Meeting Your Trip in NIMES

This page offers help (concrete or informational) on reaching your trip. Topics include...

1. Where you Join Your Trip (see immediately below)
2. Our “Access Packages,” designed to help you to do so.
3. Suggestions on how to time your trip to the trip, whether you are having us arrange your travel, or doing it yourself.
4. Service information regarding train travel to your trip start location.
5. Suggested pre-trip visits, especially when these are not geographically obvious, but are rendered economical and convenient by direct rail connections.
6. Hopefully helpful hints for those setting up their own travel to the trip.

If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.

1. WHERE and WHEN Do You Join Your Trip?

Our trip assembles at our usual Nimes hotel, close to the train station, on Sunday morning between 9 & 10a. We will send you the precise address with your final itinerary.

If you wish to take the first Sunday morning train from Paris or Nice (see service information, below), we will wait for you. But, if you have flown from North America, be aware of the challenges involved in getting up at 5a when your biological clock is telling you it is 11p....

If you wish to make your own way to the trip (in other words, not to set up your travel arrangements through us), a couple of hints on getting to Nimes are offered at the bottom of this page.


2. Our ACCESS PACKAGES
as of January 1, 2010

Nimes is too remote to be reachable by 10a from anywhere but neighboring towns, so you must travel on Saturday to reach the trip (typically flying on Friday night if you are taking off from outside of Europe or the Middle East).  The Nimes “Access Packages” all include a bed of one sort or another on Saturday night.

Base (Starting) Access Package Price:  99€.
“Ride the Bike Train Discount” Package: 69€.
To see what this means in your currency, look here:  http://www.bluemarble.org/CurrencyConv.html

Availabilityis usually good until about 1 month before the trip, provided you have a couple of hours’ flexibility regarding your travel schedule.  This flexibility is generally absent if you are arriving via Charles de Gaulle airport:  book as far in advance as possible to benefit from the cheapest prices on trains from the airport.   Within

Once the lowest discount fares are sold out,  the next fare code increases the cost of the package by 29€ (15€ from Nice or Barcelona). 

But these, too, can fill, and it can be hard to find hotels in Nimes, as the town hosts many special events of the type that fill hotels.

Included:

• Train tickets to Nimes from Paris, Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, Geneva, Nice or Barcelona; or a Saturday overnight train from Paris (couchette included).
  Tickets are not refundable or exchangeable once ordered.   Changeable tickets are available at an additional cost, and are suggested if you are attempting a tight plane-train connection.
• Seat reservations on your selected train(s).
• A schedule / itinerary, highlighting any connections.
• Our “Route Sheet to the Trip,” helping you through your journey.
• A Saturday hotel night in Nimes, based on shared occupancy.
  If you are a single guest staying at whichever of our usual Nimes hotels has our room allotment for your trip, you are guaranteed the share price (provided, of course, that you are willing to share, and that we have a room for you) until 35 days pre-trip, even if we do not wind up finding you a roommate.
  Our usual Nimes hotels are simple ones, well-located and a short walk from the train station.  But the accent should be on “easy and convenient.”  One of our favorite riders cheerfully described one of them as a “vomitorium” (in fairness to the hotel, which is not our first choice, he had not stayed there:   he just dropped off his bike before catching a train).  If this concept depresses you, we offer a fancy place in the town center as an alternative.  We frankly don’t think the shift is worth the effort or the price, but you might....
  Hotel is not included for passengers on the overnight train, where a berth on the train is included, instead.
• Breakfast on Sunday morning.
• All taxes, booking charges, baggage charges.
  In other words, no surprise extra fees.

Options Offered at an Extra Cost (subject to availability)
Prices are in addition to the “Base” Access Package Price.  For a general discussion of train upgrades, see here.  Topics include the relative comfort of first versus second class, and different types of accommodation available on overnight trains.

• Tickets from London.  Add 69€ if you are also purchasing tickets back to London, 109€ if not, or if you prefer a changeable return.   In 1st class, add 109€ or 149€.
  1st class tickets include meal service on the Eurostar between London and Lille or Paris.
  A Paris stop-over is available for 15€ additional.
  
• Tickets from Madrid. +59€ daylight train
  +79€ via Friday overnight train (reach Nimes early on Saturday afternoon).  A couchette included on board the night train from Madrid to the French border, but sleeping car upgrades are not available.
  
• Exchangeable / refundable tickets.
  These tickets are exchangeable, on a space-available basis, at any time until the train’s departure.  They may even be exchanged up to one hour after the train’s departure, but only at the station where you were supposed to board.  Cost of the exchange is 5€.  They are refundable less 20% before the train’s departure, 50% refundable afterwards (the physical ticket must be returned to the issuing office to obtain a refund).
  From Paris or CdG airport: 42€.  From Geneva or Barcelona, 21€.  From Nice, 14€.  From all other points within France:  45€ maximum.
  
• First class train tickets, in lieu of 2nd class.  25€ discount rate from most points (+18€ from Nice, +49€ from Madrid, meal service included between Madrid and Barcelona).
  Tickets are not refundable or exchangeable once ordered.  Changeable tickets are available at an additional cost, and are suggested if you are attempting a tight plane-train connection (see previous point).
  
• Overnight train upgrade (from included couchette):   19€ to “Comfort couchette” (available on Paris train only).
  
• Nicer hotel in Nimes.  A 3-star we like in the city center, in case you are on your honeymoon or something. +79€ single, +39€ / person double or twin.
  
• Private single room in Nimes:  +22€ at our regular hotel, +92€ at the fancy one.
  
• Paris airport train tickets, from Charles de Gaulle or Orly to anywhere in Paris.  Follow this link for details.
  

