laurieco

DH and I will be arriving in Barcelona on September 5, and have a rental car from the 6th to the evening of the 13th. The plan is to stay in Barcelona the first night (9/5) and drive to the south of France on the 6th, stay for seven nights, and back to Barcelona on the 13th, for two nights, and fly home the 15th. I have the first night in Barcelona booked, a hotel we stayed at before and liked, and I finally got around to booking the rental car today. Now I'm putting together an itinerary for France. I thought we would drive to Nimes, stay there for 2, maybe three nights, and end up in Aix-en-Provence for the last two or three nights, with a night or two in either Arles or Avignon before heading to Aix. The distances do not seem to be great between places, even between Nimes and Aix. This way, we can do day trips while based in the three places we will be staying. Does this sound like a decent itinerary to you? I wish we had more time, but I booked the JFK-BCN tickets back in January and got a great deal ($400 round trip, non-stop on Delta). Staying longer would have added a lot of money to the flight, so this is what we have to work with. Ideas? Suggestions?

27again

Avignon is a very interesting place but don't try to drive inside the old city walls. From personal experience I can tell you it's a nightmare of tiny twisting dead end streets.

If you are at all into wine, it's worth the hour's side trip from Avignon to Chateauneuf du Pape just to bag a couple bottles of their special white wine! Amazing stuff! And a nice little town with nice people to show you around their vineyards as well as the fancier ones out in the country.

Arles has a HUGE market once a week if you can find out when that is and work your schedule around it. There are a couple of nice hill towns around there worth visiting. Unfortunately there is also a totally didneyland touristville one as well and I can't remember the name of it, tho St. Remy is sticking in my head for some reason.

Please just try to start every conversations with Bonjour or pardonnez moi, and wait your turn like everyone else and you won't offend anyone.


In fact you might make friends!

Best of luck!

laurieco

Thank you 27again (wish I was 27 again!). Now I'm trying to figure out if we should spend 2 or three nights in Nimes. We are both very into wine, we get regular shipments from two wine clubs, so your suggestion is a welcome one.

StCirq

Three nights in Nîmes would be a bit much for me, though it's worth a visit. Have you looked at Uzès? Not too far afield and a lovely town.

The enormous Arles market is Saturdays. Arles is a fabulous jumping-off point for the Camargue, which is well worth a good long daytrip.

StuDudley

You are only staying in large cities. The beautiful countryside & small villages is what keeps us returning to Provence (22 weeks so far). Have you considered staying in the Luberon, up north near Vaison or Uzes, or a smaller town like St Remy? We never enjoy driving into or out of either Aix or Avignon. In Avignon, there is a lot of ugly urban sprawl that doesn't fit my "image of Provence". Same with Aix. Nimes is not one of our favorites either.

I would take the train to Nimes - instead of driving 4 1/2 hrs with the sun in your face in the morning. There are 4 daily departures that take 3 1/2 hrs and its a lot more restful than driving. Except for the brief stretch on the Spain/France border - the drive is a tad boring.

Do you have my 36 page Provence & Cote d'Azur itinerary? I've sent it to well over 3,000 people on Fodors. It describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, cities, markets, restaurants, etc. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

Christina

I enjoyed visiting Nimes for the day, don't know what it would be like longer, but I definitely agree that your 3 places to stay are all larger cities, so I'd vary it with a smaller place in the middle. Besides, Nimes and Arles aren't very far apart, I definitely wouldn't stay in both of those. I would not choose Uzes due to its location, I'd choose something in-between Nimes/Arles and Aix.

laurieco

Thanks for the feedback, it is appreciated. We won't be taking the train, we are renting a car and driving from Barcelona. I booked a hotel for two nights in Nimes, but it isn't in the city, it's outside.

What I want to avoid is moving to a different hotel every night, which is why I figured 2 in Niems, one or two somewhere else, and either 2 or 3 in Aix, but not right in the city. I am also interested in the countryside and would be using where we stay as a jumping off point to take day trips.

Any other small villages you would suggest for a night or two between Nimes and Aix?

Stu, I will email you. Thanks.

laurieco

Uzès looks lovely. I'm looking into spending a night there after the two in Nimes.

StuDudley

You are still moving around way to much - especially if you don't want to change hotels often. You can stay in St Remy & easily visit Nimes, Arles, Avignon, Pont du Gard, Uzes, and the Luberon. Even Aix is only 1 hr away.

You are visiting lots of cities. Read the section of my itinerary about shops & other places being closed on Sunday and also Monday mornings. Lunch too.

Also, Nimes is not a good base because it is too far from the sites most people want to visit. It's also a tad tough getting in & out of Nimes. Nimes is 1 3/4 hrs from the Luberon, 1 hr 20 mins from Aix, and 1 1/2 hrs from Vaison on a non-scenic route.

Stu Dudley

Underhill

If you're renting a car in Spain and returning it in France you'll pay a huge premium. Check into that before making any commitments.

laurieco

I already booked the hotel in Nimes and it is non-refundable so we are there for 2 nights. We are interested in the Roman temples, aqueduct and archaeological finds, which is why we wanted to go there. We are not staying IN Nimes, but near it. It is supposed to be in a good area for visiting what we want to see, and is a small boutique place that looks very charming. If it turns out to be a mistake, oh well, live and learn, but I can't worry about it now.

