2 week honeymoon in France - Paris and where else?
 

I'm planning a two-week honeymoon in late May of 2018. The plan is to definitely spend the latter half of the two weeks in Paris, and to spend the first half in a region of France where we can enjoy the great outdoors, drink wine, and RELAX after our wedding.

I'm debating either the Loire Valley or the Provence region. Loire is easier to get to and would involve less travel, which is appealing as we want to minimize time spent driving/flying/riding trains. We love wine from the Loire valley, so this jumped out to us as an option immediately.

The more I research France, though, the more I worry I'm making a mistake skipping Provence. It looks stunningly gorgeous and it would be awesome to compare the topography of southern vs. northern France. My concerns are that A) it is harder to get to - not really sure how I would get there and back - and B) The area seems much larger, so between getting around from place to place and getting back up to Paris we would spend more time traveling.

Should I save Provence for a later date? Or is the Loire an equally good choice? Of course this is mostly a matter of opinion, but I am eager to hear thoughts from those who have been to these places in the past.

I'd consider hopping TGVs to Avignon-TGV station and renting a car for the heart of tourist Provence just 2.5 hours by train from Paris- IMO many more varied things for the average tourist in a compact area and in May surely nice weather vs the iffy May weather in Loire.

Research: Avignon; Arles; Pont-du-Gard; St-Remy-de-Provence; Les Baux-de-Provence; Camargue, etc - all within a compact area.

Loire countryside is IMO rather blah - castles are neat and wine areas like Vouvray and Bourgeuil are neat but you see few vines in most of Loire.

The Avignon area has wineries too - Cotes des Rhones wines are very well thought of.

Provence is sure to have nicer weather too than Loire where May can be iffy -cool and wet very possible.

Book trains either to Loire (railhead St-Pierre-des-Corps for TGV trains - car rentals around station) or Avignon at www.voyages-sncf.com - French railways site - book early for sweet discounted fares. For lots on French trains - www.seat61.com - really great info on booking your own discounted tickets online; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

>> Loire is easier to get to<<

Actually, that's not true. You can land at CDG airport and immediately take the TGV (fast train) to both Provence and the Loire. No train changes. Two trains daily. About 30-45E first class per person if you reserve 3 months in advance.

We've spent 7 weeks vacationing in the Loire and 23 weeks in Provence. The Loire is all about the Chateaux and how many you can "tolerate" visiting. Obviously, we love chateaux and never get tired of discovering new ones to visit. However, many people get "maxed-out" after about 4. The countryside in the Loire is not nearly as scenic or interesting as in Provence, IMO. Neither are the cities & villages in the Loire.

Provence is made for relaxing, laying in the sun, and doing nothing if you choose to. Or, explore Aix, Arles, Avignon, Nimes, or many of the countless "cute little hil villages" and Roman Ruins. IMO, the Cote du Rhone wine region is more interesting than the Loire wine region. In late May, the weather in Provence might be a little better than in the Loire.

Stu Dudley

Or consider the French Riviera, especially if you don't want to drive. I'd base in Nice; there are lots of excursions by public transportation from there: Monaco, Antibes, Cannes, Menton, Eze, Cap Ferrat/villa Ephrussi-Rothschild.

You could fly on to Nice or take a train.

they want to minimize travel time but yes Riviera would be so cool, especially at that time of year. Trains take 5.5 hours from Paris and flying not much less really all in all -there has been an overnight train from Paris to Nice too.

>>-there has been an overnight train from Paris to Nice too<<

"Has been" is the key word here. I don't think there is an overnight now - unless you count the 11 hr train trip. For honeymooners??? And it departs from Paris - not CDG.

Sahsa. As I mentioned earlier, we've spent 23 weeks vacationing in Provence & 21 weeks along the Cote d'Azur. Based on our experiences, I wrote a 36 page itinerary for this region that describes our favorite villages, cities, scenic drives, farmer's markets, and has a section on Provence fabric. I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Do so soon - we depart for a month in Europe a little over a week from today.

Stu Dudley

I am happy I saw a few chateaux and enjoyed learning about them, but Provence took my heart, and I saw only a bit of it.

The Loire: Huge, huge, castle-like, country homes with amazing landscaping, grounds and gardens.

