where to go before vichy, France
 

My older daughter will be studying abroad in Vichy, France. My younger daughter and i are going to visit her. We would like to fly into one location we would all enjoy, together for a few days, and then either fly or train into vichy (probably via Lyon). We have done Paris and Rome and Venice. We only have a week to spend, so it would need to be somewhere easy to get in and out of and ideally not to pricey. Other than that we are flexible. We are open to be outside of France.

You might be interested in visiting the Dijon-Besançon area northeast of Vichy. It would put you close to Basel where you can go for lunch and chocolates on a day outing (www.cailler.ch).

I would go to Provence. Either fly into Marseille, rent a car, & make the short drive to St Remy & stay there for the entire time. Or fly to CDG and take the TGV (3 hr trip) from CDG to Avignon. From Avignon it is a 30 min drive to St Remy.

From the Avignon TGV station, you can take the TGV to Lyon, change trains, & get to Vichy.

I think a college age & younger teen(?) girls would probably enjoy St Remy & Provence more than any other region in France - except perhaps Paris & the Dordogne.

Stu Dudley

I noted that the other 3 places you've visited in Europe are cities where you didn't have a car. If you don't/won't rent a car on this trip, then I propose that you visit the Cote d'Azur - staying in Nice. You can easily fly into Nice. Take trains or buses to the other coastal cities (not St Tropez). I should have included the Cote to my list if places in France your girls would enjoy.

You can take a direct train to Lyon from Nice.

Stu Dudley

Ask your older daughter what she wants to do when you visit. It may turn out that a car rental might be the best if she suggests going to areas that are not as accessible via public transportation.