I will look into staying in St. Remy for 2-3 nights, and somewhere else for the final nights. When I say Aix, I don't mean IN Aix, but someplace in the general area so suggestions for that would also be welcome. Thanks so much for your help, this is why I turn to the experts on Fodor's. I've been to Paris over a dozen times, but this is the first time to the south of France for us. Actually, I was in Nice back in 1970, I was a young teen (turned 14 in Paris) on a 22 day trip to Europe with my parents. I remember going to the beach, and going to Monte Carlo for an evening. I tried to sneak into the casino and got thrown out, so me and a few of the other teens who were on the tour hung out watching a movie from outside a drive-in while our parents gambled. I don't remember much else, but I have no desire to go back to Nice or M.C., at least not on this trip.

We are returning the car to Spain, to the same place where we pick it up. We're spending our last two nights in Barcelona. I had asked DH if he wanted to take the train to France and rent a car while there, but he wanted to drive from Barcelona so that's what we're doing. The car is reserved but not paid for yet and we got a pretty good deal. DH likes to drive, what can I say.

StCirq

27again mentioned a Disneyland touristy place that he thought was St-Rémy, and I have to agree with him, though it seems to have loads of appeal for loas of people. Look into staying somewhere close by but without all the hype, like Mausanne.

Or maybe break up the drive from Barcelona and stay in Collioure or Port-Vendres for a night, then go along the coast, visit the Camargue and then inland.

StuDudley

I would not stay in Mausanne, Uzes, or St Remy if you are also staying in Nimes. They are too close together & you won't gain "access ease" to other areas in Provence by just staying in that one smallish area. Stay in the Luberon or up by Vaison la Romaine. Also, IMO the only reason a first-timer should stay in or near Aix is so that you can explore Aix. It's our favorite large city in Provence (we were there a month ago). The sites most people want to visit are pretty far from Aix - as compared to a base in St Remy, Luberon, or Vaison.

Stu Dudley

Leely2

<i>Or maybe break up the drive from Barcelona and stay in Collioure or Port-Vendres for a night, then go along the coast, visit the Camargue and then inland.</i>

This is what I would like to do someday, but if your hotel in Nimes is prepaid, does that mean you don't have time to overnight somewhere on the way to Nimes first? Could they move your stay by a day or two?

I have only been to this area via train (years ago), but your trip seems appealing to me, so I look forward to reading about it once you've decided.

laurieco

No, we can't change the reservation in Nimes so that will be the first stop. Apparently, the drive from Barcelona is less than 4 hours, but I expect it to take longer.

StuDudley

I have received two speeding tickets by radar on the route from Barcelona to Nimes. It's pretty boring, so you'll be inclined to drive fast. In perfect conditions, it four hours. But add time for:
- Navigating in & out of a large medieval city (Barcelona) that was developed centuries before cars were invented. Nimes is not a big problem
- Stops for pottie breaks, back up at border crossing (checking for terrorists or illegal stuff), backs up at toll booths, the unavoidable "deviation" where everyone is funneled into 1 lane & traveling as fast as the slowest truck, food/gas. I would "budget 4 1/2 to 5 hrs for the trip. Slower on the return trip because driving into a big city is more difficult than driving out.

Stu Dudley

laurieco

I assumed it would be at least five hours. Driving back to Barcelona will be from the last town in France that we will be in. Somewhere east of Nimes and closer to Aix I would think.

yestravel

We got the same $400 airfare and will be in Provence in September also. I agree that you should consider finding a small town that appeals to you and stay there with day trips. For one location I picked it based on a small BnB I found that I liked -- there are many from which to choose. We've never been to the Carmargue & plan a day trip there from Marseille. Ive heard its very different and beautiful. Collioure is a sweet town. If you are into wine I would definitely spend some time in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Have a great trip!

tom_mn

Nimes is a nice interesting town so a day and two nights spent there is great, don't change that. If you add time here you can explore other Languedoc sites like Pont du Gard and Uzes and nearby Arles or Avignon which are just over the border in Provence.

Then choose a more eastern location like L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue for the other nights, or east into the Luberon Valley (if that is really even a term, the valley that starts just east of L'Isle) with the major tourist sites like Gordes in it. Then you are in position for other great sites to visit but a 2 hour drive from Nimes.

Avoid staying in Avignon for the reasons already mentioned: too close to your Nimes base and then the suburbs, at least the southern edge which is kind of a focal point for vehicle circulation crossing Provence, have heavy traffic and are quite ugly.

Judy

If you like wine, we booked an afternoon tour at Chateau de Beaucastel in Chateauneuf-du-Pape (excellent tour and tasting).

The Perrin family, who owns Beaucastel also owns l'Oustalet restaurant in Gigondas. They offered a tasting menu for lunch based on the Perrin wines in the area. It was the best meal we had in Provence that trip.

We used Uber quite a bit last year when we stayed in St Jean Cap-Ferrat and found it much less expensive than at home. We used Uber whenever we didn't want anyone (we were a group of 6) to have to be the driver.