elizabethG

Me and my two sons ages 7 and 10 will be traveling to france this summer
We have gone before, but this trip we are spending one month.
The first week in the Dordogne region then the next two week we are
headed to one week near St Remy and one week in Luberon Saignon.
We are the type of people who are out and about all day exploring not sitting by a pool- we love small villages , quaint is what I love. And the boys love castles and the outdoors We have one last week and I wasn't sure where to spend it. I figured that from my St Remy gite location I could do everything west and north like Arles and Avignon Nimes etc ... and from my Luberon local I could do all the small villages... am I wrong in this planning? And what would you suggest I do with my last week ? We did three weeks last summer in Loire Valley.
I was considering the Uzes area or then again I could head to along the coast.. spain or italy I would consider however I feel there is much to see in france. I dont think my kids would love the glitz of the Riviera so I wasnt sure... We will have a car ...Any suggestions I would be very grateful for

StuDudley

Do you have my 27 page Provence & Cote d'Azur itinerary???? I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. My wife & I have vacationed for 34 weeks in this region, and the itinerary describes our favorite villages, markets, scenic drives, has a section on Provence fabric. I also have a Dordogne itinerary - we've vacationed for 10 weeks there. E-mail me at [email protected] if you would like copies of them.

Consider staying in/near Annecy your last week, and explore the Alps around that area.

Stu Dudley

Christina

I think your plans are fine in regards to what you can see from St Remy and then from Saignon. I hope you will explore a little more than the usual tourist haunts (eg, Gordes, Bonnieux, etc.) from Saignon as there are interesting areas out that way. Apt has a fantastic market, it's on Sunday, as I recall. If you want to stay in that general area, I'd suggest you move north to the Drome for your final week. I really like that area, you could visit Vaison-la-Romaine, Grignan, Nyons, etc.

StuDudley

>> Apt has a fantastic market, it's on Sunday, as I recal<<

Apt's market is on Saturday. L'Isle sur la Sorgue's is on Sunday.

Stu Dudley

elizabethG

Thank you everyone for these great ideas .. I am very grateful
I am dying to go to Annecy and that area however we actually only have 6 days and I am
leaving to go home from Marseille so I didn't know if that would be too much and maybe I should do that area on another trip ?? what do you think? And I looked into Drome and that area look interesting and would be a little less drive time ... Many thanks

StuDudley

I suggested Annecy/Alps because that region is completely different from the Dordogne and Provence, IMO. Drome is not that different from Provence - compared to the Alps around Annecy. The Languedoc is kind of a "mix" of the Dordogne & Provence.

I would drive from Saignon to Annecy (4 1/2 hrs), explore the Annecy & Mt Blanc region (ask me for suggestions for that area - we stayed in a gite on Lake Annecy for 2 weeks about 4 years ago). Then take the train from Annecy to Marseille (leaves at 1:53, arrives at 5:49 - 1 train change. There are other departures). Stay the night near the train station & take a taxi to the airport for your flight home.

Burgundy would work too for your last week - but I prefer the Dordogne, Provence, & Annecy over Burgundy (we've stayed in 2 gites in Beajolais & Burgundy for 4 weeks)

Stu Dudley

KathyWood

Our first trip to Provence we stayed a week in Saignon. Our daughter was just nine. We fell in love with the area and are now back several months a year, based in Bonnieux.

In addition to Stu's guide, for the Luberon part of your trip, I'd also suggest you purchase the guidebook Provence Byways. www.provencebyways.com. It's an invaluable resource.

I highly recommend a hike up to the ruins at the Fort de Buoux, not far from Saignon. Your boys will love this!

Kathy

Giovanna

It's been a while since we visited Provence, but loved Arles. I think your sons would enjoy the Camargue. We weren't hikers, or even very good walkers, but we did walk a very interesting trail there. Beautiful flamingos, egrets, and wonderful places to view them (like duck blinds). If the white horses are there that would make it even more special. The Pont du Gard is also something I wouldn't miss.

Underhill

We found the Drôme region different from Provence in that the Drôme is substantially less crowded and has more visitors from France and other European countries rather than from the U.S.

Christina

yes, I think it is different just in geography partly, but it isn't as touristed, either. However, I mainly recommended as a natural to go with the other areas, as it isn't far. I didn't know the comparison was Annecy or that the goal was to see something totally different, I was just trying to suggest something that would fit in better. After all, the last vacation cited was spending 3 entire weeks in the Loire, so I thought the goal was to spend 3 weeks in the general Provence area.

