*The European WP Meet in Central Southern France!*

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Those of you who will be flying into Avignon, can also consider Marseilles Provence Airport.
Marseilles Provence Airport is far larger than Avignon Airport, so it offers a wider selection of flights from/to various destinations.

From Marseilles Provence Airport, you can take a bus to Aix-TGV Rail Station - the journey takes about 30 minutes and costs about 8 Euros. Then, from Aix-TGV Rail Station, you can take a TGV train to Avignon - the journey takes about 15 minutes and costs about 20 Euros.
(Alternativley, instead of travelling via Aix-TGV Rail Station, you can travel via Marseille-Saint-Charles Rail Station).

Great
I will book Etap later today

As KenG says there isn't much choice for Avignon airport. The one cheap airline which goes direct to Avignon from the UK is Flybe. I looked at their website and there are the following flights around that weekend:

Going:
Thurs. 28 May:
Dep. Southampton 10.00 arr. Avignon. 13.00 ... £32.80
Wed. 27 May:
Exeter Dep. 10.05 arr. Avignon 13.15 ... £23.45

Coming back:
Tues. 2 June:
Dep. Avignon 13.25 arr. Southampton 14.30 ... £32.80
Wed. 3 June:
Dep. Avignon 13.40 arr. Exeter 14.55 ... £23.45

So anyone coming with Flybe would have to stay a couple of extra days. And visit Arles aswell, or get more of a sun tan, or something grisly like that!

However there is also Nimes Airport. It is only 30 - 55 minutes away from Avignon by train, ( depending on the service ), 8€ - 10€/single-fare depending on time of day.

A shuttle bus to and from Nimes station meets/serves every plane, costs 5€, and takes about 25 - 30 minutes. And Ryanair flies to Nimes with fairly frequent services:

Going:
Friday 29 May:
Dep. Luton 11.20 arr. Nimes 14.10 ... £24.82
Dep. Liverpool 9.00 arr. Nimes 12.00 ... £44.90

Coming back:
Monday 1 June:
Dep. Nimes 14.35 arr. Luton 15.30 ... £67.86
Dep. Nimes ... arr. Liverpool ... I forgot to note the times, but early afternoon ... £52.86

Marseille is also a good idea, like KenG says, and isn't any more expensive I just discovered. According to the SNCF/french railways the fare is 15.10 € from MP airport to Avignon.

PS. Flightmappers has a useful page on the subject of transport to Avignon, at:

http://www.flightmapping.com/Europe/France/Avignon/
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Last edited by ouinon on 16 Feb 2009, 9:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

gosh! I cant believe how cheap those flights are, my eco conscience is being tested! and southampton is so close to me.

I know; it's really tempting to go for a plane despite all the tonnes of global warming it supposedly provokes.

I was looking at train prices, and even the absolutely best deals on a combination of Eurostar and another train from Paris to Avignon work out at around €180 return.

If other people were coming from the UK, ( I think you mentioned two people who might be interested ), then sharing car-costs, ( and the driving if they can drive ), with ManErg would be better/more eco-friendly.

But it's a long journey. If/when I come to the UK for the London meet I would probably stop-off somewhere in northern France before getting on the ferry the next day. Eurolines take over 12 hours to do it.

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Last edited by ouinon on 16 Feb 2009, 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

What's the schedule?

Do you mean what we'll be doing over the weekend?

We hadn't got any further than imagining leisurely breakfasts on café terraces, picnicking in the grounds of the Palais du Papes, ( superb views ), and if possible meeting Daniel Tammet ( a dream ), but the weekend will probably take off on Friday evening 29th May with a meal, and will finish sometime on Monday 1st June, perhaps with lunch.

Do you have some ideas about things you would like to do? There are several/many very beautiful buildings, a couple of good galleries, and medieval/renaissance chapels, monasteries, etc, and at least two museums, aswell as lots of little old streets to wander round, the river and famous Pont d'Avignon, and people to watch! The old town is still enclosed by the medieval walls too.
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Last edited by ouinon on 16 Feb 2009, 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

You are right - there is a train station in MP airport itself, and the fare to Avignon is 15.10 €. But the timetable confuses me: http://www.mp.aeroport.fr/img/commun/ac ... esvamp.pdf
It seems like most trains from MP airport terminate at Rognac, then continue from Miramas onwards. How are passengers supposed to get from Rognac to Miramas?

It is probably a shuttle bus connection. A lot of french "railways" have them. I will go check though.

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Yes, it's an "autocar"/bus, but the odd thing is that since last looking the fare has gone up to the one you quoted, ( 21.10 € ). Very strange. So Marseille may in fact be a more expensive flight connection then Nimes.

