the Lubéron and the foothills of the Alps. If the Grenoble flight is an option you could end up there and fly home. Otherwise even if you head away from the coast it would be fairly easy to get back to Marseille.

The six of you could travel one way from Paris to Avignon by train for as little as 150€ with advance purchase tickets. It would probably cost you more than that in fuel and tolls to drive from Paris, tplus the cost of the vehicle. And it would take 7-8 hours to drive whereas the train would take you 2.5-3 hours.

I hope this helps your thinking. Ask away if you have any more questions.

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