kelbo

I have 8/9 days for vacation in October. Could I do both areas? I can fly into Nice and out of Lyon ( or should I change this to Strasbourg?). We will have a car and I was thinking of splitting the time evenly. Is this too ambitious? I had originally thought Provence only, but after some research I really want to see the Alsace region. I have time to change airports at this point. Suggestions?

Cowboy1968

If you wish to see both regions, either Nice or Marseille would work as starting points.
Lyon means a bit of backtracking, once you went from Provence to Alsace, so if no excessive costs are connected with changing airports, I would opt for Strasbourg (or Basel/Mulhouse as an alternative).

5 days in Provence plus 4 days in Alsace sound quite okay (you could easily spend 1 week each in both areas, of course).

kevin_widrow

I agree with Cowboy, though bear in mind you'll be losing one whole day driving between the two areas... that may be a lot when you just have 8/9 to begin with.

-Kevin

Cowboy1968

Good point, kevin.

viamichelin.com calculates for the trip from Avignon to Strasbourg some 700 kilometers. If you add costs for peage and gas, you will pay bit more than 100 Euros.
Maybe you want to split the trip in two halves, and include a night at Lake Geneva to experience the Alpine scenery, though this will take more time from your tight schedule.
Depends a bit on your taste, if you opt for an as quickly-as-possible arrival in Strasbourg, or not.

traveller1959

Here is my recommendation:

Fly into Nice and spend 2 days in the area.
Spend another 2 days in the Provence, near Avignon.
Drive from Avignon to Alsace, stopping for 2 hours in Burgundy (I recommend Beaune and the wine road from Beaune northwards through the famous vineyards). The drive is fast and easy, all autoroute (I have driven this route 30+ times).
Spend 2 days in Alsace and fly out of Strasbourg.

You can add the remaining days whereever you want.