Provence: A few beautiful wide avenues lined with huge trees and cafes, surrounded by narrow cobblestone streets lined with cafes and little shops that smell of lavender and lovely soaps, flower boxes overflowing with color and lacy vines, rivers, ancient Roman ruins and some arenas and bridges still in use, tiny bakeries that have divine tarts and local markets with fine cheese, meats and wonderful breads. That is just from the tiny bit of Provence that I visited.

As someone else said, Provence is super easy to get to from Paris. Take the fast TGV and rent a car once you are there.

With two full weeks on the ground, I would spend 9 nights in Provence and 5 nights in Paris.

We spent a week in Paris and a week in London. It was a good balance of relaxing and enjoying the moment, versus the hustle and bustle of the city.

Our favorite trip was two weeks in Paris, Aix en Provence (with a rental car to visit St Remy/Les Baux, the Luberon and Casis) then drove to Nice for the final few days, flying home from there.

The next year we did a combination of Paris, Normandy and the Loire Valley. I definitely preferred Provence to Loire Valley. 3 chateaus was our max. Not that I didn't like Loire Valley, but Provence wins hands down.

We spent 4 days in Loire in 2011 and enjoyed it. We did a few chateaux and enjoyed the food and wine. The weather in late May that year was quite cool. Obviously that can change from year to year.

You can see our pics here: https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

We much preferred our week in Provence in 2015. It was in July during lavender season so it will be different in May. We just loved the atmosphere and food much more in Provence. We would definitely head back to Provence but are unlikely to head back to the Loire Valley.

And our pics from Provence:
https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

Enjoy your planning!

There is not reliably nice weather on the French Riviera in May, and the water is generally too cold to swim in the sea

Good advise provided.

I have been to both, Provence about 6 times, twice in May. I would vote for Provence; although you can't guarantee good weather, it was mostly good for us. Quick train-ride on the TGV to Avignon, pick up a car.

You DEFINITELY need to read Stu's Itineraries. He kindly sent them to me last month - they are terrific :)

There is not reliably nice weather on the French Riviera in May, and the water is generally too cold to swim in the sea>

Reliably better than Loire Valley though.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I did not realize that it was so easy to take the TGV to Provence. Will definitely keep in mind!

And easy to book your own TGV tickets at a discount- many of those trains are Duplex trains - doubledeckers and when booking you can chose your seats - views from the upper decks are much better than from the sunken lower deck where views are often obscured by windblocks and rail bed walls. www.thetrainline.eu supposedly has similar fares to www.voyages-sncf.com and is a lot easier for foreigners to get to work.

We took the TGV from Paris to Provence & back to Paris this past June. The lower section is not sunken and the view are great. We don't want to ride on the upper level because hauling our bags up there is a real mess - and even more of a mess descending & waiting to get out of the train from the stairs.

Stu Dudley

https://www.google.com/search?q=tgv+...2HvXYO8UaSLJM:

Seems like the views would be a bit nicer from up above? But, if Stu says so I'll accept that but still seems nicer perhaps from more above?

Ones I have ridden had stairs going down to lower level too - are there no longer any stairs down or is lower level now flat - would make it much nicer.

I agree that Provence is much more varied than Loire. (but i have a particularly low tolerance for chateaus and manecured landscaping. Also, I love being within sniffing distance to the ocean!

>> but still seems nicer perhaps from more above?<<

Probably is!! But I just don't want to haul our heavy bags up narrow winding stairs. We travel light on clothes - but we spend a month at a time in France in Gites. I'm a major chef & I take our chef's knives, poultry shears, cheese grater, whisk, tablecloth, spatula, napkins, I-Pod docking station, cassis (long story), curry powder, apron, pepper grinder saved from the last trip, small flask of bourbon, small flask of mediera, and even some Dijon mustard for our trip to Italy next week. We've been doing this for 2 trips of one month each, for the past 19 years. Even a few years with 3 trips. It is worth the sacrifice to take these items and not get the "best view seats in the house". If you're traveling light - sure - get the upper deck.

Stu Dudley

You could fly to NCE or MRS and fly back home from CDG as an alternative. The Cote or the area in Provence near Avignon would make a nice holiday in addition to Paris. We maxed out with 4 chateau in the Loire valley than visited a very nice private zoo.