Where in south of France to stay for a base for a week.
 

I would like to find a small apt. for a weeks stay in south of France somewhere that we could use for a base and take day trips around diffferent spots. I do not know where would be a good spot to base ourselves plus I need advice on a small apt.
I will have to be in London befor and after the trip for a few days so what is the best place to fly into and out from London, maybe a discount airliner that flys into one of the areas in the south of France or do I have to go to Paris.
This will be in October.

we found Nice to be a good base.

Glad to hear that, danon. I'm using Nice as a base for six nights in early April. I'll spend one night in London recovering from jet lag and then fly Easyjet direct to Nice (I'm flying out of Luton, but there are also flights out of LGW.)

The south of France is a large area. Nice would be a base along the Côte d'Azur, or one could seek a base inland in the Provence--Roussillon (the village) comes to mind. Then there is the Languedoc, which is the area, roughly speaking, between the Mediterranean, Toulouse and the Pyrenees. Finally there's Aquitaine, which is the area between Toulouse, the Pyrenees and the Atlantic coast. You might want to look at a guidebook covering the entire area to figure out what it is that interests you.

Ditto Michael

It takes about 5+ hours to drive on the freeway from the Italian border through the south of France to the Spanish border. You need to decide which area in the south you want to explore.

Stu Dudley

About to post the same questions. Some think of the South of France as only Provence and the Cote D' Azur.

The south of France is huge, encompassing Provence, the Riviera, Languedoc, the Périgord, midi-Pyrénnées, and Basque country. You do need to narrow it down, because these regions are so different from one another as to be like separate countries.

Oh, I am sorry everyone for the confusion. I meant around Provence area. I should have said that. We want a week of relaxing and doing day trips but nothing too long. I would like to find a nice reasonable apartment for the week and then drive everyday around the areas and then back to apt.

Can anyone help...This will be for our honeymoon. We are travelling from Canada in October but must also be in London for 3 days at end of honeymoon before flying back to Canada. Makes the flying awkward. i think I will have to fly from Can. to London and then get a flight of some kind to somewhere in Provence for a week and then get back to London for the 3 days and then fly home from London.
Anyone have a better solution for where to spend the week but not in England. Somewhere that will make the flying the easiest.

You can get round trip air tickets to Nice with a stopover in London on the way back.

While strictly speaking Nice is in Provence, I think of it as the Riviera. Whereas I think of Provence as small pretty inland villages and towns. Which are you looking for?

Nice makes a good base for exploring along the coast, with or without a car.

If you want inland Provence, a car is better and St. Remy is a good base. And you could look into flying into Marseilles instead of Nice.

Do you have my 27+ page Cote d'Azur & Provence itinerary? I've sent it to over 1,000 people on Fodors & aol. E-mail me at [email protected] if you want a copy.

We rent Gites (houses) while staying in Provnece - and we've stayed in them for 16 weeks so far. For a first-timer & honeymooner, I would stay in either the Luberon near Gordes/Roussillon, or near St Remy.

I reserve gites through Gites de France. Hopefully, you can read French
http://www.gites-de-france.com/gites/uk/rural_gites

Stu Dudley



Stu Dudley

Thank you Stu. I sent you an email.

bookmarking

We stayed in Nimes, first to take buses and/or trains to such places as Arles and Carcassonne. Then we rented a car for a second week and circled to the north and west -- as far as Albi and back to Nimes.

Stu Dudley, may I email you and request your itinerary also? Thanks.

Sure

Stu Dudley