Great video…have done this journey many times, living close to Marseille. Just a small correction…at 10:04 the aqueduct you saw is the Aqueduc de Roquefavour, built in the 1840s. The magnificent Pont de Gard is some 80km to the west near Nîmes.
Thanks for the kind words and... damn... I hate making daft mistakes like that! I shall pin your comment to the top and at least add a correction in the description even if I cannot now edit the video itself.
It's also well worth to take a TGV InOui that continues to Nice. While it's using the classic and therefore slow line along the coastline, the views are absolutely fabulous, and much more exciting than the proper HSLs. When travelling to Nice, make sure you have a seat on the right hand side of the train.
If you think a 658km travel with a duration of 3 hr 22 mins is "impressive", try this: TGV Paris-Bordeaux (570 km), September 6, departure Paris 9:11am - arrival Bordeaux 11:14am, journey time 2 hr 3 mins. Best price at 25 euros (2nd class).
Indeed. One day I would also like to ride that train. Ouigo is a great product at a very good price. I had a look on SNCF Connect and just one week in advance that train is still as cheap as €29 - what a great deal Thank you so much for watching 👍
Thank you very much for the kind comment. 👍 The carriage was really cosy, and as I say at the end, neither the upper or lower are better. They are just a different experience.
My first ever ride on a high speed train was this route (approximately). I went from Paris CDG airport to Marseille in January 2008 after having landed from Montreal on my European backpacking trip. It was such a cool experience, even in my jetlagged state
Yeah they are cool trains. Those big power cars look like muscle cars. You can't help but be impressed! Thanks for watching and sharing your memories 👍
Another excellent video Johnny, this brought back memories of my only trip on a TGV which was back in 2004. Having flown from Luton Airport to Nice, I spent a few days based there , visiting Monaco and Cannes as well as exploring Nice itself. My journey home was by TGV all the way from Nice to Lille Europe, travelling along part of the route you cover in this. The journey between the two was about 7 hours and 15 minutes with a relatively straightforward connection for the Eurostar to London. A very long but enjoyable journey. Back then of course the Eurostar was still using Waterloo so a tube journey was required to get my train home from St Pancras.
Another marvellous synopsis of a trully inspirational route. I am astounded to think it is almost fifty years since I first covered the same ground. I took the late night departure from Gare de Lyon. Consider yourself fortunate in 21st century first class bliss !! My 29 pound inter rail card left me standing in the corridor for most of the night .Is looking back in envy part of the aging process ? Keep up the great work . I enjoyed every minute .
Btw, my notifications say you sent me a superthanks. Thank you so much for that! Very kind indeed. I'm travelling to Ireland at the end of the month. When I get there, I shall enjoy a pint on you! Much appreciated 🍺❤️
@@JohnnyHooverTravels I once took the DART from Pearse Station to the south. There could be some opportynity for a walk-back along that route. Perhaps between Greystones and Bray.
Another brilliant video, Johnny! Out of interest, would the €60 1st class fare apply to both the upper and lower decks? Interesting how SNCF call the train sheds at Paris Gare de Lyon as Halls. Was this also the case in Marseilles ? Your bucket list for train travel journeys must be diminishing slowly!
Yes. The price is the same in upper and lower. I didn't get a chance to select a seat (as far as I could tell) as I was only buying a reservation, rather than a full ticket. I suspect you can select the seat you want if you buy the ticket. But as I say in the video, the lower is actually not a worse option, it is just different. Because you walk through the train at the higher level it means the lower levels are not only smoother ride but also don't have people traipsing through them during the journey. Halls seemed a sensible way of doing it to help people navigate - bit like airport terminal numbers I suppose. Marseille was much smaller and didn't need anything like that. The trouble with the bucket list is that as quick as things are ticked, more seem to appear at the bottom of the list! Thanks for watching!
The first time I ever tried to get a TGV didn’t go well as our connection from CDG was late we arrived just as the doors where shutting. Despite us standing at the door the guard wouldn’t open it and it say there for a further 10 mins!! Our second attempt to get too Cannes was much more enjoyable
As a french guy, I never thought people would be looking forward to taking the TGV. For us it's just that 5 hour long thing where you need to find something to do so you don't get bored 😅 This video is really good tho ! You make great advertising for the SNCF
Thank you! Yes. I had been looking forward to TGV and I suppose the fact you French people find it so ordinary is a testament to how your country has made high speed rail, well, ordinary. Thank you so much for watching and leaving the kind comment 👍
Nice review but this TGV ran faster and longer than you said. 658 km was the distance between Paris GdL and Avignon-TGV. From there, you traveled another 94 km to St Charles.
