Travelling from Paris to Avignon and then to Venice
 

I am travelling with my family ( twin 8 yr old) to Paris then to Avignon and then to Venice.
Any suggestion as to where to stay and how to get there
Train , car or air ?
Hannah

This ia an international travel forum. Are you coming from the US or Canada, Europe, or New Zealand, Austrailia or South Africa, or India or elsewhere? We don't assume anything here :-)

Generally, it is best to fly to Paris. There is a great train you can take to Avignon. You can take that same train back to Paris and either train or fly to Venice. You have to look at your dates and budget and figure out which better for you. You can then fly home from Venice. There are a lot more regional airports in France than there used to be, however, so you might not have to fly from Paris...

Rather than return to Paris I would go from Avignon to Venice - either by train or car. Your preference.

Without knowing how long you have - and if you want to see countryside on the way it's hard to tell if train or car is better for you.

Assuming you are asking about travel once you get to Paris, with 2 kids, I'd take the train.

At 8, the kids will be able to manage their own luggage.

Are you a family of 4 or 3? What is your cost basis for accommodations?

Try kayak.com to see your Flight options. Renting a car really is only good if you are going to be able to return the car in the same country where you rent it. look at AutoEurope for car rental options. You can also use google maps " directions" to get an idea of driveability of your itinerery, and driving times, etc.
While it's great to have a car in Provence, you willl only leave it parked while you visit Venice, and it really isn't a good road trip, to begin with,

Wow. Thank you all for your replies . I am coming from USA and plan on visiting France and Italy for two and a half wk.
After reading all the kind replies I have decided to take your advice and travel by Train from Paris to Avignon and then to Venice.
Can I rent a car in Avignon and see the French country? And possibly make it to Nice for a daily adventure.
I plan to purchase a Euro pass ( France- Italy) .
From Venice to Florence and then to Rome. We fly home from Rome.
If anyone has suggestions for places to stay and visit please send a reply.
I have taken the captain role for this trip and don't want to disappoint my family.
Many thanks
H

I don't know Italy, but of course you can rent a car in Avignon and see the French country. Why couldn't you? Maybe I missed something but I'm not sure why you would even question that.

If you plan to rent a car and see the countryside, I'm not clear on whether you mean for a day (which will be very expensive, but sure, you can do it) or have the car longer. In which case, you should book some hotel on the outskirts where you can park and have easy access to roads to see the country. I would not book a hotel in the center of Avignon for that purpose. But if you only rented it for one day, you could -- just go to wherever you are renting (train station or whatever) and go out and return to there.

I wouldn't recommend buying the rail pass without more of the kind of information others are asking for. They are not cheap and have varios conditions and restrictions.

I would not drive from Avignon to Nice for the day, but you might schedule a stopover there on your trip from Avignon to Venice. Venice to Florence to Rome is easy.

Paris, Avignon, Venice, Florence, & Rome in 2-1/2 weeks?

IMO, I'd either lengthen the time or shorten the list of cities. With all the traveling between cities and checking in & out, it will be a real whirlwind of sites with not much time to appreciate anything.

Maybe if you tell us what you want to see in each place, someone can tell you if it's doable---take note, there are long lines at all the attractions.

HI H,

>I plan to purchase a Euro pass ( France- Italy) . <

STOP. Don't buy railpasses until you have checked prices at www.voyages-sncf.com for France and www.trenitalia.com for Italy.

Now that you have coyly revealed to us that you are traveling Paris--> Avignon--> Venice--> Florence--> Rome, there is no longer any need to bashful:

When are you going?

What is your budget?

What are you seeking in the way of accommodations?

What interests you in France and Italy?

((I))