Marseille to Monte Carlo

[sweettweety]

Hello,

What is the best way to get to Monte Carlo from Avignon/Marseille on a Sunday next November. Our river cruise ends in Avignon and transfer to Marseille airport. Are there any shuttle from Avignon or Marseille to Monte Carlo? Cost? It seems the train and flying is taking a long time to get there, 6 hours or more. We need to board an ocean cruise there on the same day.

 

Thank you for any suggestions.

Andrea

[Hlitner]

We would not bother with the transfer and simply take a taxi from the boat to the Avignon TGV Station (it is a bit further then the regular train station). From there you can catch the fast and very nice TGV train (you should buy tickets in advance) to Nice Ville where you will have to transfer to the local TER train that will take you Monte Carlo. This journey is going to take you about 4 hours (including the transfer in Nice). If you take the transfer to Marseille and use the train you will actually get on the same exact train that is coming from Marseille....and your transfer will take a lot more time then the train :). And if your transfer drops you at the Marseille Airport it will even take you longer since you would have to take a local train (or some other more expensive transfer) to get to the main Marseille Station (St Charles) to catch that same TGV train which is coming from Avignon.

 

There is one major downside to travel by train which is you will have to manage your own luggage.

 

Hank

Edited September 11, 2014 by Hlitner

[sweettweety]

We would not bother with the transfer and simply take a taxi from the boat to the Avignon TGV Station (it is a bit further then the regular train station). From there you can catch the fast and very nice TGV train (you should buy tickets in advance) to Nice Ville where you will have to transfer to the local TER train that will take you Monte Carlo. This journey is going to take you about 4 hours (including the transfer in Nice). If you take the transfer to Marseille and use the train you will actually get on the same exact train that is coming from Marseille....and your transfer will take a lot more time then the train :). And if your transfer drops you at the Marseille Airport it will even take you longer since you would have to take a local train (or some other more expensive transfer) to get to the main Marseille Station (St Charles) to catch that same TGV train which is coming from Avignon.

 

There is one major downside to travel by train which is you will have to manage your own luggage.

 

Hank

 

Thank you so much for all your helpful information Hank. I will google Avignon TGV station for the schedule and cost. Hope there is an early morning train so that we can get to the port in Monte Carlo by early afternoon to board the ship. How far is the cruise port from the train station in Monte Carlo?

No problem managing our luggage as we are travelling with our carry on luggage and totes only.

 

Andrea

[Hlitner]

Thank you so much for all your helpful information Hank. I will google Avignon TGV station for the schedule and cost. Hope there is an early morning train so that we can get to the port in Monte Carlo by early afternoon to board the ship. How far is the cruise port from the train station in Monte Carlo?

No problem managing our luggage as we are travelling with our carry on luggage and totes only.

 

Andrea

 

Monte Carlo is actually a very compact(but hilly) city so the taxi ride from the train station over to the port should normally take no more then 15-20 min...depending on traffic. The TGV station in Avignon is a really nice modern design and was built just to serve these high speed trains. We got to know that place better then we would have preferred when we(and our car) were trapped in their parking lot for lack of a Chip/PIN credit card (its a long story).

 

We recently spent a week (not our first visit) in Avignon and we would park our car in a lot within sight of the River Boats and walk to our apartment. The boats are outside the walled city but within easy walking distance unless you have mobility problems. If you are going to overnight in Avignon and are thinking about some fine dining off the boat we can recommend Restaurant L'Essentiel. A reservation is usually necessary and in good weather one should specifically request a table in the courtyard. Although not inexpensive it was the best meal we had in Avignon. This restaurant would be about a 20 min walk from where the boats usually tie-up.

 

Hank

Edited September 11, 2014 by Hlitner