25 nights road trip in july (France and North West Italy)
 

What do you think about that for a 25 nights road trip in july :

Arrival in Bordeaux (2 nights)
Pyrénées (3 nights)
Carcassonne and Narbonne (2 nights)
Nîmes (4 nights)
Luberon (3 nights)
Nice (2 nights)
Coastal Liguria (only the first part after Monaco and before Genoa 3 nights)
Turin (3 nights)
Vanoise mountains (2 nights)
Lyon (1 night…we have already been there last year)

return home !

​Based on but a few visits to these places, I'd suggest that you:

• cut Nimes by a night;
• combine Nice and Monaco;
• two nights in Genoa; and
• stay 2 nights in Turin;

Others can agree or clarify. Changing hotels/towns can cost at least one-half a day in travel.

Pyrénées (3 nights)
Carcassonne and Narbonne (2 nights)
Nîmes (4 nights)
Luberon (3 nights)
Nice (2 nights)
Coastal Liguria (only the first part after Monaco and before Genoa 3 nights)
Turin (3 nights)
Vanoise mountains (2 nights)
Lyon (1 night…we have already been there last year)

I'm having problems with your itinerary because it uses nights to define items that have geographical distances. For example, two nights in the Pyrenees means what? One night stays in two different locations or a single location stays with a day trip for the full day between the two nights? What does two nights Carcassonne and Narbonne mean? One night in each and a day of travel in between? Same question about coastal Liguria.

I don;t think that you need four nights in Nimes. Two nights will be sufficient. Give Nice another night.

Unless policies have changed, you cannot decline the CDW and use your credit card to protect yourself from damages to your car when driving in Italy. Call Autoeurope about this issue. Declining the CDW would otherwise represent a substantial savings.

Hi ! I know my answer is not very precise. It was only a Quick Draft. In the Pyrénées we could base ourselves in Argeles-Gazost. It would also be 2 nights in Narbonne. For Liguria we still have to read more about that region before making a choice.

Thanks a lot about the cdw. We didnt know that. We thought that the rules in the rental country stay for the whole trip.

""We thought that the rules in the rental country stay for the whole trip.""

Nope. The rules for the country and your CC issuer dictates the CDW situation. Italy requires CDW purchased with the rental. My CapOne Master Card does not cover CDW in Italy. It does in France. So if you decline CDW in France (and have your CC cover CDW), and drive the car in Italy and have an accident - you are toast!!!

Check with your CC company - my info is pre-COVID and may have changed.

Many moons ago, we rented a car in Italy & took the CDW from the rental company. We drove the car to Monaco/France and picked up a second French rental with CDW provided by our CC. Then we drove both cars back to Italy, returned the car, put all our luggage in the French car, & proceeded back into France.

Nimes is our least favorite large city in the Provence region. We've spent 26 weeks vacationing in Provence.

You had better make reservations soon. No telling how the Olympics are going to impact France - perhaps shoving residents & visitors to Paris out of Paris & to "elsewhere" in France & Italy. We are going in June & Sept.

Attached is my Pyrenees, and Provence & Cote d'Azur itineraries. Also a write up about making an accident claim with the CC company.

Stu Dudley

hi

Nimes is our least favorite large city in the Provence region

and it is not in the Provence. But it could be a good base to visit the eastern part of Occitanie.

Nimes is fine for daytrips to
Arles
Aigues Mortes - Ste Marie
St. Remy - Glanum https://www.site-glanum.fr/en
Les Baux de Provence
Grotte de Chauvet https://en.grottechauvet2ardeche.com/
Pont du Gard
Orange
Avignon