@@JohnnyHooverTravels Your TGV started on the old PLM tracks at Gare de Lyon, took part of the Ile de France bypass, joined the original LGV Sud Est route at Moisenay, left it to bypass Lyon along LGV Rhone-Alpes towards LGV Mediterranee. I don't know of any authoritative measurement and I made an estimate with help from various sources (wikipedia route maps and "bilans LOTI", the mandatory post-hoc evaluation of significant French public investments).
I did Marseille to Cologne via Paris on the TGV back in 2007 and I think the interior of train carriage for your journey was identical to the one I was on. If I remember right, I think I may have taken a bus to transfer between Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord rather than using the Metro, which I think may have been the only time I've used the bus service in Paris. I can't remember why I took a bus rather than the Metro, but I'm fairly sure I had at least a couple of hours between my connecting trains. Would like to travel by TGV again one day.
That's a very good point on using the bus over the metro if you have the time. The same is also true in London. ie. the underground metro services are quick and reliable, but you see nothing of the city - whilst even a service bus gives you an overground tour as you gaze out of the window. In the next video in this series I go from Gare de L'Est to Luxembourg - I had enough time to walk from St Lazare to L'Est - a very pleasant 30 min walk indeed... Thanks you so much for watching 👍
Very informative video. Du pre-select your seat before boarding? How du know the seat ur selecting is facing front (towards destination) or facing back?
I was on an Interrail ticket so seat reservation was a little more hit and miss. But if you buy a ticket from SNCF directly then you should be able to select your seat from a seat diagram, so you should be ok. If all else fails and you are only offered the option for picking a seat by the number, then a quick bit of googling should find you a seat map of the train. Thank you for watching and for the kind words. 👍
You will have to do it again, next year the firsts new ones will arrive on this line. Design will changed of course, and the bar will be the 2 floors high.
@@JohnnyHooverTravels Thanks and enjoy your trips. Paris -Montpellier will be second on the list for the replacement of TGVs, in case you want to change your destination, it takes 3h15 to reach Montpellier. They ordered 150 new ones, but I don't know the rhythm of deliveries. But it won't be later than 2026, I guess, since we are next.
Hi Johnny... Amazing video! We were just looking for luggage storage. We are taking the same route in october to join NCL Epic in Marseille. We have 2 regular carry on luggage and 2 big ones like 23 kg eacg. Is there a fee for the luggage. Are there lots of storage for it thoigh. Thanks in advance. And thanks for sharing us this video. ❤
I don't think so there is a fee on InOui, but be sure you aren't on Ouigo, which is the budget version and does have extra costs for luggage. If you are on the same train as me you should be ok. 23kg isn't super big and should fit in the luggage stack and carryons should probably fit ok overhead. If you are at Gare de Lyon in plenty of time then it might be worth queuing at the gate for the platform as early as you can so you aren't last on and find the luggage racks all full. Have a great trip (it really is lovely on those trains) and thank you so much for watching 👍
I doubt you can buy them just yet. But SNCF has demand pricing so I would certainly buy them as soon as they become available. You can check prices and availability of tickets on SNCF's website or via the SNCFConnect app. Thanks for watching and happy travels 👍
@@kristinmickey That is advisable as they are cheaper in advance, especially on TGV services. Also the trains can sell out. But you could buy tickets on the day if they are available. Thanks for watching 👍
Great video…have done this journey many times, living close to Marseille. Just a small correction…at 10:04 the aqueduct you saw is the Aqueduc de Roquefavour, built in the 1840s. The magnificent Pont de Gard is some 80km to the west near Nîmes.
Thanks for the kind words and... damn... I hate making daft mistakes like that! I shall pin your comment to the top and at least add a correction in the description even if I cannot now edit the video itself.
Yeah, that puzzled me a little. I was wondering how he could see the Pont du Gard from the Avignon-Aix TGV line? 🤔😅
@@Sayitlikitiz101 yeah. Sorry about that 🤷♂️
Thanks for watching, hope it didn't completely spoil it!
