After feedback from many on Trip Advisor my husband and I are planning to stay one week in Paris and then another week divided between Provence and Cote d%26#39;Azure. We will be traveling the first two weeks in May. We plan to take train from Paris to Provence and pick up rental car there. Need help in planning itinerary. Should we stay in Avignon or Aix-En-Provence or somewhere else to tour Provence. Also we thought after 4 days there we would move on to the NIce area for three days-Any suggestions about best place to stay..NIce or another town?
We are also looking for suggestions as to which towns we should explore. Thanks all!
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I wouldn%26#39;t stay in Avignon or Aix -- too hard to get in and out of. There are many villages in the Luberon/Vaucluse area that would be fun to stay in. Do some independent research at your local Barnes %26amp; Noble or Borders to decide what villages you would like to visit, look at a Provence map and find a mid-point. St. Remy might be a good choice -- (easy to get to Pont du Gard to the west and the wonderful villages to the east). St. Remy also has a fun market on Wednesday (I believe) and easy to drive to various other villages (Roussillon, Gordes, Bonnieux, L%26#39;Isle sur la Sorgue (best market outside of Paris! - Sundays from 9AM to noonish).
You can also %26quot;google%26quot; both %26quot;Luberon%26quot; and %26quot;Vaucluse%26quot; to get a tighter range of information.
I was in the area for 8 nights this summer and 8 nights in Paris and
would go back to either or both in a heartbeat!!!
Enjoy the planning! It%26#39;s almost as much fun as the trip itself. Please post what you decide and what your itinerary ends up to be. Also, make sure you do a trip report after your return.
joy/luvparee
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Here%26#39;s a suggestion (just a suggestion):
Take the train to Valence. Drive just south (get a good map) and hit the potters%26#39; village of Cliousclat. THere is a wonderful hotel there, too (La Treille Muscat) with a fabulous restaurant. This village is right next door to another artisans%26#39; village, Mirmande. Both are perched villages, wonderful wonderful wonderful.
From there, drive down to Dieulefit, which is a town FULL of pottery shops. On the way you can go to another medieval town called Poet Laval, more wonderful artisans, a hotel, nice restaurant, perched village.
Then to Nyons, famous for its olives and wonderful outdoor market(all of this is in what is called the %26quot;Lavender Route%26quot; although the lavender won%26#39;t be blooming in May. But the poppies will probably.
Then continue on to Vaison la Romaine where you can see a good deal of Roman ruins.
From there, you can continue going south, to Carpentras (larger than any of the cities I mentioned) and the other Luberon towns mentioned in previous posts, as well as Avignon. Further south is Aix en Provence.
THere are WONDERFUL places to stay all over Provence, don%26#39;t limit yourself to the heavy tourist areas of Aix and Avignon.
Les
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Hi East Coast Traveller,
I%26#39;d just like to second Les68%26#39;s ideas. We have been drawn back to the area from Valence to Vaison several times. it%26#39;s far less busy than other well-known places, but still has the atmosphere and weather of Provence. The markets, villages, countryside and people are lovely. Dieulefit means %26#39;God made it%26#39;, which is also lovely! We have rented a cottage in the area by the week, and have also stayed in a super B %26amp; B.I would recommend it before you move on to the more well-known places further south.
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While I%26#39;m sure Les%26#39; suggestions are wonderful, since I haven%26#39;t been to those towns I can%26#39;t comment on them. However, we did just return from a fabulous trip to Paris and Provence and can highly recommend our itinerary. We took the TGV from Paris to Avignon where we picked up a rental car and drove to St. Remy de Provence. We stayed at the incredible Le Mas Des Carassins (Look at my review under St. Remy hotels, LMDC). From this base we were easily able to explore the wonderful villages of the Luberon (including that awesome Sunday market at Isle Sur La Sorgue), Les Baux to the south and we also enjoyed St. Remy itself. We were going to Aix en Provence and Cassis but opted to have a shorter travel day and just spent our final day enjoying Les Baux and the Mas. Can%26#39;t wait to go back and see the many places we missed! Nice is also beautiful. Stayed at the Westminster Concorde on the Promenade des Anglais several years ago and we were quite happy there. Be sure to travel to Monaco for a short day trip as the route between the two places is spectacular. We did it 3 times in one trip...by car, bus and train! Make sure you sit on the right side of the vehicle as you leave Nice because you will have the best view. Enjoy yourself!
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Forgot to mention that we booked our TGV tickets from the US before we left home and saved a bundle of money!! Do a search on this forum for Morgan B%26#39;s rail booking tips. They were invaluable!
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Nice (and Cannes) is not a good place to stay in the French Riviera ( big town, not very safe..) preffer small village on the cost as Beaulieu sur Mer, Villefranche or St Jean Cap Ferrat or Antibes a little bit bigger the the 3 other and lifefull, try also Eze or some other place in the mountain is you prefer some peacefull area ST Paul de Vence La Colle sur Loup or Carros
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I%26#39;m in full accord with Les68, although most of the villages he mentions are technically not in Provence but in the Drôme--which is our very favorite area when we%26#39;re not visiting friends farther south. Dieulefit is a charming small town, and the hotel/restaurant Les Hospitaliers in the perched village of Le Poët-Laval is our favorite anywhere.
The village has been lovingly restored by the hotel%26#39;s owners, who even added a gallery/small concert hall to the complex. The village was once a stronghold of the Knights of Malta, and the ruins of their commanderie can still be seen. The village has become popular with knowledgeable French visitors but it still well of the tourist trail.
For quite a few years our usual itinerary was the TGV from Paris to the very pleasant town of Montélimar (seen on this year%26#39;s Tour de France), then Poët-Laval and Dieulefit, then Nyons. In that latter town is an excellent olive cooperative where you can buy all sorts of olive products as well as wine en vrac (bring your own bottle or jug).
From Nyons it%26#39;s a pretty drive down to Vaison-la-Romaine and its famous Roman structures. After that head for Orange via the autoroute or the road that runs through such wine villages as Gigondas and Vacqueras.
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Yes, I should have added that Montelimar, etc. are in Drome Provencale. But what my intent was is that you can start to see %26quot;Provence%26quot; from up there and descend into it...I think it%26#39;s more worthwhile than Nice for 3 days.
My husband thinks I%26#39;m nuts for giving away our %26quot;secret%26quot;!!
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Mine too!
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You people are AMAZING! Please help me!!! We are going to Provence and riding road bikes and want to stay in cool small towns/villages and have wonderful food and wine (but doesn%26#39;t everyone?). We are planning on staying in Rousillon for 2 nights and then trying to find a great place in Romaine or Suguret (any suggestions?) and then thinking of Orange/Les Baux or St. Remy (any suggestions here? we prefer 3 star within walking distance of the town center although we will have a car but then can%26#39;t drink as much wine). We are then headed down to Cap D%26#39;agde to experience that and then want to go to the Riviera but only have two nights and fly out of Marseille very early on the 2nd day. Any ideas here? We could always do one night someplace fabulous and then just stay in Marseille to fly out early if need be.
Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Tripadvisor forum replys have made all of our trips over the top wonderful and we really appreciate people who help.
Thank you!!!!
Jamie Webb
bjam15@comcast.net
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