Alternate Arrangements, in lieu of our usual packages (subject to availability)
Prices are complete (in other words, they are not in addition to the “Base” Access Package Price)

• Hotel in Nimes (additional nights, or without rail tickets):  45€ shared occupancy, 69€ single, including breakfast, taxes, booking charge.
  Shared occupancy rate guaranteed to singles (on the pre-trip Saturday night only) until 35 days prior to trip departure.
  

3. TIMING Your Trip

If we may influence your thinking on the topic of timing... Nimes is interesting.  And you will not have time to see it on Sunday morning (when the trip assembles, and cycles out of town).

If you have the flexibility to do so, try to schedule your arrival in time to walk around the old town, and especially to admire the remarkable Roman arena, just a couple of blocks from the hotel.

Like airplanes, trains to Nimes require reservations.  You must not only tell us by which gateway you wish to arrive, but at what time of day you wish to travel.  Allow ample time to connect from a flight:  the railroad is not responsible for (chronically) late planes.  Moreover, it can take intercontinental travellers up to 90 minutes to clear customs, immigration and baggage claim upon arrival.  If you are attempting a tight connection, we suggest modifiable tickets, even though these carry an extra cost.


4. Service Information
Schedules are approximate – exact timetables can be consulted in English at
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/triprequest.htm.
Best trains are mentioned.  Others are slower or have multiple connections.

• From Paris, Gare de Lyon.  Travel time is 3 hours, service is generally every two hours until 5:20p and hourly until 8:20p.
  The first Sunday morning service (and the only one that gets you to the trip start) is at 7:20a.
  Saturday “bike trains” are scheduled through the day.  Trip time is circa 6 hours, and a connection is required.  You may make your choice contingent upon a travel time if you wish (as in, “I would like to take the bike train so long as I can be in Nimes by 3p.”
• From Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport.  Travel time is 3 1/2 hours.  Direct trains operate at 7:30a, 9:30a, 1p, 4p and 6p.
• From Geneva.  A direct train runs at 11a (3.5 hour trip time).
  Relatively fast connecting services operate at 8a, 2p and 5p.  The 5p is the fastest:  under 4 hours.  Otherwise, count 4.5.. 
• From Barcelona.  Two fast services daily, via Montpellier:  8:45a, 4:30p, 6-hour trip.
  Slower service, ± 7.5 hours available at 11a (via Cerbère).
  
• From Madrid.  Daylight, via Barcelona & Montpellier:  depart noon, arrive 10:30p.  Overnight, depart 11p, arrive 2p, via Cerbère and Montpellier.
  
• From Nice.  Travel time is 4 - 5 hours, and a single connection is required, generally in Marseille.
  Fast services (close to 4 hours) operate at 6a, 8:30a, 3:30p and 4:30p.  Slower services, taking closer to 5 hours, run throughout the day.
  The first Sunday morning service (and the only one that gets you to the trip start) is the 6a.
• From London.  9a, 11a, 1p and 2p, with a connection in Lille (the 1p requires a second connection in Lyon).  7.5 hours on the clock face, but which includes a 1-hour time change (actual journey time is 6.5 hours — 7.5 hours for the 11a).
  It may not sound like it, but this is generally faster than flying, unless you happen to live on a runway.  It is a heck of a lot more pleasant....
  Frequent alternate service via Paris, with a roughly equivalent overall travel time.  But a station change in Paris is required, from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon (there is a direct métro line between the two).

5. Suggested PRE-TRIP VISITS

The Swiss Alps, the Basque Country (Biarritz and / or San Sebastian), Madrid and / or Barcelona....


6. Hints on TRAVELLING INDEPENDENTLY to the Trip
Guests subscribing to an “Access Package” need not read this section.

See also “Timing Your Trip” and “Service Information,” above, as either of these may additionally help.

We gladly provide travel consulting (schedule or routing information) concerning pre-trip individual travel. In particular, we have invested a great deal to become railway experts.  Our service fees are reasonable:  a 20€ charge for all but the most complex projects – or the most simple (for instance, only a 10€ charge applies if the service is limited to the preparation of a routine rail ticket).  You will generally find them well-justified by the time they will save you in research, standing on line, overpaying for your tickets, or all three.

But, for some, this type of research is fun.  So, here are some hints, intended to start off hardened “do-it-yourselfers.”

Trains.  Schedules for all routes can be consulted on this web site:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/triprequest.htm

Nimes is served by TGV (high-speed train) from northern France, including direct service from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport. Main line trains also run from elsewhere in France, Switzerland (one daily TGV), northeastern Spain, and northern Italy. Overnight sleeper trains come from France’s west coast, the Basque Country, Italy, western Germany, Madrid (with a morning connection at the French border) and Paris (though few people use the overnight train from Paris, as the TGV takes only three hours for this trip).

Planes.  Nimes has a tiny airport, traditionally offering mosquito planes from Paris (the airline has changed three times in as many years, and the route is not served at this writing).  Nearby Montpellier and Marseille both have more service.  Montpellier offers many direct Air France flights from Paris.  Marseille has some flights from other European capitals.

Ryanair serves Nimes from London Luton, from Charleroi (south of Brussels) and from Liverpool.   Ryanair’s schedules change constantly, but the flight from Luton (at least) is currently scheduled on Saturdays.  Other Ryanair airports within two hours by train are Montpellier, Béziers, Marseille, Carcassone and Perpignan, in rough order of proximity / convenience.

Train frequencies and travel times from regional airports on to Nimes are as follows.  Montpellier:  hourly, a 30-miute trip. Béziers:  hourly, trip time = 75 minutes.  Marseille:  every 2 hours, trip time = 90 minutes.  Carcassone or Perpignan:  irregular, but every 2 hours on average; trip time is 2 hours.


If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.