France 2023
 

Dear travelers,

My very 1st post on Fodors (yet very active for ages on both TA and RS forums).

I have "secured" award tickets for May of 2023 - yay to that. We are landing in Marseille and leaving from Paris 13 days later.

The very rough itinerary is something like this:
- arrive at MRS and drive to Aix or Arles or perhaps Avignon
- 4 nights at either of the above
- 7 nights in between - MY BIGGEST QUESTION
- 2/3 nights in Paris
- fly home from CDG

Re: rental car - I plan on having the rental from day number one and can return it either in Paris or Marseille or Strasbourg.

My main questions- what to for seven nights? :)) SO we have 3 options here: either do a loop Marseille - Marseille (and high speed train to Paris), or drive x-country from Marseille to Strasbourg (and high speed train to Paris), or drive x-country from Marseille to Paris. Our interest include picturesque drives, smallish and pretty towns and villages (with occasional larger city), medieval walled cities, very light hiking or walking, al-fresco authentic dining, nature and "agricultural beauty" (e.g. olive groves, vineyards, etc). Do not mind "mixing-and-matching" countries and regions.

Few additional reference points: in 2019 we spent 4 days in Alsace and totally loved it; in May of 2022 we spent 6 days touring Umbria and Tuscany (without Florence) and loved it as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated in advance!

Welcome totallyi2009!

Pre-covid and getting old info so do check, but I loved Aix as a base, however, we didn't drive. We van toured to several picturesque towns. We also took a bus to Marseilles and enjoyed it. But our hotel was next to a parking garage. Google "Aquabella hotel and spa" for details. I also loved Arles and found it more atmospheric than Avignon. You should do a 'what to see' search to see what calls out to you.

Have you considered spending more time in Paris?

Stay in Dijon and do day trips throughout Burgundy

https://flic.kr/p/7dPbUT https://flic.kr/p/7dPd3z https://flic.kr/p/7dPdQZ https://flic.kr/p/7dT8Xs
Get the Michelin map of France dedicated to les plus beaux villages de France. There are quite a few in Burgundy and the map could help you organize itineraries.

TDudette - many thanks. We have been to Paris 5+ times and love it. Just getting bit tired of large cities (even though Mrs. wants 3 nights). :)

Michael - thank you! Ordered that book already, it is in route to us :). Dijon sounds interesting.... 3 nights?

It's not a book, it's a map of France marking all the plus beaux villages on it.

Got it. I bought this one (sorry - I am brand new here and can not post URLs) -

The Most Beautiful Villages of France: Discover 164 Charming Destinations also published by Les Plus Beaux Villages De France

If you are making a transatlantic flight to Marseille, please consider NOT driving right away.Jet lag is not your friend. It is quite straightforward to get a shuttle to Aix, or a train to Arles, explore either town and rent a car a bit later. The walled town of Aigues-Mortes is an easy day driving tour from Arles.

With your interests, perhaps tour in a leisurely fashion towards, say, Lyon or Dijon — maybe not as far as Strasbourg — then drop the car and take the train to Paris. The motorway from Marrseille/Avignon to Lyon along the Rhone valley is not what I’d call picturesque, but wandering either side of it, e,g, in the Cévennes and Ardèche, or in Vaucluse and Drôme, would be highly rewarding, You’ll have plenty of ideas of your own after you scan the “plus beaux villages.”

""The motorway from Marrseille/Avignon to Lyon along the Rhone valley is not what I’d call picturesque,""

Yep - once out of Provence, it is downright depressing. Lots of commerce & nuclear power plants along the autoroute.

If you have visited Alsace - why go back? It is quite far away. There are other fabulous regions in France awaiting you. I would rate Alsace about a "B" . "A" regions (IMO), are Provence & the Dordogne. Then some "A-" regions like the Cote d'Azur, Brittany, & Languedoc. Cote d'Azur, Languedoc, and the Dordogne are not that far away from Provence. You can get back to Paris easily on a train.

See attachments.

Stu Dudley

This! Please do not drive after a long transatlantic flight for your safety and that of others. You may feel fine but you are not, it is like driving while drunk. Why not spend some time in Marseille? At least a night.

First, I'd pick Aix over Arles or Avignon (which I actively dislike). It's got the best selection of restaurants, a couple of worthy museums, and its very own beauty that neither of the other towns can come close to matching. It is big enough to offer all kinds of options of interest to the tourist, but small enough to be eminently walkable and full of little streets and unexpected pleasures as you wander around. The only drawback is that it's further than the others from the standard tourist sights like Gordes and L'Isle sur la Sorgue. OTOH it makes it much easier to get down to the Mediterranean--Cassis, Sanary-sur-Mer, Bandol, for example, the little scenic village of Le Castellet, and, a bit north, Ansouis with its chateau, Curcuron, and other towns on the south side of the Luberon.

As for where to stop en route to Paris, I suggest Burgundy for several days, if perhaps not the whole time. It's a very beautiful area with lots to see beyond the wine towns of Dijon and Beaune--rolling hills covered with vines, chateaux (Tanlay, Sully!), walled towns (Autun), and lovely small towns and villages like Noyers-sur-Serein, Semur-en Auxois, Vezelay, Auxerre, Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, and on and on. You could divide your time if you wish between southern Burgundy, allowing you to explore south of Beaune, including the medieval village of Tournus, and then spend a couple of days further north--Chablis, Auxerre, Troyes. Or you could drive up through the Drome and into the Isere, staying overnight maybe in Villard de Lans and getting a look at the toenails of the Alps, passing through small villages like Pont en Royans with its famous suspended houses over the river, and then pickig up the autoroute.

You have so many choices!!!

To all who responded - many thanks for your insights! Very valuable indeed. I have a much better rough itinerary now. Thanks again.

Marseille itself has its charms as do the other three or four southern locations. The Marseille Provence airport is situated well outside the big city with train and/or coach connections. I suggest looking up the airport's very useful website for advice on ground transport
https://www.marseille-airport.com/
.
If you want some time in the north, by way of contrast, Strasbourg will provide it. Quaint and historic mixed with the bustle of government prosperity. The high-speed train runs frequently to Charles de Gaulle or Gare de l'est so you could turn in your car a few days early.