The exact distance between Paris and marseille is 863km 😊
Glad you got to make the TGV journey at last! And thanks for taking us along.
It was my pleasure. Pleased you could come along.
It's also well worth to take a TGV InOui that continues to Nice. While it's using the classic and therefore slow line along the coastline, the views are absolutely fabulous, and much more exciting than the proper HSLs. When travelling to Nice, make sure you have a seat on the right hand side of the train.
Yes. I look forward to riding along the med coast in the future.
Thanks for watching 👍
If you think a 658km travel with a duration of 3 hr 22 mins is "impressive", try this: TGV Paris-Bordeaux (570 km), September 6, departure Paris 9:11am - arrival Bordeaux 11:14am, journey time 2 hr 3 mins. Best price at 25 euros (2nd class).
Indeed. One day I would also like to ride that train. Ouigo is a great product at a very good price. I had a look on SNCF Connect and just one week in advance that train is still as cheap as €29 - what a great deal
Thank you so much for watching 👍
Mulțumesc MULT pentru FRUMOASELE IMAGINI DIN Traseul Paris- Marsilia !
I would like to travel on the TGV. As I never been on them in my entire life. Epic video as always. 😊
Thank you. You are very kind. Well, it took me years to get round to it, so I'm not going to be judging you on that one! 👍
A thoroughly enjoyable video, thanks. Your carriage looked really quite cosy!
Thank you very much for the kind comment. 👍
The carriage was really cosy, and as I say at the end, neither the upper or lower are better. They are just a different experience.
The place looks beautiful bro welcome also to kenya🇰🇪, I love your channel so much 👍
Thanks!. Pleased to hear you have a replacement phone and we can get back to following your life in Kenya 👍
Your enjoyment of this ride is palpable, and makes good viewing.
Yeah. I loved it!
PLEASANT AND DETAILED COVERAGE!!!!Surely, many thanks!!!
Thank you. Nice of you to say. Much appreciated!
And thank you too for watching 👍
My wife and I are visiting France soon. We’re looking into this train ride. I must say, this video is fantastic. Thanks for all the little details!
How very nice of you to say so. Thank you so much. And I do hope you have a similarly smooth and trouble free journey as me. It's a great ride!
My first ever ride on a high speed train was this route (approximately). I went from Paris CDG airport to Marseille in January 2008 after having landed from Montreal on my European backpacking trip. It was such a cool experience, even in my jetlagged state
Yeah they are cool trains. Those big power cars look like muscle cars. You can't help but be impressed!
Thanks for watching and sharing your memories 👍
What a lovely video. Thanks.
No problem. I'm pleased you enjoyed it. Thank you very much for watching and commenting 👍
Another excellent video Johnny, this brought back memories of my only trip on a TGV which was back in 2004. Having flown from Luton Airport to Nice, I spent a few days based there , visiting Monaco and Cannes as well as exploring Nice itself. My journey home was by TGV all the way from Nice to Lille Europe, travelling along part of the route you cover in this. The journey between the two was about 7 hours and 15 minutes with a relatively straightforward connection for the Eurostar to London. A very long but enjoyable journey. Back then of course the Eurostar was still using Waterloo so a tube journey was required to get my train home from St Pancras.
Thanks for watching and for sharing those great memories 👍
Thanks for the nice video. The best part was your commentary / narration.
Oh thank you so much for saying so. Very nice of you. And thank you for watching one of my videos 👍
Good video John i really enjoyed it.
You are very welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting 👍
Another marvellous synopsis of a trully inspirational route. I am astounded to think it is almost fifty years since I first covered the same ground. I took the late night departure from Gare de Lyon. Consider yourself fortunate in 21st century first class bliss !! My 29 pound inter rail card left me standing in the corridor for most of the night .Is looking back in envy part of the aging process ? Keep up the great work . I enjoyed every minute .
What a wonderful and kind comment. Thank you so much. Words like this encourage me to keeping creating such videos ❤️
Hey Johny. Hope you're doing well. Thx a lot for nice review, hope you did have a good time! )
I did! And thank you very much for coming along with me 👍
I didn't realize that the TGV stopped in AIX. But I imagine that the sensation of speed heightened on the lower deck.
Yes, I think you are right. But of course it is so smooth and quiet it doesn't "feel" super fast!
