We are a family of 5 (3 boys, 11-20) travelling to France and Italy in late June/early July. We will be flying into Marseilles to meet our 17 year old who will be finishing a trip to Avignon with his HS French class. We are currently booked to stay in Mercure hotel next to palais des papes in Avignon for 2 nights and then 1 night at Fairmont in Monte Carlo (free rooms/points). Our general plan is to drive from MRS to Avignon day we arrive by mid afternoon and either see palais or pont du gard that afternoon. Whichever we don't see that pm we will visit next am. Then thought about a pm trip to Les Baux and drive back through towns nearby. The course camarguisie is in different towns those nights as well. We then would drive on the 3rd day thru St. Paul de vence/nice and stay in Monte Carlo that night. I've heard that Avignon is a little depressed (although we thought it would be easier to stay there as we need to pick our son up from there the 2nd day). Are there better town to stay in nearby (Aix? St remy?) or is Avignon ok for 2 nights? Is this itinerary too aggressive? Are there must sees with boys in these areas (pont du gard/les Baux seem to be most recommended). Also, does anyone know if the rental car we have can be driven into Italy? We are renting through Hertz and they say it can be ( we are dropping off in Italy). Thanks

Yes, you can drive your French rental car in Italy, but if you drop it off there you will incur a whopping extra fee.

You're also required to have the IDP, International Driving Permit, while driving in Italy. You can pick one up at your nearest AAA office, assuming you're from the States or Canada.

From the looks of things, it appears you haven't made any lodging reservations other than the Fairmont in Monte Carlo. Finding something available at this late date will determine where you will be spending the night.

Hi there,

I've stayed in Avignon and the south of France, Avignon is such a lovely town, especially in summer (or end of June), there are 2 Mercure hotels in Avignon, the one almost glued to Palais des Papes and another one a little bit further, which is more pleasant and quiet.

And you travel to East, you can plan to stay somewhere there too, there are many nice towns and villages there, try Vaison la Romaine, there's a holiday village, very affordable and private cabin for 5 people, http://www.escapade-vacances.com/en/vaison-la-romaine, not very far from Baux though and Marseilles.

Near Avignon, you can visit Nimes, and Uzès, there's a candy factory there, very famous if you know Haribo candies. I recommend.

Have fun.

Vaison la Romaine is nice enough to visit, but it isn't that near Avignon, and isn't to the east, it is NE (mostly NOrth). I have a feelign those kids aren't going to care about it.

Avignon is fine to stay in for 2 days, not sure why it would not be. Avignon and Aix are cities, St Remy is a village or small town. They are not comparable. I think the kids will enjoy Avignon. The only issue is there are easier places to stay with a car, but not because anything is wrong with Avignon. I hadn't heard anything about Avignon having some depression more than any other place in that area economically. It is popular with tourists, I bet it isn't empty.

Skip Monaco, which is mostly high-rise buildings. There are better places to visit, but you will be limited by where you can get accommodations at this point.