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Provence or Umbria: which Countryside in Sept?

Provence or Umbria: which Countryside in Sept?

Old Feb 20th, 2016, 01:18 PM
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Provence or Umbria: which Countryside in Sept?

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Europe this Sept and will be flying into Paris. Being our first time, we want to spend time both in cities such as Paris & Rome and the countryside. We have 21 days, so we're planning to drive down to Italy and fly back.

My question is, which would make for a "better" countryside experience on our route from Paris to Rome, Provence or Umbria?

Obviously, better is subjective, so please share why you'd pick one over the other We're both about 30 but as professional wedding photographers we much prefer beautiful, historic sights & scenery over nightlife.

Thanks!
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 01:36 PM
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If you're planning on driving from Paris to Italy in a rental car and leaving the car there, think again. It will cost you a small fortune to pick up a car in one country and leave it in another, maybe as much or more than the rental itself, and it is not a particularly fun route, especially when the train and plane options are so much cheaper and easier.

As to your question, Provence and Umbria are considerably different from one another. I love them both, but for different reasons. Have you read guidebooks and looked at pictures enough to be able to distinguish how different they are?

And why do you need to get back to Paris? There's no reason to buy RT tickets to Paris for a trip like this. Buy open-jaw-tickets, into Paris and out of Rome to save a whole lot of money and time on backtracking.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 02:06 PM
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by the sound of it you've already bought "round trip" tickets to Paris, which is a shame because as St Cirq says, it would be more time efficient to Fly into Paris and out of Rome on an "open jaw" ticket [sometimes called multi city on airline websites. it's not like buying 2 singles and should not be any more than a return ticket, give or take a few $]

If you're locked into flying in and out of Paris and want to get as far as Rome, a better idea would be to fly straight to Rome and drive back to Paris, which would put you in the right place for flying home at the end of your trip but that runs into the problem that St C identifies, which is the high cost of one-way cross border rentals.

Have you considered how long you want to spend in Paris? Rome? the french/italian countryside? there are some stunning places in Umbria and Tuscany; you could pick up a car when you leave Rome and drive north, return the car at a convenient airport and fly back to Paris.

I think that if you try to include Provence in this mix you may be spreading yourselves too thin. it can be done by returning your car on the Italian side of the border and picking up another on the other side, getting the train between the two, but I think that you would find enough to occupy you in Italy to be honest.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 02:26 PM
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Thanks for the tips on open jaw & cross border rental. I have bought tickets already as I'm 6'5" and all legs and wanted business class which, from what I was finding was not as easy to afford w/ one way tickets. I'm also okay with the increased cost of one way rental as I really want the experience of driving through small towns along the way.

As far as flipping the car rental, it seems to cost considerably more to rent in Italy and take to France than vice versa.

So thanks for those tips, I'm interested to hear more thoughts on Umbria vs Provence. They both look so beautiful.

Thanks!
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 02:32 PM
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Without knowing how long you want to spend in Paris or Rome, it is hard to advise, but with 21 days, you can consider doing both Provence and Umbria. Consider flying from Paris to Italy --- either Florence or Rome -- and then rent a car and visit Umbria, then visit Rome. Fly from Rome to Marseilles, rent another car, toodle around Provence, and then take the fast train back to Paris.

Italy and France have very different cultures and very different attitudes about their countryside. Provence and Umbria each have outstanding (but again, very different) traditions of painting, from different eras, so that might be the biggest thing to consider -- unless you are solely focused on landscape and outdoor activities. Food and wine is very different too between Provence and Umbria.

If part of the fun of this trip is the idea of driving (the costs of a drop off fee may be cost competitive with air tickets), by what route were you thinking of driving to Umbria if you don't go to Provence?
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 02:34 PM
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I think there are more things to do in Provence than in Umbria. If your choice was Tuscany & Provence - then then I would recommend flipping a coin.

Stu Dudley
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 02:39 PM
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That's why I suggested driving up though Umbria and Tuscany, Stu,

or given the OP's information that it's cheaper to drive from France to Italy then from Italy To France, driving down.

But it's impossible to say whether there's time to do both Provence and/or Umbria/Tuscany until we know how long the OP wants to spend in Paris and Rome.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 02:41 PM
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We were posting at the same time.

If what you want from driving is to experience small towns along the route, then your question gets complex. There is sort of a "set tour" of smal-town Provence, and getting there from Paris, with stops along the way that are tried-and-true, many tourists having done it. But if you choose Umbria instead, then once you leave France and head into Italy, then Italy is absolutely stuffed with small towns and pretty scenery worth seeing and dawdling over. For instance, you could do a leisurely drive through Piemonte and parts of Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany -- and then drop off your car in Florence and be in Rome in 90 minutes. Or you could barrel though Piemonte and Tuscany and then toodle around Umbria if that's what you want. You could really spend all 21 days just getting from the French border to Rome, in the countryside, exploring small towns of with jaw dropping art (or food/wine, charm).
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 02:47 PM
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Okay -- I don't want to blow up this thread, and I note that Stu Dudley has included the words "I think" in his post, but the fact that Stu Dudley "thinks" there is more to do in Provence than in Umbria tells you a great deal about Stu Dudley and nothing about Umbria.

