Avignon/Provence/Alsace
 

Have planned about a 7-8 day period for Provence area. Can anyone give me some info on some areas not to miss. So far I have planned to go Paris to Avignon(TGV) then rent a car. Will be spending the first week in Paris.<BR><BR>2-3 days in Avignon, then maybe 2-3 days in Aix en Provence, from there I could be flexible.<BR><BR>Have never rented a car in France or been to this area. Need some tips on places to stay and if this is worth it when I am planning to go(this January). <BR><BR>Lastly, have thought about cutting Provence maybe 2-3 days short and catching the train to Strasbourg and Alsace area for a couple of days before leaving out of Paris. Has anyone spent anytime in this area either.<BR><BR>Thanks for the help and love this board! Happy holidays to all!

I personally would spend the entire week in the Provence area, specifically the Bouche du Rh&ocirc;ne (if there isn't flooding) - Arles, St-R&eacute;my, Avignon, Tarascon, and the Camargue. There is so much wonderful territory to cover there, and it's seductive to fall prey to the local predilection for slow travel and intricate inspection of each town and nook and cranny.<BR>Alsace is so completely different - and has such a Germanic thrust to it - that I don't think it would mesh well with such a trip, unless you are looking for a startlingly different venue. Plus, I don't think 2-3 days in each area would give you enough of the flavor of either region, especially if you have never rented a car in France - you're going to spend a few hours being lost here and there and trying to figure out how to get the damn thing in reverse gear, so sticking in one area may be best from this standpoint as well.

I sure wouldn't go from Provence to Alsace for logistical reasons. It's not near Provence and you'll spend a lot of time going by train from Provence to Strasbourg and then from there back to Paris (there is no TGV between Strasbourg and Paris, so you'd have to go the day before your flight). The train from Provence to Strasbourg isn't that quick, either, whatever route you take. If anything, go to Nice at the end of the trip from Avignon and Aix. That isn't far and Nice can be fun for a few days. It also fits in with Provence a little more than Alsace. It's real easy to make quick plane connections from Nice to Paris, also (I've done that in the morning when I had an afternoon flight out of France from Paris).<BR><BR>I haven't been there in January so am not sure what it would be like or if it will be worth it in January. If I had a choice, I'd save my time and money and go in better weather to see a lot of what I like about Provence.

I spent a few weeks in Strasbourg last summer and loved it - but I'm not sure it would be a the top of my list for a winter or early spring vacation. As the others have suggested, you'd probably be better off staying in the South, and save Strasbourg and Alsace for a trip to Western Switzerland or Southern Germany (e.g. the Black Forest, Heidelberg, etc.)<BR><BR>For a change of pace you could head up to Rhone-Alps (Lyon, or some of the pretty villages). This would depend on the time of year you'll be travelling. Winter wouldn't be ideal, unless you want to go skiing.<BR><BR>By the way, make sure you've got current, local information if you decide to go exploring toward Languedoc - Roussillion - the Gard and a few neighbouring departments were badly hit by flash floods in September (as devastating as the floods in Prague) - and some of the small villages might still be digging themselves out.

topper for lille, want to hear more.