missyw22

Hello! My husband and I will be traveling from ZRH to NCE and have decided to stop through Provence on the way. We will be traveling from June 6-12 with 6 nights for our trip. Currently we are thinking of taking a train from ZRH to Geneva then getting a car, driving to Annecy to stay one night and then making our way down to Provence. Staying there for 2 nights then heading to the coast for our final 3 nights. We are in our late 30s and enjoy wine and food and really anything beautiful!

Couple of questions:

1. Would you recommend Annecy over Chamonix?
2. Any recommendations for home bases in Provence? We do love little B&Bs!
3. Would you do 2 days in Provence and 3 on the coast or vice versa??
4. Any recommendations on places to stay over by the coast? Should we stay in Nice or is there somewhere else that may be better??

Thanks in advance for all the help!!

StuDudley

Your trip is this:
1/2 day in Annecy
1 1/3 days in Provence
2 3/4 days on the Cote d'Azur.

That's not much time in any of these locations.

I would narrow it down to 2 destinations. Annecy & Chamonix/Mt Blanc can be pretty "iffy" in early June - so I would skip that region. From Zurich, take the 7:34 train that arrives at the Avignon TGV station at 12:09 or the 9:32 that arrives at 15:45. Both have a train change.

Stu Dudley

missyw22

Thanks Stu! So would you recommend adding another day in Provence?

ilsabing

I recommend Aix en Provence for you. It's a gorgeous city. Most of the rest of Provence you are served best by being able to drive from one small village to another.

StuDudley

I would split the time - with 3 nights in each area. Base in St Remy if you want to stay in a village with lots of cafes, shops, restaurants - and other people speaking English. Or stay in the Luberon near Gordes, Bonnieux, etc if you want to be a little more isolated & out in the countryside. Visit Aix on the way from Provence to Nice.

Do you have my 30+ page itinerary for Provence & Cote d'Azur? I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Do so soon - we are leaving on a short trip tomorrow.

Stu Dudley

missyw22

Thank you everyone for all your help! We have decided to stay 3 nights in St. Remy and 3 nights in Nice and are doing our first full AirBnB trip!! I was curious if anyone had recommendations of what day trips we should take.

I know that there is a market in Gordes on Tuesday so thinking maybe we would head over there and do the Luberon on Tuesday. Do we have time to see multiple cities, if so which would you recommend?

Then I believe there is a market in St. Remy on Wed so we were thinking of checking it out in the morning then maybe heading off to some other areas around St. Remy in the afternoon.

On our drive from St. Remy to Nice I was thinking we would stop in Aix en Provence, any other stops you think worthwhile? Any particular drive better than others.

I believe we will drop off our car when we get to Nice and just plan to take trains, buses or boats for our Nice excursions. Does that make sense? What would you recommend to do with 2 full days in Nice?

Thanks everyone! And yes, Stu I have your guide and I am in the process of reading through it now, it is wonderful thank you!!

StuDudley

I would visit Gordes on a day other than Tuesday. We passed by Gordes on a Tuesday in June a few years back - and it was a mob schene (most farmer's markets are too). Also, 2 markets in 2 days would be 1 too many for most people. Just visit the one in St Remy.

Here is a "timed" visit of the Luberon and the villages there.

8:00 or 8:30 - Get to Gordes, pull the car over at the view "spot" & take a picture. Park the car in the lot, and visit Gordes. Have a cafe creme & croissants for breakfast at one of the outdoor cafes. Walk down to the Lavoire & back. Explore Gordes.

10:00 leave Gordes.

10:30 arrive in Oppede le Vieux & explore a bit

11:30 leave Oppede, drive to Menerbes

11:45 arrive in Menerbes & explore. Grab a sandwich for lunch & sit on a bench with a view & have lunch.

12:45 leave Menerbes

1:00 arrive in Lacoste, drive up towards the village & view Bonnieux across the valley. No visit of Lacoste. Drive to Bonnieux.

1:45 Visit Bonnieux (sandwich, if you didn't have one in Menerbes)

3:15 leave Bonnieux & head to Roussillon.

3:45 arrive in Roussillon, park the car, and explore Roussillon. Visit the Ocre fields. Have an afternoon coffee at a cafe.

5:45 Leave Roussillon. If you still have some energy left, visit Goult - otherwise, call it a day.

Stu Dudley