Valence – Tips

Transport

Getting there

There are two railway stations in Valence, the city centre one with “normal” trains (called Valence Ville) and the TGV (High Speed Train) which is located 10 kilometres North/East outside the city.

	By Car		By Train
From	Via	Time	Time
Calais	A16, A26/E15, A1, A6 and A7	8:30 hours	via Lille 4:30 hours
Paris	A6	5:30 hours	Direct TGV 2:10 hours
Dieppe	A13, A6	7:30 hours	via Rouen then Paris (station change) 5:20 hours
Le Havre	A13, A6	7:30 hours	via Paris (change station) 5:15 hours
Cherbourg	A13, A6	9 hours	via Paris (station change) 6:30 hours
Marseilles	A7	2.30 hours	Direct TGV 1 hour

Air: Valence Chabeuil airport, located close to the East of Valence is a military/civilian airport. They don’t offer many international flight, most are charters.

Click here to access the airport’s website.

Bus: There are several long distance bus operators going to this city from different cities in France (and Europe). Click on one of the links below to see which departure city is covered.

Flixbus
Ouibus

Within Valence

Valence is quite an extended city, however, the old city centre is an easy walking city. To get around Valence and to get to the old city center (Vieux Valence), they have a good bus network that also brings you to the suburbs. Click here to access the bus website (in French only).

Citea, the bus operator, also offers smartphone apps to make taking the bus easier. Click here to access the iPhone or Android apps (at the bottom of the page).

Car

There are a reasonable amount of car parking spots, 500 of them are free. But driving & parking inside the old city is not advised.

Blue parkings are free for 30 minutes but you will need a parking disc (a cardboard square disc that allows you to indicate the hour you have arrived. It can be mostly bought in a Tabac. See photo below).

Orange parkings allow you to stay for up to 4 hours 15 minutes, but you need to pay.

Purple parkings are free for 30 minutes but after that you need to pay for up to a maximum of 2 hours 15 minutes.

You can download iPhone/Android/Windows smartphone app to pay (and even extend your parking). Click here to access the download page (scroll to the bottom for the downloads).

Restaurants

There are some 200 restaurants in Valence, many in the old city. The top one, and one of the more famous ones, is called “Pic“. It’s a three star-Michelin restaurant run by Anne-Sophie Pic, one of the few top female chefs. Click here to access her website. She also has several other places in Valence, which are as good, but not as expensive (check the website for all the other places).

There are also 2 1-star Michelin restaurants, and many others that are very good.

Things To See/To Do

• Stroll down the old city center (“Vieux Valence“) and marvel at all the old buildings
• Sit and have a drink at one of the many terraces
• Visit the cathedral
• Visit the museum of art and archaeology
• Visit the Tourist Office
  
  
• Shop in one of the shopping malls

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