rayofsun

My husband and I are planning a trip to France in the 3rd week of May and would love some advice on how to spend our days. This is what we have so far:

1st week (6 or 7 nights based outside of Paris near disneyland in a timeshare):
4-5 days spent in Paris
2 of these days will be spent adding day trips to Champagne, Versailles (or Fountainbleu) and Monet's Gardens

Questions -- We're thinking of changing our 1st week away to 6 days (4 days Paris & 2 day trips), so we can have a 3rd night in Provence below).

2nd week (Southern France)
2 nights Burgundy (based in Beaune)
3 nights in Provence (based in Arles or St. Remy)
2 nights in the French Riviera (based in Eze or Antibes)

Any suggestions for itineraries for Provence & the French Riviera would be super helpful.
The places we are most interested in are as follows. We're striving to have a balance between big city (Paris & London) and outdoorsy and active (Southern France).

Provence:
Arles
Pont du Gard (kayaking if possible)
The Camargue (horseback riding)
The Luberon (hiking)
St. Remy

French Riviera:
Eze
Cap D'Antibes

Lastly, we fly out of Nice and will then spend 4 nights in London (another big city part of our trip). I know people love Provence, so the last option would be to skip the Riviera & spend 4 nights in Provence instead of 3.

Thanks in advance for anyone who has some advice!!
Julie

DebitNM

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We are thinking of similar trip [2 weeks in Paris, then 7- 10 days in southern France and then back to Paris for another week]. The Paris part is not a problem, southern France is where we are still spinning wheels.

Look forward to replies.

StCirq

The part I don't get is the 6-7 days in a timeshare near Disneyland followed by 4 days in Paris itself punctured by two daytrips outside the city. When's there time to see Paris - the obvious major attraction - itself?

I personally would skip the Riviera and spend the time in mainland Provence (the Riviera IS Provence, too), but maybe that's just me. The coastal towns (except for Aigues-Mortes and the Camargue) don't do much for me.

just27

We used Villefranche-sur-mer as our base in the Cote d'Azure. (The Nice airport is 9 miles away). I enjoyed the coast more than the lavender fields and one-way roads up to the hill towns, so we traded a few of our Provence days for the Med. The Hotel Welcome is lovely: http://www.welcomehotel.com/index.php?lang=en

Michel_Paris

Is the time at the timeshare just doing Disney? Or just a place to stay?

voyager61

I agree...if this is your first trip to France, which it sounds like it is, definitely skip the Cote D'Azur for more time in Provence. And I am also confused by the EuroDisney focus, but maybe it's because of your timeshare situation. For me, that would be a waste of time spent near but not in Paris. On a first trip to France, I would focus on Paris, Provence and Burgundy or Normandy. The smaller Luberon villages are much more charming/relaxing as a base than the larger cities in Provence, especially as a contrast to Paris. And once you base in a Luberon village, you can easily get to all the others.

I think we need to know more about your motivations for what you have already selected...I get the active thing, and that can be accomplished with a lot of walking everywhere you go, easy to do in France.

You are going during a perfect time of year...not too many tourists, but the weather should be good.

rayofsun

To clarify about Disney. I must have written in it a confusing way. We are renting a car and staying a 25 minute drive out of Paris proper. Our intention is NOT to go to Disneyland, but just use this as our accommodations for the 1st week of our trip, which includes 4-5 days in Paris (driving in and staying the day & driving back to our accommodations) and 1-2 days with day trips outside Paris. Hopefully that makes more sense.

rayofsun

The timeshare is just a place to stay (not actually do Eurodisney).

To give you a little more info about our 'motivations,' with our trip itinerary. My husband & I want our trip to have a mix of the big city (museums, galleries etc in Paris & London), but we also love the outdoors. Our favourite vacations together have been Maui (kayaking & hiking) and Napa (wine). We used to live in LA, so we've experienced the beach. I much prefer the mountains, but my husband is a filmmaker and some of his fave films have take place on the Riviera, so he'd love to see them in person....but, we are torn about the Riviera.

After experiencing Paris, we planned to do wineries in Burgundy for 2 days and then I was hoping for our 4 remaining days in the South of France to have an outdoorsy component and nature i.e. the Camargue, Pont du Gard etc. It would be nice to have 4 days dedicated to being in the country side and any spectacular vistas you can think of...before we go to London for 4 nights & do the theatre thing & galleries.

Lastly, we are both foodies...are we missing the boat by not including Lyon in this trip?

Switzerland has crossed my mind too, but I know it's just impossible to do everything....so, I think it's best to stick to France.

This is our first trip to France together (and first trip to Europe as a couple -- we've both been separately)...so, it's hard to pick & choose. Every place I read about sounds amazing.

Thanks again for any advice!
Julie

LHarbar

Julie, I hate to be jumping on your thread, but I'm interested in very similar trip. I'm
looking to add London first for a few days, get my feet wet, I've never been overseas. Then Paris, but I'd like to end with a South of France destination. Read TA posts and looked at the Luberon Villages and look wonderful. I'm traveling solo. I would love the quiet. I had also thought about Nice, I would love the sun and sea. I'm like you, every place mentioned looks wonderful, how to decide? Can't wait to read your replies, hopefully they'll help me also. Thank you!

StCirq

<<We are renting a car and staying a 25 minute drive out of Paris proper.>>

That's a terrible idea. What are you thinking? That you'll drive into Paris a lot?

StCirq

Driving into Paris and driving out again is close to insanity.

rayofsun

StCirq - I'm thinking that I will drive into Paris in the morning & park my car in a parking lot & stay in Paris all day long and drive back to my accommodations in the evening. I have relatives who have done this and raved about how they prefer to drive a car, so you are not confined to the train schedule AND on top of that reason, my accommodations are a gift from a family member. I can't really turn down free accommodations.

rayofsun

I drove on the freeways in LA for several years -- I can't imagine it being much more insane than that.

StCirq

It IS more insane than that, and a LOT more expensive. But whatever. I think your whole plan deserves a re-think.Your relatives are nuts.

ruedebuci

The beauty of Paris is actually staying in Paris. No way in hell would I stay outside the city even if for free. Very bad idea.

rayofsun

Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely give it some thought. If anyone has thoughts/ideas for the rest of our itinerary in Southern France -- particulary Provence -- that would be amazing!

roamer

I suggest you contact Stu Dudley and ask for his Cote d'Azur and Provence itineraries. He posts on this forum frequently, and his information is very helpful. Put his name in the search box, and you will get his email address - he will email you the itineraries.

RonZ

If you persist with this plan of driving into Paris, find the nearest RER [suburban train] station, schedules on Transillion.

Also forget about Lyon. Great meals are available all over France.

Outdorsy-wise check out the Luberon.

RonZ

Provence village index:

http://www.beyond.fr/villages/index.html

sherrillmills

It's so important to be in Paris at night as it is the city of lights.....stay close in.....1st arrondisement, 4th, 5th, 6th....rent a small one bedroom apartment....less expensive than a hotel or same and you actually feel like a Parisian for a week as opposed to a tourist. Then take TGV to Provence area for a week. We are planning the same, but just today decided to do two full weeks in Paris and take day trips out. Last time we visited we loved going out at night....you must walk out on Pont Alexandre111 (the bridge at Clemenceau metro stop. It's breathtaking after dark. It's Paris! Our first trip to Paris, we stayed 12 nights in Latin Quarter....loved every minute.