Btw, my notifications say you sent me a superthanks. Thank you so much for that! Very kind indeed. I'm travelling to Ireland at the end of the month. When I get there, I shall enjoy a pint on you! Much appreciated 🍺❤️
@@JohnnyHooverTravels I would need to send more money if you are planning to have a pint in Dublin ... ;^)
@@JohnnyHooverTravels I once took the DART from Pearse Station to the south. There could be some opportynity for a walk-back along that route. Perhaps between Greystones and Bray.
@@garrytuohy9267 tru dat 😂
Another brilliant video, Johnny! Out of interest, would the €60 1st class fare apply to both the upper and lower decks? Interesting how SNCF call the train sheds at Paris Gare de Lyon as Halls. Was this also the case in Marseilles ? Your bucket list for train travel journeys must be diminishing slowly!
Yes. The price is the same in upper and lower. I didn't get a chance to select a seat (as far as I could tell) as I was only buying a reservation, rather than a full ticket. I suspect you can select the seat you want if you buy the ticket. But as I say in the video, the lower is actually not a worse option, it is just different. Because you walk through the train at the higher level it means the lower levels are not only smoother ride but also don't have people traipsing through them during the journey.
Halls seemed a sensible way of doing it to help people navigate - bit like airport terminal numbers I suppose. Marseille was much smaller and didn't need anything like that.
The trouble with the bucket list is that as quick as things are ticked, more seem to appear at the bottom of the list!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for the video. Will be making that exact trip prior to boarding my MSC cruise in June. 👍
I'm sure you will have a great trip as they are lovely trains. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
Amazing train and journey!
Greatings from Hull 🤗
Thanks ! 👍
I nearly did a similar trip in March from Lille but the French strikes meant no trains South so it turned into a few days in Lille
Yes, the following days on French trains was blown away for me a bit too by those disputes.
Still the best way to travel though!
Thanks for watching 👍
The first time I ever tried to get a TGV didn’t go well as our connection from CDG was late we arrived just as the doors where shutting. Despite us standing at the door the guard wouldn’t open it and it say there for a further 10 mins!! Our second attempt to get too Cannes was much more enjoyable
Haha! Yes. Even with strikes, mine went a lot smoother.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting 👍
As a french guy, I never thought people would be looking forward to taking the TGV. For us it's just that 5 hour long thing where you need to find something to do so you don't get bored 😅
This video is really good tho ! You make great advertising for the SNCF
Thank you! Yes. I had been looking forward to TGV and I suppose the fact you French people find it so ordinary is a testament to how your country has made high speed rail, well, ordinary.
Thank you so much for watching and leaving the kind comment 👍
A fabulous watch. There’s nothing quite like high speed rail.
Tru dat Tim. Thank you for the kind comment. Best wishes to you on your travels. 👍
Alstom was part of GEC and many TGV's were built in Northern Ireland.
Nice review but this TGV ran faster and longer than you said. 658 km was the distance between Paris GdL and Avignon-TGV. From there, you traveled another 94 km to St Charles.
Thank you for being kind, given that you pointed out a rather bad mistake. Can you recommend a good place to go to get accurate French rail distances?
@@JohnnyHooverTravels Your TGV started on the old PLM tracks at Gare de Lyon, took part of the Ile de France bypass, joined the original LGV Sud Est route at Moisenay, left it to bypass Lyon along LGV Rhone-Alpes towards LGV Mediterranee. I don't know of any authoritative measurement and I made an estimate with help from various sources (wikipedia route maps and "bilans LOTI", the mandatory post-hoc evaluation of significant French public investments).
Nice video. Find all times, trains and prices on 'train line'.
Thanks! and yes Trainline is one place, but I often use SNCF Connect.
I did Marseille to Cologne via Paris on the TGV back in 2007 and I think the interior of train carriage for your journey was identical to the one I was on. If I remember right, I think I may have taken a bus to transfer between Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord rather than using the Metro, which I think may have been the only time I've used the bus service in Paris. I can't remember why I took a bus rather than the Metro, but I'm fairly sure I had at least a couple of hours between my connecting trains. Would like to travel by TGV again one day.
That's a very good point on using the bus over the metro if you have the time. The same is also true in London. ie. the underground metro services are quick and reliable, but you see nothing of the city - whilst even a service bus gives you an overground tour as you gaze out of the window.
