JJshel

My husband and I are planning our first trip to Europe in May. There are so many amazing cities to see we are having trouble deciding where to spend our time. Wondering if any avid travelers have some advice for us.

Our tentative plan is to fly into Barcelona and stay two nights and take the morning train on the third day from Barcelona to Avignon. Based on my research we would arrive in Avignon in the afternoon where we plan to rent a car and head out to a possible base outside of Gordes (40 min. from Avignon). We want to spend 5 nights in France before taking the train back to Barcelona for the night before our return flight home.

We like smaller villages and off the beaten path destinations. Is Avignon worth a visit?

I think this might be too many stops...any suggestions on what cities we can remove? Perhaps Marseille?

I isle sur la sorgue
St. Remy de Provence
Aix En Provence
Marseille
Cassis
Eze

I appreciate any insight you can provide. The more I research the more cities I want to go

macanimals

My first impression is although we have enjoyed Barcelona, your itinerary does not lend itself to including Barcelona--you are giving it short shrift in an effort to include too much of Provence. A one week trip which tries to include Avignon, St Remy, Eze, Marseille, Aix, Cassis and the rest is just too much in too short a time. I appreciate the desire to visit all these places but not in this same short trip.

Consider flying into Marseille and out of Nice--it will save time and backtracking. Save Barcelona for another trip or concentrate there. Check your driving distances and times and allow for time to enjoy and savor your visits. Its no good to rush to someplace only to leave and rush to another.
Good luck.

iowamom

Ditto what macanimals said. Especially based on your comment that you enjoy smaller villages - skip Barcelona on this trip. Less than 48 hours in Barcelona just isn't enough, IMO! And don't discount jet lag either!

Another interesting town to visit is Les Baux - castle ruins on the top of a plateau.
http://www.lesbauxdeprovence.com/home.html

StCirq

Why would you fly into Barcelona, spend one jetlagged day and then another, and then bounce off to France, only to come back for a final day in Barcelona?

First off, I'd skip Barcelona on this trip. You just aren't giving it enough time to warrant going there. Second, if you absolutely MUST see both Barcelona and all those places in France in such a short time, stay longer in Barcelona at the beginning of the trip and fly home from France; i.e., don't go back to Barcelona just to fly home.

I'm not even going to address your France plans except to say I hope you're not planning to bounce around Provence, too, changing venues every night or two.

voyager61

You have an ambitious agenda for 8 nights...and it's interesting that you are flying into Spain but spending most of your time in France. But you may have your reasons. Since Barcelona is a big city, I would spend the majority of my time in Provence right in the Luberon around Gordes...for only 5 nights you really only need to drive around the little hilltop villages there, Gordes, Goult, Roussillon, LaCoste, Menerbes, Isle sur La Sorgue, Bonnieux. Rent the movie "A Good Year" with Russell Crowe..it was filmed in the Luberon. The Luberon is relaxing, rural, but has amazing restaurants and beautiful hilltowns in which to walk and see the sights. You could do Avignon, since you are having to fly in there, but I wouldn't add anything else but soaking in the ambience of the Luberon.

I think this will be a nice contrast to Barcelona...forget Marseilles, etc.; you will be in a kind of paradise just living the Provencal life near Gordes.

voyager61

Oops...I meant train into Avignon.

JJshel

Thank you for the reality check. I knew I had too many cities on the list and was looking for advice on what to remove from the itinerary. Based on voyager61's suggestion, I think we'll remove Marseille and just visit Avignon while picking up the rent a car. We are flying into Barcelona because it offers by far the cheapest flight option. We've looked at alternatives in Paris, London, Nice, Bourdeux, and Turin. It sounds like a lot, but I'm hoping since all the cities are less than about an hour and a half from each; day trips over the course of 5 nights will be fine.

Thank you again, appreciate the feedback!!

TravelinFeet

I'm with Voyager but

OH NO! Do not try to drive in Avignon, unless you have a REALLY good sense of humor. (I do and I start laughing the minute I think about it.) Ever been to Venice? Imagine streets like that with cars trying to drive in them! Lots of tiny dead end streets where you suddenly discover you're going to have to back out, because there's not enough room to turn around.

Visit the old city, THEN rent your car in the new part of the city, and you'll be fine.