Umbria has several UNESCO world heritage sites, is the birthplace of Italian fresco art (ever heard of Assisi?), has noteworthy sights of Roman and Etruscan antiquity, chocolate, olive oil and wine/food production of world class note, the unique historic cities of Perugia and Gubbio, the battlegrounds of Hannibal, plus waterfalls, hikes, bike trails and -- one could go on and on. It is a thrilling destination for most visitors.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 03:00 PM
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If a personal opinion means anything to you, I vastly prefer Umbria to Provence. And it seems you were looking at two one-way tickets versus open-jaw/multi-city tickets. There should not be much difference in price no matter how tall your husband is. I don't think you are understanding the difference between two one-way tickets and an open-jaw ticket.

There are ways to mitigate the expense of a car pickup in one country and a drop-off in another. Check into it. Drop the car near or at a border and rent another car.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 03:07 PM
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Jeeze sandralist/Zeppole/your 4 other alias names - you never miss a chance to belittle someone, do you!! You're "one of a kind" - thank goodness.

Stu Dudley
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 03:10 PM
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Airlines (when booking reservation) don't often use the term open jaw. When you are filling info for the search for flights, it usually offers round trip, one way or multi cities.

Choosing multi cities should give you a set of boxes with "from" and "to" and you'd enter Paris as "to". Then there is a second set of boxes with "from" and "to" and you'd enter "from" Rome and "to" your home airport. The price doing this is close to Round trip and significantly less expensive than 2 one ways.

I would check change fees and if it isn't crazy expense, I'd consider changing you flight home. Just a thought....
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 03:18 PM
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Stu; Rational thought is useless with ??.

For me there is much to see in both areas and there can be differences, but for us we loved both area.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 05:44 PM
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I way preferred Umbria too, but each persons preference is just that.
Do check into multi cities, it makes much more sense.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 10:46 PM
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The nasty personal attacks and irrationality are being done by people other than me, Stu and Iris. Look in the proverbial internet mirror.

Several people have stepped in to inform the OP that Stu's personal preference for Provence is not shared by many, many, many people, and said -- as I did -- that Stu is who he and nothing wrong with stating a preference, but there is not "more to do" in Provence than in Umbria, even if Stu thinks there is. And yet dont expect Stu or Iris to attack them. Just me. Childish -- but who expects people in their 80s to change? (Also, if they OP is interested, ask Stu and Iris for their trip reports about Umbria, just to find out how much time either has spent there, and how long ago.)

But what I really came back to say is that my characterizing Umbria as the birthplace of Italian fresco art is not really accurate. It served as an incubator for many of the greatest fresco artists of the Renaissance, and their work is in abundance in the churches of Umbria, but obviously fresco art existed in Italy long before that.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 10:57 PM
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But back to your trip, baristabooth:

You may have a misimpression of what it will be like to drive from Provence to Rome if you choose Provence rather than Umbria, and it really makes very little sense for you to drive that distance if -- having used up your countryside days in Provence -- you are just heading to Rome with an overnight on the way. You will see little else but highways and tunnels, not small towns.

Even if you drive from Paris to Umbria, and skip Provence, if you have no interest in all the beautiful countryside, towns and food and wine in between, you will be committed to highway driving.

Knowing what kind of road trip or countryside experiencing you are imagining you'd enjoy might help people direct you to finding it in either Italy or France. While driving in France or Italy is not difficult, you cannot cover the distance between Paris and Umbria or Provence and Rome simply sticking to country roads.
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Old Feb 20th, 2016, 11:18 PM
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It sounds like you want feedback on the lay of the land and given your work as photogs I can see why.

I wasn't going to respond since I don't know Provence, but I've been to Umbria three times and am returning in September.

I like Perugia (ancient center on top of the hill--fab views from there of surrounding lands especially from hotels, Brufani Palace and Hotel Fortuna; Spello--lovely, lovely flowering baskets on walls, wonderful dining-- Assisi....

This September will try for Gubbio, Spoleto, or 1-2 others. Many small towns to consider and I'm sure they are discussed here on various Umbria threads. Excellent dining in Umbria, particularly if you have any interest in truffles. Assisi is remarkable, but plan for early or late to avoid crowds.

If you are heading to Rome, then consider stopping at Orvieto. We usually go by train; I believe a car will entail parking in the flat areas and taking funicular or taxi up.

Much of interest historically as well, including remnants of Etruscan civilization.

[Here's a real outlier -- look at pics of Urbino, over in Le Marche, on line; maybe it and the drive out there will tempt you a bit. I'm going there in Sept also.]

You didn't ask about Tuscany, which surprises me for first-timers to Italy since there is much spectacular scenery and of course many small towns and agriturismos. But what's not to like wherever you go?
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Old Feb 21st, 2016, 12:51 AM
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I just wanted to note that flying open jaw or multi-city is not buying two one way flights which is usually very expensive. When you look for flights there should be a link on the airlines website to select multi-city. These types of flights are generally about the same price as in and out of one city but you save the time and money of backtracking.

As for which location, I don't think you can go wrong. Very different areas but both lovely. I would spend some time with guide books. Also look at logistics with the rest of your trip. It may be that one location logistically fits better.

Enjoy you planning!
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