We are flying into Nice and then renting a car to travel to a small village close to Carsaconne. Upon are arrival in Nice, we plan to go to the train station to purchase train tickets (to be used in a week). Would it be wiser to take a bus to the train station, buy the tickets, and then pick-up our rental car at the train station? Or get the car at the airport and drive to the train station? We can pick-up the rental car at either spot. I'm concerned about parking at the train station and getting lost driving there.

I have also thought about taking a train to Carsaconne, and then picking up a rental car there. I tried to use the online website to figure out the schedule and costs, but have been unsuccessful. I'm thinking the driving might be more economical for four people though. Has anyone taken that route before by train and/or car? If so, which do you think would be better?

Any and all advice is appreciated!
Thanks!
Laurie

Nice (Nice Ville) to Carcassonne by train is a pretty lengthy journey, to be honest(because of the necessary changes)

Look at:

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml

for train times and www.sncf.com for train times and fares.

I think hiring the car at Nice airport (are you flying back from there?) is the simplest option. You can surely buy the train tickets you need at Carcassonne station, so I see no need to go into Nice itself unless you especially want to. If you do, then getting there by public transport/taxi then picking up your hire car would be sensible.

So I can buy a train ticket for travel between Nice and Cinque Terre at any train station in France?

Thanks so much for your advice!
Laurie

I have no idea whether you could buy such a ticket from Carcassone; I was assuming you were travelling within France (don't know why). Hopefully someone will clarigfy later.

Couold you buy the ticket when you return to Nice to drop off the car?

Or buy it online beforehand, from www.sncf.com?

hi, sorry to correct: it's easier to go to http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ for French train travel (not www.sncf.com, which is a portal).

If you can: drive. One of the best ways to explore France is taking the back roads. All roads are good in France and easy to drive. The signage is also clear. Just get yourself some good maps :-)

Driving is also quicker. To cover the +/- 480 kms, it takes nearly 8 hours by train! And around 58-66 euro per person.

Thanks for the link ATLC. My problem is an iritating Sncf cookie, which means I simply cannot access any sncf site other than the .co.uk one. Hence my portal link.