My wife and I are starting to plan a trip for next summer in celebration of our 10 year anniversary. We're thinking about going to Paris (where we got engaged) for a 2-3 nights, and then somewhere more low key for 4-5 nights where we can just relax, maybe in the south. We've been to a few of the main Riviera cities (Nice, Cannes, & Monte Carlo), so am looking for somewhere different. Cassis, Antibes, Marseille, and a few other coastal areas have intrigued me, but so have some of the inland Provence areas.

We'd rather not rent a car, so we're looking for a town/village we can reach by train and explore, get to outdoor markets, cafes, etc. all by foot. We're not looking to sightsee. We just want to enjoy the scenery, the local cuisine, etc.

Any recommendations for a special hotel/resort/villa (we need nightly rates since we won't have time to stay a full week) is welcome. Our budget is around $300-$400 night. We would love a beautiful pool area with lounges/cabanas, etc.

There are probably many places that meet this criteria, but I thought you might have a few suggestions.

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

Aix-en-Provence (Villa Gallici for a five-star experience ... or Sous Le Tilleul - a great B&B for a very nice, more reasonably priced alternative. http://www.sousletilleul.com/an/index.html

Aix, to me is the antithesis of a quiet laid back relaxing town.
Maybe St. Remy, but renting a car in Provence would really be nice to access the charming towns, etc.

I asked a similar question a year ago. We decided to fly in to Paris, stay 5 days, train to Murren, Switzerland, stay 5 days, and fly home from Zurich. May be too much train travel for you. We go the first of September. I'm sure others will have suggestions.

Is your only desired direction the south of France? Other places like La Rochelle, Lille, Strasbourg or Annecy can be fantastic as well, depending on the season.

St-Jean-de-Luz, on the Atlantic coast by the border of Spain. Very cute town with a great beach. Stay at the Grand Hotel. About 5.5 hours from Paris on the TGV.

Hi b,

San Sebastian, Spain?

Wow, thank you all for the great suggestions...and so quick!

Kerouac - I am not set on south of France, just looking for a different experience from Paris. We will be traveling in July.

RonZ & Ira - St-Jean-de-Luz or San Sebastian sound interesting. Probably about as far (raileurope says 5.5 hrs by train) as we would want to go. With the limited time we have, we don't to spend more than 4-5 hours traveling.

I will look into all these places mentioned so far. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks again!

Your desires are just a bit unusual for most of the areas I know that have train stations, because the big resort-type hotels with a pool are not in the center of towns or urban areas, of course, they are outside it. I don't know any nice hotel in the center of a town that has an outdoor pool area except in Barcelona (some hotels there have roof-top pools). So I do know some nice hotels with grounds and pools in Provence where I've stayed, but they aren't in town so you couldn't stay at them without a car.

I can't imagine staying in Cassis for 5 nights, but it is true that you could be in the beach there by walking from some hotel. Antibes might work, I didn't like it that well due to the resort/boating vibe and don't know if any hotels there have pools, but it could be about the right size for you, with a train station and there are a few things to see.

I'd suggest Montpellier or Toulouse. I don't know of any hotels in their center with pools, but haven't looked. I enjoyed both of them a lot, and Montpellier in particular seems kind of laid back. Of course, I go to places that do have something to see/do, so they both have some worthwhile sightseeing. If you don't want to do that, maybe they aren't the best choices.

Hi,
There are lots of quiet villages on South, I'm thinking about Cavallière for example, not crowded, only locals, nice food...