We are thinking of renting a car and driving to the Riviera or taking the train and then renting a car. How is the drive, how long would it take?

Hi Linda,<BR>We have done both...fly and drive to the Riveria from Paris. Of course, driving one can see so many sights driving in/out and around small villages, exploring restaurants, etc. We took the drive at a snail's pace exploring towns, etc., over to the Atlantic to see La Rochelle, La Sable D'Lonne. I would recommend this if you have a lot of time on your hands. <BR><BR>To check out approx driving time go to this website...http://www.geo.star.com. <BR><BR> As we drove off the beaten path and not on major highways we did not have to pay the high costs of tolls. This, too, you may want to consider.

hi. the drive is great fun and fairly short: if you leave paris proper at 9:00AM or so you can easily be south of dijon by mid-afternoon and close to avignon by that night. from there another 4-5 hours to cannes. so a couple of full easy driving days allows you see beaune or avignon palace and gets you to the coast for dinner the second day.<BR><BR>take the car. the train is easy but boring.

Thanks for the advise - it looks like we will be driving.

Unless you pick up your car at the airport(s) in Paris and bypass the city, getting out of the city is a real hastle. If you have the time, consider taking the TGV to Avignon, pick up your car there and check out Provence before heading to the Riviera. <BR><BR>The idea is to smell the roses (or lavender) and not the exhaust on the toll highways. Driving on the latter is boring, boring, boring.<BR><BR>If you want info about Provence check out:<BR><BR>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provence

Driving from Paris to the Riviera takes about 8 hours +. The TGV Mediteranee train is a much faster route and less hassle, taking only 3 hours to get to Marseille. Going 2nd class with a reservation is not too costly (about $110), compared to the price of gasoline in Europe to fill your car for that long distance.

We do a driving tour of France every year and feel this is the best way to see the country. But in planning our itineraries we are careful to avoid long punishing drives. If you want to take a few days to get from Paris to the riviera, driving would be the way to go. But if you just want to get there, I would advise the train. The TGV direct from Paris to Nice takes about 5.5 hours. For route planning and driving directions we like to use mappy, by the way.