Provence by train
Trains are the best way to move around the coast and between the cities of Provence. They are frequent, cheap and — along the Riviera in summer — considerably faster than the road.
They are also almost useless for the interior. If your trip is villages and lavender, read transport in Provence first.
Two kinds of train
- TGV — high speed, from Paris and between the big cities. Reservation compulsory, and the price rises as the train fills, so book early.
- TER — regional. No reservation, fixed fare, buy at the machine on the day. This is what you will actually use inside the region.
The coastal line
The single most useful railway in the south of France runs from Marseille along the sea to the Italian border, calling at:
Marseille → Toulon → Saint-Raphaël → Cannes → Antibes → Nice → Villefranche → Beaulieu → Monaco → Menton → Ventimiglia
Between Nice and Menton trains run every 15–30 minutes, the fare is a couple of euros, and the line hugs the sea the whole way. Do not hire a car for the Riviera: the coast road is one lane in each direction and stationary in July.
Journey times
- Nice – Monaco: 20 min
- Nice – Cannes: 30 min
- Nice – Antibes: 20 min
- Nice – Menton: 35 min
- Marseille – Toulon: 45 min
- Marseille – Aix TGV: 12 min (but see the station note below)
- Marseille – Avignon: 35 min by TGV, 1 h 10 by TER
- Avignon – Arles: 20 min
- Avignon – Nîmes: 30 min
- Avignon – Carpentras: 30 min
- Marseille – Cassis: 25 min
Which station — the trap
Several Provençal cities have two stations with almost the same name, and booking sites do not warn you:
- Avignon Centre is inside the walls. Avignon TGV is 4 km out, linked by a shuttle train taking 5 minutes.
- Aix-en-Provence Centre is in town but served only by the slow line from Marseille. Aix TGV is 15 km away with a bus link.
- Nîmes Centre is a walk from the arena. Nîmes Pont-du-Gard is 10 km out.
- Marseille Saint-Charles is the only one, and it is central — at the top of a monumental staircase.
Stations that catch people out
- Cassis — 3 km from the town and uphill. A shuttle bus meets the trains; walking back at the end of the day is unpleasant.
- Les Arcs–Draguignan — the station for Saint-Tropez, which is still an hour away by bus.
- Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël — separate stations three minutes apart; Saint-Raphaël has far more services including TGV.
Scenic lines
- Train des Pignes — the narrow-gauge line from Nice up the Var valley to Digne, 150 km through gorges and hill villages, in about 3 h 20. A steam train runs part of it in summer. One of the best rail journeys in France and barely known.
- Nice – Ventimiglia — the coastal line itself, sitting on the right-hand side going east
- Marseille – Miramas via the coast — the older line round the Côte Bleue, through tunnels and over viaducts above the sea
Tickets
- TER fares are fixed — no advantage to booking ahead, no penalty for buying on the day.
- TGV fares are dynamic — book weeks out for the cheap seats.
- Zou! passes — the region sells day and multi-journey passes that pay off quickly if you are making two or more trips a day along the coast.
- Validate paper tickets in the yellow machine on the platform before boarding; regional inspectors do check.
- Contactless payment now works on many regional services and on the city networks.
Where the trains do not go
No station serves Gordes, Roussillon, Les Baux, Saint-Rémy, Bonnieux, Ménerbes, Valensole, Moustiers or the Verdon. The nearest railheads are Cavaillon, Carpentras, Arles and Manosque, and from each of them you still need a bus or a car.
See buses in Provence and trains in France.
Photo credits
Photograph from Wikimedia Commons: TGV at Avignon — Jean-Marc Rosier, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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