Edit: It's because I looked at the return price the first time. There is a reduction if buy a return rather than two singles:

15.10 € each way when buy it as a return, ( 30.20 € total ), or 21.10 € each way if buy it as a single, ( 42.20 € in total ).

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Is the avignon airport close to the town, do you know the best way (bus/train/ taxi) to get from it to the hotel?

Third attempt to post today - who broke the internet???

Those flights from Southampton are so much cheaper than car or rail. Although I can't actually find any at the price you have here. The best I could find (after much frustrating page stalls) is 79 gbp return + 54 gbp 'taxes' . The Flybe site is barely functioning for me at the moment, so I gave up on it

That is still cheaper than driving and rail, where I found a Eurostar estimate (a later weekend) of around 350gbp for the full trip. As for emissions, I'll plant a tree before I go - or maybe that 54gbp tax goes towards tree planting?

Apparently the airport is about 6km from the town. I (recklessly) assume transport into the town from here should be straightforward. I shall prepare a phrase in French in advance to ask! Unfortunately my little French has been swamped by more recent Spanish and merged into a language called 'Sprench'. e.g . "donde est el autobus à avignon"

I'd like to visit "la pont D'Avignon" as featured in the infamous song hammered into my head by cruel teachers when I was but a child. Ever since, I've wondered just what was so special about this bridge that we should be made to suffer so!

I have just found out that there is no shuttle service, or any bus-service, from the airport, ( nor a train ). The only option is a taxi, which costs between 18 - 22€. The airport is about 7 km from the centre, and the journey by taxi takes about 15 minutes.

They advise people to either hire a car at the airport, ( that is if you were planning on renting one ), or try and share a taxi with someone else arriving on the same flight. It is a tiny airport so that might not be too difficult.

The weird thing is that if you don't manage to share, ( and split the cost ), it is as a result actually less expensive to fly to Avignon via Marseille or Nimes, ( flight prices being equal ) than direct to Avignon.



I took them directly from the Flybe site after hunting around for quite a while finding out which towns they fly from. But perhaps I missed out an essential part of the calculation. Taxes for instance. If so very sorry.


I suspect that sharing a taxi could be done by waving suggestively at a taxi when standing next to someone also waiting for one! Or hold up a piece of cardboard on which you have written "J'aimerais partager un taxi pour la centre".


If you don't already know I won't tell you. It will be a surprise, though probably not a particularly exciting one.

Would sharing a car really be more expensive than a flight? It's true it would probably be very exhausting over that distance. I definitely wouldn't like to do it in one stretch. In fact I would refuse to!
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Last edited by ouinon on 16 Feb 2009, 12:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Yes, I did miss out taxes, because I just looked at "the prices"!

Total for a return Exeter-Avignon ( Wednesday to wednesday though ) with Flybe including taxes and charges, ( but excl. "bags" and insurance ), is £109.99.

At least Ryanair goes, and comes back, on the right dates, but only from Luton or Liverpool, ( to Nimes, I haven't looked at Marseille ).

The price for a return, ( Luton - Nimes ) , incl. taxes and charges, is £92.68.

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I found a really cheap Ryanair flight from Luton, ( London ) to Nimes for a total of £77.86 return, including taxes and charges, leaving Luton on Thursday the 28th May.

It obviously means you would have to pay for another hotel night, but I seem to remember you saying, ManErg, that you thought of coming on the Thursday anyway, and perhaps you could too, Lotusblossom, if you can't find another, cheaper flight/option.

Going:
Thursday 28 May.
Dep. Luton 11.20 arr. Nimes 14.20

Coming back:
Monday 1 June.
Dep. Nimes 14.35 arr. Luton 15.30

Total £77.86

I looked at Ryanair flights from Bournemouth, Birmingham, London Stansted, and Gatwick, to Marseilles too, but the flights are all too late arriving in the evenings both ends, or don't have anything on any reasonable date.

I really think that this could be the best one. Getting from Nimes airport to Avignon would only cost you a total of 30€ return, ( on the shuttle and short train journey ). And you would arrive at Avignon station, close to the hotel, ( unless it is the TGV station you arrive at from Nimes, but for that there is a shuttle service at nominal price ).

I hope this one is useful/possible!
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Last edited by ouinon on 16 Feb 2009, 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have booked my stay at the Etap Hotel Avignon Centre as well.
Due to scarcity of flights from Tel Aviv, I plan to stay at the hotel from Wednesday (27th of May) night. (until Monday morning).
Whoever arrives at the hotel when I'm already there is welcome to call/text me.
(will PM my mobile number to whoever asks for it).