Either would work, of course.

elizabethG

thank you all so much for your suggestions
I am going to look into Drome region, annecy and the grasse
I guess I first need to decide how much running about I wish to
do with the boys - I feel like I made an error on this trip by doing
Dordogne then two eeek in provence which I already booked and paid
if I could do it again I would do dordogne then either colmar region or Anncey
and then down to provence ... and leave from marseille
but I can undo what I did so I need to decide what kind of last week
I want ... I could kick myself .... LOL

StuDudley

Dordogne, then Annecy or Alsace, followed by Provence would REALLY involve excessive driving - especially Alsace.
Sarlat to Alsace - 9 to 9 1/2 hours
Alsace to St Remy - 7 to 7 1/2 hrs.

The High Speed TGV makes access to Marseille from the "north" quick:
Dijon (Burgundy) to Marseille - 3 1/2 hrs with 0 train changes
Annecy to Marseille - 4 hrs 1 train change in Lyon
Longer for Strasbourg to Marseille - 6 1/4 hrs 0 train changes

I'm not sure I've received a request from you for my Provence/Cote d'Azur itinerary. I've received about 10 requests from other people in the last 2 days. I also have an Alsace itinerary & a customized one for Annecy I did for a friend. E-mail me & I'll attach them to the reply e-mail. Make sure you identify yourself (elizabethG) in the e-mail.

Stu Dudley

dugi_otok

Hi Elizabeth
I took my grandsons ages 7 and 11(and their parents) on a similar trip. Of the locations you are considering for your last week I think the boys would enjoy Annecy and the Alps the most. Also you are dying to go to Annecy. So I would follow Stu's suggestion of driving from Saignon to Annecy area for 5-6 nights. It is a nice drive.

If you want to change the order of your stays, have you considered asking if you could change St Remy from week 2 to week 4? The drive from Dordogne area to Annecy is about the same as Dordogne area to St Remy.

elizabethG

Thank you dugi_otok .... I have most definitely considered swit hint that week
In st remy but she is already book that week ... I thought by prepalnning early I could get a better
Choice of the lbetter least expensive gites... So I go great places but messed up my itinerary
... It's all good though ... I mean we will be in France what coud be better
So I am doing to take yours and stus suggestions and do Annecy ... Any suggestions for that area ??

StuDudley

If you do decide to visit Annecy before Provence, make sure that you are not driving from Annecy to Provence on a July weekend - when it seems like everyone else in France, Germany, Netherlands, & Belgium is driving north to south.

I still suggest that you visit Annecy & the Alps instead of the Drome. We've spent 18 weeks in Provence - with 12 of those in northern Provence adjacent to the Drome. We've also spent 2 weeks in the Ardeche - less that 1 hr from the western border of the Drome. We've taken around 15 day trips exploring the Drome (1 overnight). Except for the Viscours (Alps on eastern edge of the Drome), the Drome reminds me of Provence. Lots of lavender fields, cute little villages, Roman Ruins, the Rhone, nice farmer's markets. The main difference is fewer tourists.

While I'm on a boat or driving around on Lake Annecy, or on a gondola going up Mt Blanc - it doesn't look/feel anything like Provence/Drome. The old section of Annecy is quite different from cities in Provence/Drome.

Visit someplace "different"!!!

I would also opt for the Cote d'Azur instead of the Drome if you did not want to drive as far as Annecy. There are just as many "cute little villages" immediately inland from the Cote as there are in Provence - but again, you would be repeating your experiences. However, there are excellent excursions into the Nice Hinterland (Alps) from the Cote. We've spent 16 weeks on the Cote. I have described many of these excursions in the itinerary you have not requested (I think).

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

>>Any suggestions for that area ??<<

The gite we stayed in for 2 weeks is no longer a gite. Stay on the eastern side of the lake. Our gite was almost directly on the lake, just outside of Talloires. The gite "stay" was our 4th visit to Lake Annecy - but our longest stay & our first gite in this region (we've stayed in 39 different gites throughout France, & have 4 more reserved for '14).

We liked the location of Talloires - didn't have to drive around the lake to the other side to get to most of our destinations.

Stu Dudley