I’ve spent the past few weeks reading posts but now need some advice. We will be visiting our daughter in Perigueux in May and the 3 of us have 14 days to travel southern France. We fly into Bordeaux, get rental car and drive to Perigueux where we will tour the area (Sarlat, Bergeron, canoe, bike, hike and visit caves) for 3 days before setting out for Provence and the coast of the Mediterranean. Plan to drop car and take train to Paris for our last 4 days before flying out of CDG.

Places I want to see in the south are Montpellier, Marseilles, Aix, Arles, and Avignon. Thought we’d drop car in Lyon and catch train there to Paris. We are fairly active people and hope to do some of the activities mentioned above in addition to touring cities and small towns. We love historical sites and maybe a few art museums because we’ll get our fill of museums in Paris. I could see visiting a vineyard or two but am not interested in daily vineyard tours. We like eating out in the evening and I do research to find the least expensive restaurants that serve great local food.

My first question is what is the most scenic route between Perigueux and Montpellier? I was thinking of driving from Brive to La Malene to visit the Gorges du Tarn and then down to Montpellier. Drive along the coast to Marseilles and then up thru the Provence area. My other thought was taking the more western route thru Albi and stopping at some of the towns on the way. Any thoughts?

Forgot the 2nd question. Where should we base our time in Provence? Thought we'd spend 1 night in Montpellier, 2 nights in Marseilles and the other 3 nights more centrally located in Provence area so that we can drive in all directions to tour during the day. We aren't going to Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez, having been there before.

I've done this drive countless times, countless ways, and there are many wonderful options. But first, how much time are you planning to allot to the actual drive between Périgueux and Montpellier? Of course you can do it in a day, but you could also spend 4 or more easily.

And by Bergeron do you mean Bergerac? If so, you don't want to get set up in your base in Périgueux and then go back to visit Bergerac. Just skip through it on your way from Bordeaux to Périgueux, get out and walk around for an hour, then keep going. Not much going on there compared to the Périgord Noir.

Don't forget to visit Millau and Roquefort. I made a report about using the back roads from Montpellier to Millau, but there's nothing stopping you from taking similar roads in the opposite direction! ;-)

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...way-around.cfm

Sorry, meant Bergerac. And it was to go to a local winery that had great wine prices! Not a must-do. We planned to leave Perigueux very early morning and hoped to get to Montpellier by night. Staying along the way overnight may be an option.

There are great wine prices absolutely everywhere - assuming you mean around 5 euros for a nice Bergerac white or red or rosé - I wouldn't take time out from a 3-day excursion for that.

Getting from Périgueux to Montpellier via the Gorges du Tarn, plus seeing some of the lovely places along the way, will be a very long day. I've done it many times in a day, but minus the Gorges du Tarn (which is slooooowwww going). The route I'd take would be Périgueux to Brive to Figeac (well, worth a stop) to Rodez (also worth a stop), then do the circuit of the Gorges du Tarn, then get back on the A75-E11, go over the Millau Bridge (stop in Millau as well), then straight south to Montpellier. If you cut out the Gorges du Tarn, go from Rodez to Albi to Castres, through the Parc du Haut Languedoc to Béziers, then up to Montpellier.

If you do decide to spend a night along the route, I can highly recommend this place in St-Privat, just outside Florac: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...oussillon.html
The owner is the brother of a well-known chef in the St-Rémy area, and clearly got the cooking gene too.

Thanks so much StCirq. I've come to the right source. So helpful!