So, we have now booked most of our lodging for our 2 week trip with the kids. I need advice on one last night. We fly in early to CDG, take the TGV down and arrive in Avignon friday afternoon. Our one week rental in Eyragues (near St Remy) isn't available until Saturday. We are considering staying the night in Avignon but I'm not sure if we really want to stay in the city or not. We definately want to visit the Pont du Gard which we could do the next day in the morning, so maybe we should try to stay somewhere outside the city a little to avoid the hassle of leaving the city in the morning. OR we could just drive to St Remy upon arrival on Friday and stay the night there in a hotel or B&B and do the Pont Du Gard another day. We want to simplify as much as possible because we will have the kids with us and we are also staying 3 nights in Carcassonne and 3 days in Paris after our Provence visit. Thanks for your help!

hi heidikona,

what time do you arrive in avignon? what time of year are we talking about?

the reason I ask is that especailly with kids, i do not like trying to drive to somewhere I don't know in the dark.

so if you aren't fussed about Avignon, and you arrive in daylight, by all means arrange to pick up your car from the rail station in Avignon, and drive to a hotel closer to the pont du gard. on the other hand, if you arrive after dark, [or if you've got young kids who might just be beat by then], I'd book somewhere central and grab a taxi.

with the possibility of air and rail delays and with children in tow, I'd tend towards the latter option. after all, if you are all bright eyed and bushy tailed, you can go out on the town.

regards, ann

3 nights in Carcassonne? Don't do that.

I'de stay near Uzes. Sat morning is their market day, so you could visit Uzes Friday evening while it is quiet, and then the market the next morning. Then head to the Pont du Gard on your way to the St Remy area.

Stu Dudley

Ditto St Cirq. Carcassonne is a 3 hour visit - not a 3 night visit. That is also a long way to travel - from Provence to Carcassonne to Paris. I'm not a big fan of the area immediatly around Carcassonne. There are better regions to spend time in. I would spend 6 days in Paris instead, or stop in Dijon (via TGV) - which is a great place to spend a Saturday.

Stu Dudley

We should arrive around 2:40 pm. We will definately be tired from all of the travel. I do like the suggestion of Uzes, thank you Stu. I will look into Uzes. Maybe you can recommend a nice place for us to stay. Is it a fairly easy drive into the city?

>>Is it a fairly easy drive into the city?<<

You drive around the city - not into it. There is a large car park at the north end of town. We stay in Gites in that area, so I don't have hotel recs. I have seen others post about hotels in Uzes. Perhaps start a thread about hotels.

Stu Dudley

We decided on Carcassonne because we knew the kids, who are very interested in midevil castles right now, would absolutely love it. We will actually only get 2 whole days there according to our rail schedule. We leave early in the morning on the TGV's to Paris from Carcassonne. We don't plan on traveling much outside of the city there, since we won't have car. Just thought we would spend a couple of days being tourists in la Cite. Only wish we had an extra week in the Luberon!

Two whole days in Carcassonne without a car is too much. It's a fun place to visit and I'm sure your children will like it but you are traveling a long way to get there from Avignon(?) and then a long way back to Paris. There are lots of castles much closer to Paris that you could visit plus that will give you more time in Paris. Three days in Paris is not enough.

The castle can only be visited on a guided tour. English tours are infrequent - at least they were when we were there in early June. The Cite might get a little old after an hour or two.

There are lots of castles in Beaujolais & Burgundy - but you will need a car to visit them.


Stu Dudley

Two full days in Carcassonne, especially in high season (you haven't said what time of year you're going), would have driven my medieval-loving kids over the brink. A half-day is more than enough.

There are medieval castles all over France. You'd be better off, IMO, heading to Burgundy or the Dordogne on your way to Paris. You could see countless medieval castles along the way and not get subsumed by the crowds and hype at Carcasssonne. I love Carcassonne, by the way, but for two full days, oh no!

Burgundy Chateaux
http://www.routedesducs.com/

Plus on of my favorites in southern Burgundy
http://www.chateaudecormatin.com/Tes...-cormatin.html

You cant take the TGV from Avignon to Lyon or Dijon and rent a car there, or drive from Provence to Cormatin in Beaujolais. There are frequent TGVs from Dijon to Paris. I would probably stay in Vezelay to be central for visiting the Chateaux. I actually prefer Beaune, but it's a little too far south. Cormatin, Tanlay, and Ancy le Franc are my favorites. Fontenay Abbey is close by.

Stu Dudley

In Avignon I can highly recommend Hotel Palais des Papes, a short taxi ride from the TGV station.

By the time you get to Avignon, I believe you will want to take the path of least resistance. This is a reasonably-priced hotel in a great location, good breakfast which I believe was included.

After a nap and/or shower you will be in the heart of Avignon with lots to explore. The hotel also has a decent indoor/outdoor restaurant.

By arriving around 3 you should have the advantage of no wait for the room.

Next morning, taxi to pick up the rental car. As posted earlier, it's a bear driving in and out of the old town; we missed the sign for the huge underground car park (below the large courtyard in front of the palais and the hotel) and drove around like idiots for 45 minutes.

Try www.aubergedecassagne.com

It's in Le Pontet, right outside of Avignon. The restaurant is outstanding. It was one of our favorite French experiences.

