Hello! I'm looking for advice on how to split my time in Provence. My friend and I are spending 6 nights in Paris, then taking the TGV down to Provence and want to stay in the Luberon (we like Lourmarin) and do some hiking, vineyards, and visit some neat villages for a few days (we will have a car). Then go down to the Cote d'Azur and stay for a few days in Ste. Maxime and maybe do some more hiking and vineyards, beaches, and visit the glitzy spots like Nice, Cannes, and St, Tropez. Then go to Cassis for a couple days before flying out of Marseille. We will be in Provence a total of 7 nights and are not sure how to split the time? We are in our early 30s and single so we are worried staying more than two nights in the Luberon will be too quiet or that there won't be enough to do to fill more than three full days. Thoughts? Also, I may need to start a new thread but any recs on hotels in each place? We would rather not do a B&B because we think it will be mostly couples. Thanks!!!
splitting 7 nights among Luberon in Provence and Cote d'Azur
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What time of year are you going? Will you have a car? Are you flying out of Paris on your return?
We are going in late may/early June in 2013. We will have a car. Flying out of Marseille from Provence. Opinions would be much appreciated
I think the proposed itinerary is good, you will see alot of the area this way. I don't stay in hotels because my family are from the Var, but occasionally do have to stay in a hotel as we did last week, in Ste Maxime at Le Petit Prince which is a 3 star hotel, cute little hotel walking distance to the beach and the promenade and behind where all the restaurants are. It has free parking, which is something to look for when booking a hotel. Hotel le Mas des Oliviers & Le Revest are other places we considered. The coastline from Ste Maxime to Cannes etc is lovely and also from St Tropez towards Cassis (Rayol Canadel sur mer, Bormes les Mimosas etc).
Meredith...we are doing something similar in April so I will be watching this thread. We'll be flying into Marseille, renting our car, then fwo weeks later, flying out from Nice. We rented a beautiful apartment for a week in Menerbes, then on to maybe Cassis, then to the St. Paul de Vence area. My mom wanted to stay 2 weeks in the Luberon, but I was nervous that I'd go stir crazy for that long. What hotels or B & Bs are you looking at in Cassis?
Thank you for the recs. When I was looking at hotels in Ste Maxime on Friday I remember seeing la petit prince, but now I don't so I wonder if its now all booked up. I also don't see hotel le mad de soviets. Le revest looks nice though. We will definately consider it. For cassis, I have not been impressed with hotel options. The majority that look nice in my search are actually not in cassis but 8-13 km outside. I don't know anything about those villages, but thought cassis would be nice. If we do indeed stay in cassis, the only hotels that interested us were interhotel cassis and royal cottage. The only other option is b&bs which we are trying to avoid (see orig post). The b&bs look very nice though.
What about hotel la plage in Ste Maxime? Anyone stayed there?
Thank you for everyone's help. We decided on 3 nights in Lourmarin (staying at the B&B Cote Lourmarin), then 3 nights in Cannes (staying at Hotel Gray D'Albion), then 2 nights in Cassis (staying at L'Avila Cassis). We loved Ste. Maxime, but couldn't find an available hotel to our liking. Can't wait for the trip!