In the next video in this series I go from Gare de L'Est to Luxembourg - I had enough time to walk from St Lazare to L'Est - a very pleasant 30 min walk indeed...
Thanks you so much for watching 👍
Paris-Valence TGV line is 527 km, Avignon 657, Aix en Provance 732, Marseille 750 km.
There are 19x 600 series TGV's. The powercars/locomotives original trailers now have new powercars/locomotives the TGV POS 4400 series.
Thank you for that clarification 👍
...and thank you for watching!
Nice video. Find all times, trains and prices on '"train line".
Yes indeed and other places like SNCF Connect.
Thanks for the kind comment and for watching 👍
Nostalgia made me remember a similar journey I took in 2022 may
Nice to be here to rekindle some memories for you! Thanks for watching 👍
Very informative video. Du pre-select your seat before boarding? How du know the seat ur selecting is facing front (towards destination) or facing back?
I was on an Interrail ticket so seat reservation was a little more hit and miss. But if you buy a ticket from SNCF directly then you should be able to select your seat from a seat diagram, so you should be ok. If all else fails and you are only offered the option for picking a seat by the number, then a quick bit of googling should find you a seat map of the train.
Thank you for watching and for the kind words. 👍
It's been many years since I haven't take the TGV and now I just want to buy a ticket for the fast ride experience haha
@@xenomyr haha! I know what you mean!
Thanks for watching 👍
You will have to do it again, next year the firsts new ones will arrive on this line. Design will changed of course, and the bar will be the 2 floors high.
@@YannR34 i shall return to France. That's a good idea!
Best wishes to you and thanks for watching 👍
@@JohnnyHooverTravels Thanks and enjoy your trips.
Paris -Montpellier will be second on the list for the replacement of TGVs, in case you want to change your destination, it takes 3h15 to reach Montpellier. They ordered 150 new ones, but I don't know the rhythm of deliveries. But it won't be later than 2026, I guess, since we are next.
@@YannR34 ooo... i quite fancy visiting Montpellier! Thanks for that 👍
Thank you. Great narrative. Alstom is to train riders what Rome is to Catholics.
thank you for the kind words.
and thanks too for watching 👍
Hi Johnny... Amazing video! We were just looking for luggage storage. We are taking the same route in october to join NCL Epic in Marseille. We have 2 regular carry on luggage and 2 big ones like 23 kg eacg. Is there a fee for the luggage. Are there lots of storage for it thoigh. Thanks in advance. And thanks for sharing us this video. ❤
I don't think so there is a fee on InOui, but be sure you aren't on Ouigo, which is the budget version and does have extra costs for luggage.
If you are on the same train as me you should be ok. 23kg isn't super big and should fit in the luggage stack and carryons should probably fit ok overhead.
If you are at Gare de Lyon in plenty of time then it might be worth queuing at the gate for the platform as early as you can so you aren't last on and find the luggage racks all full.
Have a great trip (it really is lovely on those trains) and thank you so much for watching 👍
I rode the Paris to Marseille bullet train in 97. They used to have a car that served lunch and had a small bar area. Did they get rid of these cars?
Well I suppose they still have the café which does food and drinks. So I think the vibe remains. But it isn't a restaurant car.
Hi John, my wife and I plan to go to Marseille taking TGV in May 20 do we need to buy the tickets now?
I doubt you can buy them just yet. But SNCF has demand pricing so I would certainly buy them as soon as they become available.
You can check prices and availability of tickets on SNCF's website or via the SNCFConnect app.
Thanks for watching and happy travels 👍
Great vid. But I prefer to fly this one.
@@heinekenczech Can you still fly from Paris to Marseille? I thought internal flights had been discouraged by the French govt?
Thanks for watching 👍
@@JohnnyHooverTravels I was almost certain they'd been banned. But clearly not!
CE ?
"Current Era" - and if you got that far through the video, then thank you so much for sticking with it! Best wishes 👍
Do you need to buy your tickets in advance?
@@kristinmickey That is advisable as they are cheaper in advance, especially on TGV services. Also the trains can sell out. But you could buy tickets on the day if they are available.
Thanks for watching 👍
0:50 Bercy is awful!
@@GabrielsReviews haha! I have heard that said before 😉
@@JohnnyHooverTravels On PTE or LMAT by chance?
"First century CE???" Spare us the revisionist/marxist dogma.