Hi heidikona; With one of two week spoken for in St. Remy , and one night possibly in Avignon, this is my sugggestion. You all will be tired after the train. Stay in Avignon. Then you will have a car and you could visit Uzes and the Pont du Gard in the same day. Then there are many more places to visit near St. Remy, Les Baux, Arles, Nimes and many other great places. If after St Remy, you are boarding a train to Carcassonne, do not stay three nights. But definitely stay two nights. Just walking the old walls will take you a few hours with the kids. Then walking the town. You could also do a bus tour, as there are many towns to visit from Carcassonnne. We like to enjoy the city, not rush thru. Remember, slow down and smell the roses. Then you should use the extra day to add to the three days in Paris. Believe me, you do not have time to go to Burgundy. Especially with young kids. We have been to Carcassonne twice, once inside the city and once outside. So,you can see we all have different suggestions. You have to decide what is best for you and the family. ENJOY ris

Grant it, my kids have grown up and are thankfully supporting their own travels at this point, but when we traveled with them I found out pretty quickly that small town fun only lasted for so long. A couple of days in a medieval town (castles and all) was just about all they could handle. We're a super educated family, always attend the theatre, concerts and frequent museums - I say that only because I want you to know that we aren't the sort of folks who don't appreciate history and culture. Cities have more to do and are invariably "cooler" than any other locale. The larger the town or city, the more fun the kids had, the more there was to do, there was more they could relate to and there were cooler people doing cooler things. BTW - did you mention the ages of your children?

That said, we spent 10 days in the south of France and the Riviera last October. The Pont du Gard is surprisingly uninteresting and a bit out of the way. I thought it would be the highlight of the trip, but it is one place where photos are better than the real thing. Of course you must go but just be prepared for a shorter than expected stay.

Avignon is a good choice - some people find it dull, but I found it lively and interesting. Don't forget that you can go horseback riding or take in a bullfight in Camargue - don't worry, the bull doesn't die. There is also an adventure park in Valcause if they get bored.

They might love Nice and the Riviera. The yachts are "awesome" and the changing of the guard in Monaco a bit of a show.

Have fun

This is exactly why I love Fodor's so much! Everyone is so helpful and everyone does have their own opinion. To answer some questions, my children are boys, ages 5 and 7, and we are going in the second half of June. We live near San Francisco, so they are familiar with cities but truly thrive in the countryside (as many young boys do!) I am interested in looking into the Beaujolais & Burgundy regions but I don't know if that will incur too much driving. One of the other reasons for choosing Carcassonne was that it was a place we could travel to by train and just stay for a couple of days. We even reserved a stay in a B&B with a pool just outside the walls. My biggest concern with going there, however, is the length of travel to Carcassonne (2 1/2 hr. train) and then on to Paris (5hr. TGV with one change). I will try to put a little time into looking at Burgundy as an option before Paris. Keep the suggestions coming! Thanks!

Hi heidikona; If you do consider Burgundy here is a good web site. www.burgundyeye.com ENJOY Iris

The reason I'm suggesting Burgundy instead of Carcassonne is because Burgundy is directly on the route from Provence to Paris, and there are also dozens of castles there.

To get to Cormatin (the farthest castle south that I reommended), it is a 3 1/2 hr drive from the St Remy area. There are frequent direct TGVs to Lyon & 1 direct to Dijon, but I think keeping the car & driving is what I would do (have done that several times). Cormatin closes for lunch - so check the hours on the web site I gave you.

You could stay in Beaune (perhaps a little too far south) or Vezelay - both small & interesting medieval villages/cities. If you wanted to stay in a larger city, try Dijon (my favorite in France, after Paris) or Auxerre (another one of my favorites). I think the kids would love Dijon - there is a merry-go-round in one of the town squares. Lots of pedestrian only streets in Dijon. Both Dijon & Auxerre have frequent trains directly back to Paris - 1 hr 40 from Dijon & 1 hr 35 from Auxerre.

You'll be in Burgundy on Sat for a partial day, Sunday, and Monday. Shops in Dijon & Auxerre will be closed on Sundays, and so the city will be quite dead. Beaune has several things open on Sunday & is a little more alive. I have never visited Vezelay on a Sunday, but it is a "destination" tourist town, so I suspect shops will be open, but there really isn't much going on in the evening or early morning. Sunday would be a great castle visiting day.

We spent 4 weeks in Beaujolais & Burgundy in '06 & visited around 20 castles. Save your ticket from the first castle, and you will get a discount on the second castle you visit (save your ticket from the second for a discount on the 3rd - doesn't have to be the same day) if both Chateaux are part of the same "association". There are brochures you can pick up at the castles that list all the castles in the association. I have 1 brochure for Beaujolais titled "Route des Chateaux en Bourgogne du Sud" and another for Burgundy titled "Route des Ducs de Bourgogne". There are 33 different Chateaux on both brochures.

I also live in the SF Bay Area - I think I have sent you one of my Provence itineraries.

Stu Dudley

Hi heidikona; There are quite a few chateau hotels in the Burgundy area. If Auxerre was your destination, we stayed at a great chateau that was very reasonable. Plus, we did a similar drive last September. St Remy to Auxerre would take about five hours, but an easy drive on the motorways. www.chateauderibourdin.com/ Iris