Provence, France-Florence, Italy
 

I am planning to visit Provence late June 2016 with my husband 1 year old son. We will be flying into Paris and will stay there for 2 nights, take the train to Salon de Provence for a wedding and then are *hoping* to travel to Florence for maybe 4 nights. We have 12 days total for travel.

What would be the easiest and most affordable way to get from Provence/Marseille to Tuscany?

Should we just bite the bullet and rent a car? I'm not sure where we should fly out of back to the US...

Ideas? I think I need help tightening up this plan (we just came up with the Italy part today)

No, you should not just bite the bullet and rent a car because renting a car in France and dropping it in Italy will cost you a king's ransom.

I imagine train would be the best, but I'm no expert on this, having long ago decided that getting from the south of France to the middle of Italy was more trouble than it was worth to me. It's probably a lot easier these days, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who can give you advice.

Trains or flights but not car.

Flights : from Salon to Marseille or back to Lyon.
Trains : same actually.

look on kayak.com for flights and select 'airport in the neighbourhood' or something like that, it is a great option and will include airport in a radius of ... kms.

Have fun.

Ps : nothing in Salon...

I was going to say the same thing about Salon, Whathello. But then I realized they're going to a wedding....

Salon-de-Provence is very near the Marseille airport, for what that's worth.

Check flights from MRS to Italy... perhaps there will be some discount alternative. Otherwise the drive from Provence to Tuscany will take much of a day, and as has been said, the drop-off charge is prohibitive. You could always come back to France (Nice or Marseille) to drop off the car, but that's another day lost.

Personally, I would spend your whole time in the south of France. There is plenty to see and do and with a one-year old, I think you'll want to take it easier. You could perhaps base in two areas of southern France...

Kathy

Salon de Provence doesn't have an airport, Marseille is the closest one it's only about 40 km away (24 miles). Presuming one has a car in Salon, you'd just drive there to get the flight to Florence. There are no nonstops, however, so you'd have to change in Rome, where you can go direct for less than 50 euro on Vueling (budget Spanish airline), or Alitalia or Iberia. Trouble is there is no train direct from FCO to Florence, you have to take a local train to Rome Termini and get on it there.

There's no easy or quick way by train from Salon de Provence, either, about 4 changes. That would take longer than the flight business with train.

There is no good solution to this as there are no nonstop flights from MRS to other likely Italian cities, like Turin, whgere you can get the train easily to Florence.

okay well, i'm actually kind of glad that renting a car isn't the best idea because I'm not 100% comfortable driving or having my husband drive in Italy. I honestly don't mind long train rides (if it's really pretty). Since we will be flying into Paris, it will be nice to have a 'quiet day' on the train from Paris-Salon de Provence and then another 'quiet day' possibly from there to Florence. I can just chat with my husband, baby can nap and we can just take it easy-I hope! You never know with a baby ;)

that being said, I will look into flights too. I *could* stay in the south of France but I really loved Florence when I went there in 2011 alone and kept thinking how much my then fiance would LOVE it. I've dreamed about going back and drinking wine in Tuscany with him and to be able to celebrate our 5th anniversary there (a few weeks early) would be incredible so I'm doing it! lol Carpe diem!

There are non stop flights from Marseilles to Rome, and then take a train from there to Florence. If the timing works out, you can take a train directly from the airport to Florence. Otherwise, you will need to go into Rome and catch the train at Termini station. Total travel time inside Italy will be about 3 hours.

I just checked and there are also non-stop flights from Marseille to Milan. From Milan Malpensa, you take a train or bus to the central station, and then it is a 2 hour fast train from there.

But I want to underscore that Cristina's info is out of date. There are now trains from Rome FCO airport to Florence, but not many per day.

Also, if you don't want to drive, you don't want to drive, so don't drive. But the cost of a car drop off might be reasonable vs the costs of air travel + train tickets (or connecting flight in Rome).

One thing you will need to pay attention to is how much luggage you will be carrying, given that you will have child gear + wedding clothes. It might boost the cost of flying, or could make train travel from Provence to Florence a very unappealing option, given how many times you would be changing trains.

I have to agree with KathyWood. Better to stay in France than haul the one-year-old plus luggage on a multi-leg trek.

What did you like about Florence? Maybe we can suggest some similar destinations in Provence or on the French Riviera. You can fly back from Nice or Marseilles. Or Lyon.

I agree with Kathy and Mimar--consider staying in Provence. June is a great month to be in the area and with a one year old and less movement will be appreciated. Your agenda of Paris and wedding will weigh you down already before traveling to Italy and Florence with necessary luggage.
Make it easier on yourself--from Salon it is easy to move on to Aix, Arles, Avignon, St Remy or the Luberon towns. Great food, scenery, historical sites and pleasant lodgings not to mention the fabulous markets.

I agree with Kathy, Mimar, and macanimals. Just stay in Provence.

In my early years of travel in the late 70s & early 80s, I tried "many times" to visit a place I "loved" on a prior trip - and we drove/flew many hours to get there. BIG MISTAKE!!!!. My wife almost divorced me and my mother & sister "bailed out" half way through the vacation. Florence is an "A" destination for many people - but there are many "A" destinations in Provence too. No reason to waste hours in a train/airport/train station, plane, car - and pass dozens of "A" spots just to get to an "A" spot that you have already visited. Personally, I would never visit Florence in late June because of the crowds. Last time we were there was in late March & it was fabulous then. We were two of 6 people in the entire room for the first 30 minutes visiting David.

