Getting there - travel information

General

Most probably, you will fly to the international Charles de Gaulle airport in the northen Paris metropolitan area, and then drive down to Avignon (about 6 hours) or, more confortable, take the high - speed train TGV, either directly from the airport (about 3:30 hours) or from the Gare de Lyon train station in donwntown Paris (about 2:40 hours). To go from Charles de Gaulle to Gare de Lyon you can take the fast subway RER (about 1 hour) or take an airport bus or else a taxi (more expansive). There are also many train connections from/to major european cities.

Avignon is situated on a traffic crossroad axis north - south, east - west, as well on the axis of high speed train (TGV), and the city gets its own small airport Avignon - Châteaublanc (10 km from Avignon). Nevertheless, you may fly to the international Marseille-Marignane airport (30 km from Avignon), or the international Charles de Gaulle airport in the northen Paris metropolitan area, as mentioned above.

Map of France

Note : accommodation will be arranged by the Conference Center until March 26th, 2006. After this date, attendees will have to book themselves. Nevertheless, they must be aware that booking in the city and its surroundings will be difficult, even before this date, because of high touristic frequentation (see registration page).

Flying - Airports

In Avignon, there is the small airport of Avignon - Châteaublanc (located 10 km from the city center). The nearest international airport is Marseille - Marignane (located 30 km from Avignon). Nevertheless, if you are coming from abroad, more probably you will fly to the Roissy - Charles de Gaulle airport in the northen Paris metropolitan area, from which you may join Avignon by local flight, high - speed train (TGV) or car. You may also fly to Marseille - Marignane (30 km from Avignon), from which you may join Avignon by local flight, train or high - speed train (TGV) or car. To connect with a local flight, you may have to switch from Roissy - Charles de Gaulle airport to Orly airport in the South of Paris, which can be done with a shuttle or with the fast subway RER. To find relevant flights or services, you may check the following sites. In order to coordinate your flight with subway or train schedules you may check the sites mentioned in the following section (train transportation).

Airport of Avignon-Châteaublanc: Home - Regular flyghts network - Departures Arrivals

Marseille-Provence airport: Home - Scheduled flights- Flight engine - Airlines

Lyon-Saint-Exupéry airport: Home - Flight engine - Airlines

Montpellier-Méditerranée airport: Home - Flight engine - Airlines

Paris airports: Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly (in French): Home - Flight engine


More on flying (airline compagnies sites): Air France

Train Transportation

Avignon is on the main Paris - Lyon - Nice - Italy line. It is also on the Montpellier - Narbonne - Perpignan - Spain line. There are two stations: station TGV - Mediterranee for high - speed trains (TGV) situated 10 minutes away from the center (shuttle bus every 15 minutes - 1,00 euro), and the station Avignon - centre for regional trains and main lines, situated in the city center.

Avignon is at 2:40 hours from Paris (many daily connections) and 30 minutes from Marseille. Also, there are many direct high-speed (TGV) connections from Roissy - Charles de Gaulle airport, Lyon, Lille, Bruxelles, Geneva, London (via Eurostar) and other european cities. You may find more detailed information on the web pages:

SNCF (railway compagny):   
Home - National and international timetables and routes -
                                               
Regional timetables and routes - Other regions


From Roissy CDG you can also reach Paris-Gare-de-Lyon by RER (line B: change at Châtelet-les-Halles and get on line A to Paris-Gare-de-Lyon). You may find more detailed information on the web pages:

SNCF - Transilien (subway and fast subway RER): 
Home - Services to and from Paris airports -
                                                                                    All timetables and routes


More on train transportation (Avignon stations - in french): SNCF-Avignon

Bus Transportation

In order to coordinate bus schedules with your flights, you may check the airport websites (section flying - airports above). Otherwise, regular bus service is available is most cities: please check the following site for regional connections.

Bus schedules for Provence and the Cote d'Azur: Provence Beyond -

Driving

Avignon is situated on a traffic crossroad axis north - south, east - west. As such, it is connected by highway to Lyon - Paris, Lyon - Genova - Switzerland, Lyon - Strasbourg - Germany, Marseille - Nice - Italy, Montpellier - Narbonne - Perpignan - Spain or yet Montpellier - Narbonne - Toulouse - Bordeaux (see the schematic map on top of the page).

Paris - Lyon - Avignon (about 700 km - 6 hours): highway A6 direction Lyon then A7 direction Orange then A9 direction Montpellier. Exit 22 Avignon.

Lyon - Avignon (about 230 km - 2 hours) highway A7 direction Orange then A9 direction Montpellier. Exit 22 Avignon.

Marseille - Avignon (about 100 km - 1 hour): highway A55 then A7 direction Avignon. Exit 24 Avignon.

Montpellier - Avignon (about 100 km - 1 hour): highway A9 direction  Orange.


More on traveling by car (links to maps): Michelin - Mappy


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