Paris to Avignon by train

Final Destination: Mirimas
All trains also call at: Orange, Montellimar and Arles.

These are the direct trains between Paris and Avignon Centre stations.

These trains are (much) slower than the trains to Avignon TGV station because they leave the Paris to Marseille line north of Valence; so spend around an hour on the conventional tracks.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey, but rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding - more info is available on our using rail passes in France guide.

To find these direct trains to Avignon Centre more easily when booking tickets, select 'Avignon Centre' as the 'To' station - and use the options to filter by direct trains on the respective website.

However, if your final destination in Avignon town centre, it’s often worthwhile comparing journey and ticket options to both Avignon TGV station AND Avignon Centre station (and comparing these direct journeys to Avignon Centre with the alternative journeys via Avignon TGV.

The trains to Avignon TGV TEND to be cheaper than these direct trains to Avignon Centre station.
To make the comparison use Avignon as the generic destination and don't tick the direct train options.

Most of the options you will then see  for Paris to Avignon Centre journeys will involve taking a TGV from Paris to Avignon TGV stationand connecting there into a TER train on to Avignon Centre.

If the TER train is departing from Avignon TGV within 30 mins of the arrival of the train from Paris, then book the complete Paris to Avignon Centre journey (via Avignon TGV) online.
However, if the waiting time is more than 30 mins, making the journey to Avignon town centre by bus may be faster.

So in these instances (a connecting time of more than 30 mins) book the Paris to Avignon TGV journey online - then on arrival at Avignon TGV station, visit its Accueil/Information desk and enquire whether the train or bus will be the best option for reaching the city centre.
If the train is the best option, then book a ticket for the train journey to Avignon Centre on arrival at Avignon TGV.

Note that these trains depart from the Gare De Lyon in Paris.

Final Destination: Marseille, Nice, Toulon or Menton

Arriving in Avignon:

These are the TGV InOui trains to Avignon TGV station,

Avignon TGV station is 6km from the city centre.
It is now linked to Avignon Centre station by up to 2 x TER trains per hour, but if you have to wait more than 30 mins for one of these trains, it's worth checking out the times of the buses.

If you do subsequently opt to take the train between Avignon TGV and Avignon Centre stations, you will need to purchase a ticket for it on arrival at Avignon TGV.
Or there are multiple other booking options - see the 'Ticket Information' below.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 4 months ahead of the travel date - but bookings can open sooner when SNCF is running a promotion.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey, but rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding -more info is available on our guide to using rail passes in France.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.

Expect to pay more for this journey between the beginning of June and mid-September - particularly if you will be travelling on a Friday or Saturday.

Avignon has two stations and this matters when booking tickets:

(1) Avignon TGV, which is on the edge of the city and served by THESE trains

(2) Avignon Centre, which lives up to its name as it is adjacent to the city centre - and served by less frequent direct trains from Paris.

Travelling to Avignon TGV station:

If you know that Avignon TGV is your optimum final destination, then when looking for tickets on Oui.SNCF select it as a specific station and tick the 'direct trains' box; OR on Trainline tick the 'fastest journeys' box.

This will filter out the options to Avignon Centre making these trains to Avignon TGV easier to find.

Travelling to Avignon city centre:

If your final destination is in Avignon city centre, it’s worthwhile COMPARING journey and ticket options to BOTH Avignon TGV and Avignon Centre stations.

Select Avignon Centre as the 'To' station on Oui.SNCF (and DON'T tick the direct trains option on any booking service).

A few of the options you will then see will be for the direct TGVs between Paris and Avignon Centre.

However, most of the options you will see for Paris to Avignon Centre journeys, will involve taking a TGV from Paris to Avignon TGV station; and connecting there into a TER train on to Avignon Centre.
And these journeys with a change of train at Avignon TGV  tend to be cheaper than the direct trains to Avignon Centre.

IF the TER train is departing from Avignon TGV within 30 mins of the arrival of the train from Paris, then book this end-to-end journey from Paris to Avignon Centre station via Avignon TGV station online.

However, IF the waiting time between trains at Avignon TGV station is more than 30 mins, making the journey to Avignon town centre by bus may be faster.

So in those instances (a connecting time of more than 30 mins) book the Paris to Avignon TGV journey online; and then on arrival at Avignon station visit its Accueil/Information desk and enquire whether the train or bus, will be the best option for reaching the city centre.
Then if need be book tickets for the train on to Avignon Centre on arrival at Avignon TGV station.

Final Destination: Marseille

When making a train journey from central Paris to Avignion TGV station, you now have a choice of travelling by standard TGV InOui trains or by these Ougio trains.

So you can now opt to save money, but have a much more basic on board experience, and travel on a Ouigo.

If you do opt to travel from Paris to Avignon by these Ouigo trains, you should aim to be at the Gare De Lyon, 30 mins before the train is due to depart.

And that's because you need to pass through 'reception' before boarding a Ouigo train - staff need to verify that all passengers are abiding by the 'rules' of travelling on a Ouigo train, no additional un-booked luggage, no bikes etc.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead* of the travel date, usually

*Tickets for the alternative service of TGV InOui trains are usually made available 4 months ahead, so if you look up this journey more than 4 months ahead on Oui.SNCF, you may only see these Ouigo services, but they are not the only option on this route.

As explained on our guide to booking French train tickets, how tickets can be booked and used for a journey by a Ouigo train, differs from booking tickets on a TGV (InOui) service.

What is particularly worth being aware of when booking tickets for journeys by Ouigo train services is:

(1) 1st class/Premiere tickets are not available.

(2) Reservations are included when booking, as they are on TGV InOui trains, but you can opt to pay a surcharge to select a specific seat (more info is available on the Ouigo 'Train Guide').

(3) You cannot book or collect tickets for Ouigo trains at stations.

(4) Additional fees apply if you want access to a power socket, or to travel with additional luggage; click the Ouigo 'Train Guide' to access more info on the luggage allowances on Ouigo trains; they're more restrictive than on TGV InOui trains.

Though these factors, and more, are why you can make big savings by opting to travel by these Ouigo trains and not on the standard TGV InOui trains.

Eurail and InterRail Pass Users:

Rail passes cannot be used on Ouigo trains, but if you will be travelling with a 2nd class pass, our guide to using rail passes in France, explains why taking a Ouigo train can be worth considering.