Why Provence?
 

I'm heading to Italy this spring - Venice, Tuscany, and Cinque Terra. Wondering if Provence is worth adding on for a few days. Really know nothing about it and why it is so desirable??

You do know that Provence is in Southern France not in Italy, right? In any event, Why don't head out to the library/bookstore and do a bit of research on your own first.....?

Yes, I am well aware that Provence is just over the French/Italian border.

Viajero2, and what is your point of responding if you have no pertinent input? Not quite sure why you feel the need to inform me that the library is useful. I'm holding a couple guidebooks in my hand. Not sure why you are here on this forum but I'm here for the personal experiences and input offered by those who have gone to particular places. The guidebooks are all the same - yes you get information but read my post again. I'm really asking if Provence is worth the extra effort and extra days spent since I will be going to little Italian hilltowns already. I'd like to know from those who have been there!

What do you mean by "adding on"? Are you adding days to your total vacation, or do you have a set number of days and you want to squeeze in Provence? How many days do you currently have allocated to Venice, Tuscany, & Cinque Terra.?

Provence (Avignon) is about 5 hrs away by car, and it's a tough drive around Genoa & Nice. There are a lot of similarities between Provence & Tuscany.

Stu Dudley

InVinLARGE:

To be fair, when you write "really know nothing about it and why it is so desirable?" it doesn't sound as though you've got a guidebook or done any research.

You're likely to get more and better answers from the many Provence-aholics on this board if you, first of all, say what it is that you've found in the guidebooks that appeals to you about Provence (lavendar, markets, landscape, history, architecture, food.....) and what your own interests are in traveling in general. We can't guess why it might be desirable to YOU without knowing more information.

Stu,
I'm not sure yet. I will have a tough time adding more days but will try if it is a "must-see" considering we are already doing Tuscany.
Currently we have about 12-14 days.

At a minimum, I would suggest that you spend 3 full days in Venice. If Venice is your first destination and you are like most people and will be in a jet-lag "daze" for awhile, then plan 4 nights in Venice.

Tuscany - does that include both the beautiful countryside AND Florence? - I hope so!! I don't like to do "intense" cities like Venice & Florence back-to-back, so I would take the train from Venice to Chiusi and stay in the beautiful countryside near Pienza and visit the small hilltop villages (Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Quirico, Orvieto, etc) plus Siena, and take drives through the countryside for a minimum of 4 days. Next, drive to Volterra and visit, then on to San Gimignano. Stay overnight in San G. Next day, ditch the car at the Siena train station & take the train to Florence (or you could drive to Florence, but it's not fun driving into Florence). Spend 2 good days/3 nights there. Then take the train to Cinque Terra & stay 2-3 nights. After Cinque Terra, take the train to Genoa for your flight home.

I think this uses up your 12-14 days - and then some.

Stu Dudley

Stu,
I did not include Florence. I know it seems ludicruos but I do greatly prefer small hilltowns over the craze of big cities.

Provence is wonderful. But you need time to explore its charms. If you're coming from Italy and have just a few days, you'll probably need to limit yourself to the area around Nice--but that's no problem, as there's plenty to see and do.

This is not a question to be answered unless you have been there and the place calls you, like a love at first sight. The people there have been so warm and inviting and we have made many friends there (but we go yearly) It's the warmth you feel when you go regularly to a village place that they almost adopt you, it's the smell of the herbs on the garrigue, the droning of the cigales, The Campaniles (those lacy wrought iron bell towers designed to keep the mistral from toppling them),
The Lavoirs, those ancient wash houses in the village where today some are still used,
The old fountaines in every village or town often covered with moss as you see down the main street in Aix.
The colors! The shutters, the doors, the bedecked bridges, houses,
The Markets! A vegetable, spice lovers delight,
The sunsets! The Lavender, the rapé, the corn fields, the poppy fields,
The many chapels in outskirts of villages some in perché villages that make it an adventure to seek out, in some areas you will find the cadrens du soleil, those sundials often painted on the sides of homes or public buildings, there's one by Picasso on the Cote D'Azur,
The Pigeonnieres, where the pigeon houses are sometime what you make think is a folly in a field and others are built in the top of the homes,
the pottery, so many styles in the different departments.
As Colette called Provence, "is an Earthly Paradise."

now i'm thinking about canning the italy portion, as i have been there before, and focusing on Provence.
thanks

is Provence worthwhile in March or should it really be done in the summer?

LiVin -

Provence is worthwhile just about any time of the year - that being said, early March, things can still be on the cool side (by our standards, anyway) and when the Mistral wind is blowing in March you feel it right to your bones. So don't count on doing any swimming, but on the plus side, things aren't nearly so crowded as during the summer or late spring.

-Kevin

Every reply LiVin got so far supports my initial reaction/response: "Hi, I think I want to go to Provence. Tell me why". Again, let me spell it out: You admitted you know NOTHING of Provence. So, my SUGGESTION was first establish whether it is appealing to you at all (after all IT IS IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY) and then start building up from there. You go on to further say that you have two guidebooks in your hands. Well, open them so that you don't have to come across like a dumbass by saying " Really know nothing about it and why it is so desirable??".

When people are weighing time in Tuscany against time in Provence, I always recommend a great article from the London Times that compares the two. You can find it at http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/arti...055573,00.html

I appreciate all the insight, thanks.

Viajero, Please do spend the rest of your day in a useful manner. I am not sure why you feel the need to patrol the site and determine the validity of the questions asked. If you are annoyed by the way I've worded my question, move on.

abbydog,
the article is exactly what i was looking for - thanks

For the third year in a row we are going to Provence at the end of March. We have been lucky with the weather which has been in the 60s and even as high as the 70s with forsythia coming into bloom over the week we spend there. I hope this helps.

Hi there,

LivVinLarge I agree with you -- guidebooks are not the same asking many people about places...

AGM..you must love provence to go three times in a row and I'm so glad you said March because that's when I plan to travel.

my friend just told me that Provence is the place i should be in march (if i was to pick a place in france..been trying to find one place to travel from geneva and had thought about either lyon, dijon, annecy) and now thinking about provence...

so many places not enough time!

In my humble opinion, you SHOULD skip Tuscany and go straight to Provence. I love its landscape, its churches, its markets, its hill towns, its hotels. Tuscany just pales in comparison. But that is just my experience. If you do enough research, you'll find a lovely place in the Tuscan countryside. (I bet someone here can recommend the perfect Tuscan retreat.) Then next year you can do Provence properly and include Nice, Antibes, Aix, Arles, St. Paul de Vence, Les Baux, Avignon...just some of my favorites.