We've driven from Provence to Tuscany several times & it was not a pleasant drive. We've also driven to La Spezia from Tuscany and taken a train to Nice, then onward - and that wasn't great either. We try not to fly if trains are a reasonable option.

Stu Dudley

In Florence, I really loved the history, the architecture, hearing the language, and I really really loved the food!! I love French pastries, bread, wine, and a few dishes but after living in France, I got to experience a lot of the typical cuisine and I don't love it. Then again, I guess it's all about where in France...The typical food in Normandy was rather bland (at least what I had when I volunteered at Emmaus) but the food in Strasbourg was similar but a little better. I love love love pasta and pizza and my fav food is Italian.

I also was in Florence in March (2011) and it was fabulous! I am thinking about mostly skipping Paris (just fly in and stay overnight) and taking the TGV to Aix-on-provence, renting a car and staying in Salon de Provence for the wedding and spending several days there hanging with friends and then take the TGV to Florence. Spend 5-6 nights in Florence and take a budget airline back to Paris and fly home. I don't know, maybe it is too much but I think it might work. I could be possibly convinced to stay in France.

I think you should consider everything being said to you, but I have to chime in with you that I find Florence the most beautiful city I've seen in Europe (and I live in Europe and travel around very often). I also lived in France and what I miss most is croissants and no end of baked goods, and I also enjoy French wine - but I now live in Italy, and the pasta is a good part of the reason that I do.

If you don't fly to Italy from Marseilles, you still might want to break up the overland journey to Florence if you decide to go. One option might be to drive to the French-Italian border and spend a night in Menton or MIlan before continuing on to Florence. Another might be to take the train to a pleasant small coastal town between the French border and Genova (there are many) and then continue on the next morning.

Or you could stay in France!

I too think Florence is beautiful, but Provence is absolutely gorgeous (and I saw only a few places) and the food is fabulous and interesting, with great variety.

There are ethnic influences that give you great Moroccan dishes. After the first night in Aix, DH had to go back to the same place once a day for me to try a new dish. No where else have I had pastries as fabulous as a little shop in Arles. No matter what else we had, I had to go there each day.

For your little one, there are parks with birds to chase and carousels in many towns.

Having been to both (Florence several times), especially with a little one, I would choose Provence in a heartbeat.

Rent apartments in a couple of different places. Rent a car for trekking around. Enjoy. You will already be in a really, really beautiful and interesting place. Why spend so much time leaving it to get to another?

I understand your desire to be back in Florence and Tuscany. We'll be there in May for the fifth or sixth time. And I see you have a plan and I think it would work, but I wonder why you don't fly out of Milan or Rome? Much easier and time efficient than going back to Paris.

>>and then another 'quiet day' possibly from there to Florence<<

Wake up from dreaming.

The best available train connection takes 11:00 hours with four (!) changes of trains. It will be a torture for you all.

Flying + train rides will also be a torture with a baby and it will consume a whole, unpleasant day.

What you can do is driving to Menton, returning the car on the French side of the border, taking the train to Ventimiglia and renting a car on the Italian side. Total travelling time will be about 8 1/2 hours, including dealing with car rentals. But at least you will have to sections of undisturbed driving with the chance that baby will have naps.

Having said all this, rethink whether Florence is so important for you. Walking through museums with a one-year-old might not be much fun either. And everything else you might like about Florence and Tuscany you also find in Provence, if not more and better.

As others have said, Provence is such a beautiful region. I know both regions, Provence and Tuscany, very well and favour Provence a lot over Tuscany.

Provence is one of the world's most beautiful regions, with rolling hills, olive orchards, vineyards, scenery, mountains, picturesque villages, charming historical towns, the best Roman archeology in the world, wineries, food, beaches - whatever you want. June in Provence will be brilliant. And you will be there anyway. It would be crazy to drive away!

Make yourself familiar with the thought of spending a few days in this wonderful region. Rent a cottage or stay in a gîte or in a nice hotel with a pool. And after beautiful days at your own pace, board the TGV to Charles de Gaulle from Avignon (3:15) and fly home, full of fond memories.

Well said, Traveler1959!
I have traveled over a good bit of Italy, but didn't make it to Provence until a few years ago for one day on a cruise. We went to Aix, and I actually cried at the fact that I had missed it for most of my life. As soon as we could, we went for two weeks, which just made me want more. We rented apartments in different places, visiting markets for food and pretending we lived there, very intense memories of each place.

Well said? I thought it was needlessly insulting.

Look, I think by the time someone has said they favor Provence over Tuscany, you need to put their advice in that context.

There are no objective criteria for judging Provence better than Tuscany, or vice versa. Why some people thrill to one place over another is very much the same reasons people fall in love with people I wouldn't marry and nobody else would either. Sorry others don't understnd that.

There are understandable reasons why many people would decide not to undertake a long overland or flight with a one year old in the middle of Europe. That Provence is better than Tuscany is some people's imagination, which they are trying to dress up as based in fact. Who is dreaming here?

Get your claws out of other's people's travels.