Anyone travelled on the TGV to the South of France?
 

My elderly parents want to go to the South of France this year in early December. (departing from North East Scotland)
Flying from Aberdeen would be most convenient, but my mum is quite frail and isnt too keen on flying due to her mobility problems making it hard to get on and off the plane etc.
She would probably be entitled to special help at the airports, but as usual my parents "dont want to cause a fuss"

I thought about the TGV train as an alternative, whats the deal? if I got them to London, could they get the Channel Tunnel train to Paris, then onto a train to the south? This obviously involve changing trains in Paris, so how easy would this be for my non French-speaking parents?

Im not 100% on their destination, probably Montpelier (sp?) area.


Whats the train like? I assume it isnt as chronically cramped and generally rubbish as the average British train, but its still going to involve sitting for a long period. If it were me, I would rather spend a couple of hours on a plane than a couple of days on trains.

Any other thoughts?

I did this for Businees, caught Eurostar to Gard De Nord is it, then a very scary taxi ride across Paris(mistakenly told him I was in a hurry) to Gard De Lyon is it, then a TGV to the south of France to Marseille. TGV was more spacious than trains in Britain. Took most of the day, although I believe the TGVs couldnt run full speed when I went, but can now. I dont speak a word of French and managed it, although me and the ticket inspector had an interesting conversation about where my booked seats where. I spoke English, he spoke French. It would also appear that some French people wont speak English even if they can.

You can also arrange a transfer in Lille which is a lot easier than Paris, but even in Business the comfort levels aren't great. I find the seats quite hard.

It is probably easier for people with mobility problems to fly, they would actually cause more fuss on the Eurostar and TGV trains.

I tried to formate on that once in a light aircraft but it couldn't keep up!


Les :D

last summer i went on eurostar from london waterloo to avignon - a direct service. it was quite quick (6 hrs) and comfortable, although not that cheap at £250 return.

Absolute nightmare getting across Paris either by taxi or by metro.

Imagine you are trying to cross the centre of London with baggage - not something I would fancy.

They will also run the risk of either being fleeced by a non-licenced cab or getting pickpocketed on the metro (This happened to the people behind us in the departure lounge of CDG last weekend, the guy had 300 euros lifted from him on the metro in the space of the doors opening and closing.). Oh yeah - and I think it is still legal to carry knives in France.

People are there to make a fuss of them at the airports so take advantage of it!

I have
did as you posted- eurostar then tgv to the south.

TGV is nice, smooth and quick. I found it comfortable, not as comfortable as the eurostar but still nevertheless.

Most people in France speak basic English, although, as mentioned above, they wont admit to doing so unless you shout at them. So just shout at them. Seriously!


The TGV is a modern train and travels at an average speed af 300 km/h. They are not allowed to exceed 320 km/h with passengers. It has a bar area, a modern design, and is a non smoking train.


Take a plane! :D

My wife did it last yeear to Valence, changed at Lille from Eurostar. Didn't even need a platform change.

Eurostar from Waterloo to Lille, (about 100 miles) was dearer than TGV from Lille to Valence, (over 400 miles!)

She loved it, air conditioned etc, said it was an experience.

Alcazar

Thanks for the thoughts, gives me something to go on.

Anyone know of on-line sites for checking train availability and prices for these sorts of joruneys?
:)

The French railway web site and online reservation system is here: www.sncf.com

They have a separate web site for the high speed train (TGV): www.tgv.com