Karla

I'll be in Paris, Loire valley, Lyon, Provence, and Nice. When does the tourist season ease up in France?

mpprh

Hi

the peak finishes when the children go back to school... about now fortunately !

It will be quiet during your visit.

Peter
Languedoc, France
http://tlp.netfirms.com

Tulips

Not busy at all, but November 1st and 11 are bank holidays.

Andre

Karla,

I beg to differ - there will be far fewer foreign tourists, but the "Toussaint" (All Saints' day) school vacation runs from Oct. 23 (Thurs.) to Nov. 2 (Sun) - quite a long "day" - so trains & tourist attractions will be quite busy.

I would avoid train or long distance road travel ON Oct. 22/23 and Nov 2/3. If this is not possible, book your train tickets NOW.

BTW, this site (french only) provides a helpful overview of school holidays in France:
http://www.education.gouv.fr/prat/ca...calendrier.php

Congestion at the start & end of Toussaint, Christmas and summer vacations is particularly bad because the dates are the same for the entire country.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Karla

Thanks Andre, I'll make a note of those dates. I didn't know about that school vacation. I expect to be in Lyon, Toulouse, then Avignon, around that time. Sounds like I won't have any problems outside those dates.

Andre

Karla,

You're welcome!

Lyon & Toulouse should actually be quieter than usual during the vacation period, while Avignon will most probably be pretty busy.

You should do great as long as you don't travel when everyone's on the road.

Andre

sandi

We traveled during that time and with the exception of All Saints's Day (I believe that was the holiday) when in Toulouse - all kids were off school and the streets very busy, yet the next day the town was practically empty. Amazing.

Otherwise, we found crowds in Les Baux, but this was a Sunday and lots of French were visiting, besides a number of tour buses. We waited to visit the Pont du Gard, West of Avignon till 5pm to miss the crowds of tour buses who usually stop here earlier in the day. Best choice we made - practically had the place to ourselves.

While none of the hotels we stayed at were fully occupied we did find that for most restaurants we had to have Dinner reservations.

And Avignon was another city that was rather crowded. Most other places in Provence were easy to get to, not many tourists, easy to have lunch (no reserv. needed).

Be aware that many small hotels and restaurants start to close beginning of November to right before Christmas - then after New Year's till maybe end-Feb to mid-March (prior Easter) - they need vacation time also.