France Itinerary - Need Help!
 

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are new to this forum. We are excitedly planning our long awaited honeymoon to France (we had to postpone our wedding and trip three times since COVID).

We are have booked are looking to book our flights for mid-July. So far, our itinerary is:

July 15th:
Arrive in Paris at 8:10am, take TGV train to Annecy. Arrive around 4:30pm.
Stay in Annecy

July 16th:
Visit Massif des Bauges and Chartreuse Mountains
Stay in Annecy

July 17th:
Visit Chamonix/Mount Blanc
Stay in Annecy

July 18th:
Depart Annecy, take TGV train to Avignon. Arrive around 3:50pm.
Stay in Avignon

July 19th:
Explore Avignon
Stay in Avignon

July 20th:
Take rental car from Avignon to Arles to explore half day
Explore Les Baux-de-Provence in afternoon
Stay in Avignon

July 21st:
Take rental car from Avignon to Gordes
Explore Luberon
Stay in Avignon

July 22nd:
Explore Aix-en-Provence
Stay in Avignon

July 23rd:
Explore Aix-en-Provence
Stay in Avignon

July 24th:
Take rental car to Cannes
Stay in Cannes

July 25th:
Explore Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Cannes
Stay in Cannes

July 26th:
Take TGV train from Nice to Paris
Explore Paris
Stay in Paris

July 27th:
Explore Paris
Stay in Paris

July 28th
Explore Paris
Fly out from Paris in the evening

My question for those of you who have visited these areas.. is there anything you would recommend removing, adding, or rearranging about our trip? We are open to any suggestions.

Thank you so much for all of your help!

Best regards,
Juliana Foster

If you’ve already booked accommodation with parking in Avignon, so be it. You will, however, be competing with all the Avignon festival goers for restaurants.

The countryside or a smaller town would be a better base with a car. And, seeing as you’re on your honeymoon, what about a chateau?

https://www.relaischateaux.com/us/de...edoc-provence/
https://castle-hotels-guide.com/avignon/

as for what to add or subtract, hard to say without knowing what you like to do. “Explore” is not a very specific word.

We drove up to Gigondas. Lovely little town, 45 min drive NE from Avignon.
Great restaurant in the middle of town: L'Oustalet.

We also stayed in a small town above Cannes with a beautiful view: Las Mas Candille in a very cute town called Mougins.

Avignon and Cannes are nice - but touristy. Avignon has interesting history with the Pope's castle. Cannes has a lot of very wealthy people and if you want to wealthy people-watch, or shop for 20k necklaces, and pay admission for a tiny plot of beach to sit on, that's great. But we prefer the little towns.

Thank you so much for the wonderful advice! We hadn’t booked a hotel in Avignon yet, so booked Le Vieux Castillon after looking through the links you provided.

We are so appreciative for all your help.

I’ll make note to add Gigondas to our itinerary! I think we’ll prefer the smaller towns too. We chose to stay in a Castillon-du-Guard instead of Avignon, and booked a hotel in a small town outside of Nice instead of Cannes.

Yay! I am so happy you have changed your hotel destinations.
I am not a fan of Cannes at all. We stayed in Villefranche-sur-Mer which we loved. We had a beautiful water view and it actually has a small strip of a beach which is actual sand instead of the pebbles you will see many places. Eating outdoors on the water there is lovely. I would consider taking a day from the Avignon area and adding it over here.

FTOttawa, what a great link! Le Vieux Castillon looks dreamy and what a honeymoon location should be.
Congratulations and enjoy!

We stayed in Sarrians, about half an hour from Gigondas and made 2-3 trips there. Do make time for a meal at l’Oustalet, you’ll need to reserve in advance. There’s a wine coop on the square where you can taste and buy the lovely Gigondas wines.

The Dentelles de Montmirail circuit from Gigondas is gorgeous, you drive round the mountains and stop at several little towns along the way. Sablet, Seguret and Vaison-la-Romaine were the highlights, with Roman ruins to explore. We keep wanting to go back, don’t know when it’s going to happen, especially since there are so many other places to explore too…

July 22 is a Saturday. Arles had a large Saturday market, which you might want to take into account.

I would substitute Nice for Cannes if you want a better small city to stay on the Riviera. Or stay in charming Antibes.

Glad for your decisions, Juliana. I suspect you will find plenty to enjoy around Castillon-du-Gard and your new choice near Nice. Don’t be afraid to save Aix-en-Provence for another time; it’s a bit far. Your concierge at the hotel will no doubt have great tips on villages to enjoy.

Though you might also like to browse the Plus Beaux Villages de France web site for ideas.

We love Chamonix and Mont Blanc. We traveled by bus between Chamonix - Annecy and Annecy - Lyon. The bus had better schedules and was much cheaper. Please be aware that if you plan to take the cable car up from Chamonix to Aguile du Midi on Mont Blanc, the wait can be long and you should try to book ahead.

I’d fly into Geneva and take the bus to Annecy.

Since you are now staying near Nice, I would also visit Eze and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. There is a wonderful 3 mile hiking path around the perimeter of Cap Ferrat, very easy and beautiful.

Joannic:
There are no convenient fllights from CDG to GVA (most of them start at ORY). So the Lyon bound TGV is the best solution.
The arrival at Annecy will be at 15.15 by train (with a train change at Chambery) or at 15.35 by Flixbus (with a ttain change at Lyon Part Dieu).).

Sorry that I wasn’t clear, I meant fly into Geneva as your initial landing instead of CDG. Is that possible from wherever your flight origin is?

Have you been to Paris before? If not, 2 days in Paris won't be enough. I'd skip Cannes and head to Paris earlier, so you can fully experience its magic. (And if you're so inclined, you could do day trips from Paris - see the chateaux or the vineyards in the Loire Valley, visit the champagne houses in Reims, go to Versailles, etc.)

Glad you are not staying in Avignon. The Sat market in Arles is fantastic! BTW, depending on your location, train is easy into Arles. And there is a bus to Les Baux.
Aix is beautiful, if you can fit it in.

Thanks for the recommendation of Villefranche-sur-Mer. What a beautiful place! We’ll be sure to stop by during our time in Nice.

That’s always the hardest part of traveling. I fall in love with towns everywhere and want to go back, but it’s hard when there’s so much else to see. We’ll be sure to make a reservation at l’Oustalet. Thank you for the wonderful ideas!

This is fantastic info. Thank you so much!