driving from paris to aix and then to nice

i had posted subject of the train to these locations and want to know if driving is a good alternative. What are the roads like, i.c. highways or secondary roads.? Also, length of travel between locations?

We would be leaving the tour in Paris. Shoud car rental be from the airport or in Paris?

Thanks

|||

The drive is pretty long, gas is expensive and so are tolls. Unless you have a lot of people in your group, the train is probably cheaper (and a lot faster).

The autoroute is fine, very well paved, etc. But there%26#39;s not a lot to see from the autoroute.

If I were you, I%26#39;d take the train to Aix, and then rent the car there to explore Provence and get down to Nice.

|||

Generally speaking the roads are in very good state as it is almost 98% of highway.

In your particular case I will say that taking the car from Paris to Aix en Provence is a big hassle:

- Going out from Paris by the Periph is always difficult (too much trafic and you can get lost - I have a friend who did the tour of Paris by periph once....)

- It is more than 760 km between Paris and Aix so more than 6 to 7 hours drive....Not worth it if you don%26#39;t have much time.

- Don%26#39;t forget that you will need to pay around 50 euros for the toll.

On the other hand, driving from Aix to Nice can be a pleasant experience if you decide to take the longest way, i.e.: by the coast:

- You can drive from Aix to Marseille and the follow the coast up to Nice. You can visit on your way nice mediterannean cities such as Cassis, Saint Tropez or Cannes.

- The shortest way straight from Aix to Nice is around 180 km so 2 hours drive and the longest way (without stops) is more around 300km so 4h drive....

Hope this is helpful.

|||

Thanks, I think the best thing would be to train it to aix, rent a car there and drive to Nice.

Again thanks

|||

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;i had posted subject of the train to these locations and want to know if driving is a good alternative.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

A car travels at 70mph. The train travels at 200pmh. Enough said.

|||

Driving routes, time estimates:

viamichelin.fr/viamichelin/…MaHomePage.htm

http://www39.mappy.com/

France rail map, schedules, tickets:

…raileurope.com/map_of_europe/france.html

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

|||

ajeleonard

The speed limit on French Autoroutes is 130kph around 80mph not 70 as in the UK.

Also the TGV goes slowly after Marsaille and Aix as there is no fast track.

Otherwise I agree with everybody else it is a long boring drive on the autoroute.

|||

IMO driving only makes sense if you have at least three or four days to make the trip by car so that you can stop and visit some of the many places worth seeing along the way. If you are just going to race by them at 130 km/h you%26#39;d be better off travelling at more than twice the speed and with less than half the stress by TGV.

I%26#39;d go to Avignon TGV and pick up a car there. Advance purchase 2nd class fares are as low as 25€ and the trip takes just a little over 2.5 hours.

|||

130 KPH !!!

I always took it to be 130 MPH. I wondered why so few cars passed me.

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 12:25 am, August 14, 2009