SLHogan

I am shamelessly submitting my request for your help. I'm about to go insane trying to figure this out. And I've only just had a half of cup of coffee!

Some of you responded to my request re: getting to the south of France from London and I do thank you for that advice. However, as I started to think about the trip and all of the things I want to do and looking at it on paper, I'm traveling on trains and planes for most of the trip!!

Goal of the trip was to spend my 31st in Paris. However, due to flying into London Heathrow and then flying to Marseille, I have discovered that traveling to Paris really breaks up my trip.

Here is what I had originally planned:
BOS-LHR
Heathrow to Gatwick (via shuttle)
Gatwick to Marseille (plane)
Marseille to Avignon (train)
Avignon to Paris (train)
Paris to Avignon (train)
Avignon to Marseille (train)
Marseille to Gatwick (plane)
Gatwick to Heathrow (shuttle)
Heathrow to Boston (plane)

I chose Avignon as a base because I will not have a car while in Provence. I've read many posts on this board that recommend Avignon as a good base for those without a car.

I'm still reading a travel guide book so I may have posted prematurely, but my poor brain cannot see how this itinerary is beneficial to both seeing Provence and to my wallet (not to mention my sanity!)

Should I give up Paris and just spend my 31st in the south of France? I have been to Nice and Monaco on a previous trip.

Any advice/recommendations are most welcome.

Sincerely, a shameless poster

jenifer

I looked back at your other post, and I think some more info would be helpful, because I'm really not understanding this itinerary right now.

1) Do you want to spend any time in London, or are you only flying in and out of there due to cheap airfare?

2) How many days does this trip encompass?

3) Are there any places that you have to be at a particular time?

4) At what point in this trip does your birthday fall?

I really can't understand going all the way from Avignon to Paris just to go back to Avignon.

For me personally it would really be unimportant where I spent the actual day of my birthday. No matter what, you'll be on vacation in France! And, you can still have a special meal whenever you're in Paris to celebrate your birthday, even if it's not on the actual day. But, I'm not that big on birthdays anyway, so maybe that's why I feel that way.

So, if it's really important to be in Paris on the birthday itself, why not either go from London to Paris by train (or plane) as soon as you arrive and spend some time there, then head to Avignon and fly back to London when you're done OR fly directly to Avignon when you arrive in London, spend a few days there and then train to Paris for the rest of your trip before flying/training back to London for the flight home - whichever makes the most sense based on when your birthday falls during the trip.

uhoh_busted

Are you totally set against renting a car? You can see so much more at your own leisurely pace if you would rent a car in Marseille and use it to explore Provence, from the seaside to the Luberon areas. That's just my opinion (and my experience when venturing outside the major cities, where a car isn't an advantage at all.)

bobthenavigator

Just apply the rules of thumb:

Average 3 nites per destination

Never more than 4 hours to next one

Equal time in big cites and small towns

Good luck !

SLHogan

Jenifer:

Thanks for your questions.
1) flying into london due to cheap fare on BA
2) trip is only for 1 week (May 12 to May 19, a Wed to Wed)
3) No, I don't have to be in any particular place while on this trip. It's a vacation (even though it's hard to see)
4) the birthday is on May 15 (a Saturday)

I'm glad you pointed out the Paris to Avignon portion of the crazy itinerary. My thoughts were that once I got to Marseille (or even to Avignon) and then went to Paris, I would only have 2 days to spend in that region. I didn't think that amount of time was enough to properly visit the area. But then again, I'm realizing that maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew. Maybe cutting out Paris makes sense. I just thought it would be fun to spend my b-day in a city that I love.

Uhoh_busted: Renting a car isn't totally out of the question. I'm a bit nervous about driving in France. Even though I've read how easy it is. And I like to drive.

Bobthenavigator: thanks for the rules of thumb. I don't think I knew them!

Chatters: thanks for the advice. I'll do more research.

Chatters

The goal of your trip should be to have FUN no matter where you are on the day of your 31st birthday. . So, if you feel the pace of the trip is hectic (that backtracking is a bit crazy, IMHO) , then easy up on yourself and go with your instintcs. Provence ain't a bad place to spend a birthday!! Have you checked BOS-CDG and then an intraEurope rate on easyjet.com CDG-MRS?

ira

Dear SL,

This is not a good idea. It's a 7hr ride on the TGV from Avignon to Paris.

Why do you want to lose 2 days of your vacation?

travelbunny

..just a small correction. the tgv from avignon to paris takes a little over 2 1/2 hours.

jenifer

Thanks for providing more info!

I think that IF I were going to do something like this, I'd probably arrive London 5/12 and immediately head to Paris by the most convenient/cheapest route and sleep that night in Paris. I'd enjoy Paris for 5/13, 5/14 and 5/15 and either take the latest possible train from Paris to Avignon on 5/15 or the earliest possible on 5/16, depending on what times those are.

Then, I'd enjoy 5/16, 5/17, 5/18 in Provence and head straight from there to London on 5/19 to come home.

I'd still probably choose to do the whole trip either in Paris or Provence (or London!), but splitting it in half like that wouldn't be too bad. You'd get to enjoy your favorite city for a few days, and have 3 days to see a new area, giving you a taste to maybe want to come back in the future.

rex

<<And I like to drive>>

You've answered all your own questions with this. But isn't it an option to fly from London (Stansted) to Nimes, St. Etiene (Lyon) or Montpellier? Isit a timing problem? There is a morning flight as late as 11:50.

Paris on Saturday nightis indeed making this itinerary more difficult - - unless... are you sure you ouldn't fly home from Paris (Does BA still have those cheap connectig flights on their subsidiary Air Liberte? you might get a better fare than you think for CDG-LHR since you are flying BA trans-atlantic).

Best wishes,

(and happy birthday...)

Rex

111op

I think that I agree with Jenifer, but were you planning to do the Avignon -> Paris -> Avignon train trip just because you wanted to spend the 15th in Paris (i.e. you wanted to max out on your time in the South)?

Is it too late to move your trip back a day or two? That way, go to Paris right away and stay through the birthday. That gives you another day in the South and you don't need to do the train trip back and forth.

Patrick

My birthday is in July and I'm nearly always in Europe at that time. Several times I've been in Paris on my birthday, but I couldn't tell you specifically where I had a special dinner there on my birthday -- nearly all my meals in Paris have seemed "special", and time makes them all blur together. On the other hand, I vividly remember the really wonderful birthday dinner I had in Nice at the Negresco -- memorable beyond compare. And I had a great birthday dinner at a wonderful little stone restaurant (roasted goat) in the old city at Bonafacio, Corsica. Then there was the amazing birthday dinner overlooking a little lake near Appenzell, Switzerland with a concert of Alpine horns.
What I'm saying is, you really don't need to knock yourself out to make your birthday memorable in Paris! If you can't find someplace really special to have a birthday dinner wherever you happen to be in France, you just aren't doing it right!

SLHogan

First, thanks to all of those who provided useful information on this possible logistical nightmare. I have decided to scrap spending my b-day in Paris and will instead stay in Provence for the entire trip.

I've decided to stay in Avignon for 3 nights and then move to another town for the remainder of the trip.

My question to the experts: does it make sense to move my base from Avignon to, let's say Aix-en-Provence, or should I stay in Avignon and drive from there to the different towns?

Any suggestions/recommendations are welcomed!

Merci

bob_brown

Listen to the above advice.
You are staying in as many different places in 10 days as I did in 24.
I find the more short stay, running here and here, touring I do, the less I remember about it.

You want your trip to be memorable. If you don't run up and down less, I fear that parts of it will be a memory blur.