BTW keep checking the airfares, mine went down by about 40% in the same day. I'm flying into Nice and out of Rome for barely $1000 (and out of Sacramento -- not needing to drive in to San Francisco saves me both time and money).

My daughter (then 14) and I did the drive from Paris down the Rhone River to Cannes and we both loved it. Those little towns are great -- but screw up your courage to stop at the tiny places along the way with signs for ironworkers (I can't think of the French word this second) and at the tiny town markets. people are really really nice if you just make an effort with the most basic of French... and in the little non-touristy towns they love the chance to practice their English -- just be humble! And the vineyards. Try to stop at least at one.

Enjoy!

TF

isabel

If you really want to fly in and out of Barcelona I suggest you look at some small towns in Spain and France that are closer to Barcelona than the area of Provence you are considering. I did a trip a couple years ago, starting and ending in Barcelona that included Besalu and Cadeques Spain and Ceret, Collioure, and Carcassone France. There are several other great looking small towns that we didn't have time for but that are in that geographic region. We rented a car at the Barcelona airport (to avoid driving in the city itself) and also returned it there. It was quite easy. That makes more sense to me than taking a train trip to Avignon that would eat up most of two of your eight days. I've been to most of the towns on your list and while they are very enjoyable, the towns closer to (and in) Spain are just as good. If you really want to see Provence and the Cote d'Azure you really should fly into Nice or Marseille, or have more than 8 days from Barcelona.

Here's my trip report about the towns I mentioned and Barcelona, perhaps it will give you some ideas. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-france.cfm

Kwoo

TravelinFeet,
Just curious, what month are you going to Italy and France? That's an excellent airfare. I ask because we are plannng a trip to France late July/early Aug (dates are not flexible) & airfares right now are much higher, especially non-stop from the East Coast. I'm afraid if I wait the prices will increase due to fuel costs.

JJshel, I agree with Isabel. Partly due to her trip report, we traveled along the Costa Brava (north of Barcelona) & stayed in Cadaques & Girona, & also visited Besalu. We didn't have the time to visit France, but the towns along the Costa Brava & in the Pyrenees are beautiful & a nice contrast to the big cities. We spent 5 days in Barcelona. You won't see much at all in 2 days. I would choose either Spain or France for such a short trip.

greg

I am curious about your flight arrangement. Were you interested in lowering only the flight cost or the total cost of the trip? If you are interested in lowering the total cost of the trip, you will have to add transportation cost back and forth and the hotel stay to use an airport remote from your real destinations. Additionally, there is an opportunity cost in the time used up to connected to a remote airport that could have been use to visit other places you really wanted to go.

Also, when people look at open-jaw flights, people might look up two one-way legs and freak out at the prices displayed. They should be looking at a multi-city pricing which is close to the round trip prices to either airport.

I have seen itineraries where people land in Amsterdam in order to visit Provence or land in London to visit Italy. Sometimes the posters have done extensive analysis to conclude that additional cost in traveling to/from the actual destinations and the loss of 1~2 days in doing so was worth doing. Other times, the posters were unaware just how costly and time consuming to connect to the actual destinations.

JJshel

I realize I wont see much in Barcelona in two days, but that's okay; I really want to get to the Provence/Luberon area as this is my dream vacation and I probably wont ever go again. The train is 4.5 hours from Barcelona to Avignon and it looks like it's only $50-$60 one way...still a cheaper option than flying into a closer city in France like Nice. It gets in about 1:30pm. Perhaps I'm too cheap...
It sounds like many of you think 5 full days (non travel days) wont be enough in france. hmmmm. it may be, but a short trip is better than no trip, right?

Thanks for all the ideas. Good things to think about!

cigalechanta

My only suggestions are why cities when there are so many exciting villages to see, like the perche ones.























I hope you will have a small car to visit the beautiful
perche villages and see the Provencal life in the villages.

Roger1x

As someone who has flown into Barcelona and gone on to spend most of my vacation in France, I would suggust, if possible, to head at once to France and then spend your last 2 or 3 nights in Barcelona.

suze

If you are determined to fly into Spain to go to France, I do agree with the suggesion to go direct on. Don't put Barcelona both at the start AND at the end of this very short trip.