4 nights in South of France, but where?
 

Hi,
We are flying into Paris on Monday October 8 and plan to spend the first night in Novotel airport hotel (Flight has 5:30 pm arrival) then head for the South of France, where we have never been for 4 nights, before taking the train from Nice to Genova Saturday morning.

Options I'm currently considering:
2 nights in Aix-en-Provence, 2 in Nice
4 nights in Nice
4 nights in Avignon
and ???

We are in our sixties, like art, like beauty, would be looking for 4 star hotel, maybe 5 depending. Would prefer not to rent car, generally like longer stays in one place, but not wedded to that.

Thanks for all help.

Since you have to go to Nice anyway, I'd probably do 2 days in Avignon or Aix, and then 2 days in Nice. All of those options are valid, just really depends on places you most want to see, that's all. But without a car, I probably wouldn't spend all 4 days in Avignon. You can do day trips by train or bus from there, but not to the Luberon villages (you could to Arles or Nimes or Isle-sur-laSorgue and I think there may be a bus to Pont du Gard. I probably wouldn't bother with that).

Since you only have four days and don't want a car I'd do four nights in Nice and do a few day trips. You can easily get to Eze, Villefranche, and Antibes by train and there are buses to Vence. You can also take the train to Monaco if that interests you. That would be more than enough day trips for four days since you'll want at least one day in Nice itself. I would also consider splitting the time Aix and Nice but it does mean wasting time switching hotels. My photos of all these places are here: Zenfolio Isabel's_View France

I would also do 4 nights Nice; plenty to do and easy daytrips by train from Nice.
Staying 2 nights only gives you one full day of sightseeing; so much nicer to spend 4 nights in one place, especially a place like Nice.
October could still be nice enough for a lunch on the beach. Though we've had torrential rain in October as well...

Consider spending some time in Marseille, one of the most interesting cities in France, yet it gets bad press all the time -- mostly from people who have 1) never been there or 2) haven't been there for 10 years.