staceynicole

Hello! After MUCH debate, my friends and I have decided to go to Paris, Avignon, and Nice for 12 days. Since the first day/night will be a red-eye, this leaves 10 nights.

I've done way too much research and cannot decide what order we should do our trip in! Will it be significantly cheaper to stay in Nice if we start our trip there, in the end of June, versus ending there in July? Is it worth making Avignon our final stop to see the arts festival there that begins July 5th (even though only one of us speaks French)? Or should we end with relaxing on the beach in Nice after all that sightseeing? Or escape the July heat by ending in Paris?? So many decisions! 2 of us have been to Paris before, so we don't want to spend more than 3 nights there, but we've never been elsewhere in France.

Obviously I've listed more "day trips" than there are days haha, but do you have any specific recommendations of places that we would regret if we missed? Anything that's very difficult without a car, as we plan to use only trains and buses? We are 23 year old women looking for a mix of french culture, art, and a touch of beachy relaxation and fun.

Specific dates will change based on flights, but here are my thoughts:

Friday, June 28th -> NYC - Paris (3 days/nights in Paris)
Tues July 2nd --> 5.5 hour train to Nice
3 days/nights in Nice (trips to Monaco, Ventimiglia, Grasse, Eze, Antibes, Saint Paul de Vence)
Friday July 5th --> 2.5 hour train ride to Avignon, divided in half by spending day in Marseille enroute
4 nights(3 days) in Avignon (trips to Nimes, Orange, Aix, Arles, Isle sur la Sorgue market, Cassis, and somewhere to see poppies and lavender!)
Tuesday, July 9th --> Fly home to NYC from Marseilles

Thanks so much for your feedback!

StuDudley

You have too much on your plate for only 10 days.

Choose either Provence or the Cote d'Azur - not both. That 5 1/2 train trip to Nice will eat up about 8 hrs door-to-door - so Nice is what I would drop.

- Land at CDG and immediately take the 3 1/4 hr TGV to Avignon & rent a car. Spend 6 nights in Provence. Stay in the Luberon or in St Remy - or both. Lavender should be in full bloom by the time you leave. You won't see any poppies - but there may be some "vanishing" sunflower fields. Only visit 1-2 "big cities". Orange isn't that exciting and I'm not a big fan of Nimes (many reasons). Aix is our favorite - but it is too far away from the Luberon/St Remy with your "too little" time available. So visit Arles and Avignon. Most importantly - explore the beautiful countryside and the "cute little villages"

- Take the 2 3/4 hr TGV from the Avignon TGV station back to Paris & spend your remaining time there.

Do you have my Provence/Cote d'Azur itinerary that I've sent to over 3,000 people on Fodors??? If not, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach a copy to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

HappyTrvlr

Also, check the prices of flying south to Nice. When we went last year, it was cheaper to fly.
However, I agree with poster above to cut out Nice and concentrate on Paris and Provence, still a lot to cover. I have always stayed in Paris a full week on my travels there.

adrienne

You only have 2 days in Nice. July 2 you will be traveling all day. Just because the train takes 5.5 hours that isn't the entire journey. You have to get to the train station and from the train station, check out, check in, unpack, etc. Stu is correct - about 8 hours or the entire day.

Nice - July 3 & 4 - you'll have to cut back on the itinerary.

Will you have a car in Nice? I doubt you can get to all those towns in 2 days using public transportation.

staceynicole

Hi StuDudley - yes I have your itinerary! it is very through and helpful!

Thank you all for your feedback - I've revised omitting the long train ride btwn paris and nice so we won't lose a full day travelling. We will not have a car, so of course we won't be able to go to ALL of those towns sadly, and I'd love to know which are your favorites and which you'd recommend by bus/train! Stu - I think we will skip Orange and Nimes in that case! We've also already been to Paris, and so we feel OK about having just 3 days there - last time I was there for a month!

Friday, June 28th -> NYC - Paris (3 days/nights in Paris)
Tues July 2nd --> 3 hr train to Avignon
3 nights/ 3 days in Avignon (trips to Nimes, Orange, Aix, Arles, Isle sur la Sorgue market, Cassis, and somewhere to see lavender!)
Friday July 5th --> 3 hour train ride to Nice, divided in half by spending most of the day in Marseille enroute
4 nights/3 days in Nice (trips to Monaco, Cannes, Ventimiglia, Grasse, Eze, Antibes, Saint Paul de Vence)
Tuesday, July 9th --> Fly home to NYC from Nice

kerouac

Is it absolutely impossible for you to have a car or is it just an irrational fear? If you have a car at least for the Avignon area, you will see so many more magnificent things.

As for Nice, I would replace it with Marseille, European capital of culture this year. There are so many amazing things happening there all year, and you could go to the Camargue and places like that instead of those glitzy superficial places along the Côte d'Azur.

HappyTrvlr

You have so many day trips from Nice that you haven't left any time for Nice itself. If you still go to Nice, eliminate Cannes, Ventimiglia. Best day trips we took were to Antibes and Cap Ferrat, Villefranche.

Gretchen

Your second itinerary is no better than the first. Please heed the advice to lose Nice and spend your time in Provence.
You can easily get back to CDG for a round trip from Paris. I would also suggest a little longer in Paris.
All in all the best use of time is Stu's of going directly to Provence and then finishing in Paris.
Monaco is a total waste of time by the way.

StCirq

Forget Orange, and Nîmes, and Cannes, and Ventimiglia, and Monaco, and Nice. Go right to Avignon, rent a car and actually see the wonderful things around the area(St-Rémy, Glanum, Les Baux, Arles....).

And buy your train tickets NOW, as the prices are already starting to go up!

thursdaysd

Don't understand the recs to skip Orange. I thought its Roman theater about the best I've seen.

I love staying in Nice, and using it as a base, but probably not in June.

StCirq

Oh, I love Orange, but look at the OP's timetable and the fact that he/she has no car.

thursdaysd

Can't you take the train from Avignon? I seem to remember arriving in Orange by train from Marseilles. But I agree that something has to go!

FrenchMystiqueTours

Stu's advice is spot on. Consider his and kerouac's advice about renting a car. You'll be glad after your trip that you rented a car since you'll realize how many places you visited would have been impossible to see using public transport. France has great public transport but people from countries with limited public transport overestimate how great it is. It's great for getting you between large towns and cities but is impractical to use if you want to see small towns and villages and explore the countryside and off the beaten path places.

staceynicole

Only one of us knows how to drive and she will have to spend some amount of time working while the rest of us are exploring, so driving is an unlikely proposition, though she may hopefully be convinced for one day while we're in Avignon.

Why does everyone say to skip Nice? Why should we avoid Nice as a base in June? I think we would enjoy Antibes and Grasse, but maybe now we will skip the other places unless we find the time. Just curious to hear your reasoning!

Thanks so much!

Mimar

So maybe skip Provence and just do the Cote d'Azur. Nice, in addition to being a beautiful and interesting city, is a great center for public transportation. Buses, trains, and boats travel both ways along the coast and inland (well, not the boats).

I would think Provence just frustrating without a car. There are a few local buses but not necessarily at convenient times. If you must go to Provence, maybe stay in Aix-in-Provence rather than Avignon. Aix is a lively city, a university town, whereas I'm not a fan of Avignon. Though it is a better base for using buses.

Mimar

BTW, there's an overnight train Paris to Nice -- I gather from reading another thread.

Gretchen

People are saying "skip" something because you have TOO much to do which has been said a couple of different ways. If you choose Provence, you will short change it by not being able to drive places.
And as always, I am SO not a fan of Aix--just a big city with gridlock traffic.