acpty

My SO and I are going to Europe during May '18 just the 2 of us. As background, we are in our early 30s and prefer to hop from one place to the other rather than staying several days in the same spot. Also, we prefer beautiful natural sights over big cities and I really enjoy driving.
We are arriving Nice on a Friday and then will fly out to Madrid the following Friday from either Marseille or Lyon. Given this is our first trip to the southern France, we'd like your help with the Itinerary. At the moment my draft is as follows:

Thu - Nice (arrival)
Fri - Nice
Sat - Nice / day trip to Monaco
Sun - Nice / Côte d'Azur
Mon - very early car rental pick up and drive toward Avignon with a stop in Canyon du Verdon
Tue - Avignon / day trip to Pont du Gard + Nimes or Uzes
Wed - Avignon / day trip to Luberon
Thu - Avignon / day trip to Cote du Rhone + Orange
Fri - drive to MRS airport

As stated, this is just a draft and we are open for sny comment or suggestion. We could even fly out of Lyon and concentrate on the north side if it is more scenic.

Thanks in advance for the help!!

Tulips

If you like driving, and are looking for natural beauty rather than big cities, then rent your car while you are still in Nice and drive the corniche to Monaco - but skip Monaco itself. Stop in Eze, perhaps. Or continue on to Menton. Or stop in Cap Ferrat. You could do that on the Sunday (if you can pick your car up then) and have a nice leisurely drive.

Do check the dates of the Monaco Grand Prix, in May. And the Cannes film festival, if you are planning to visit Cannes.

PalenQ

Try to fit Les Baux and St-Remy into one of those Avignon day trips- especially Les Baux.

Tulips

Wanted to add; I would stick to Nice and Avignon, and not include Lyon on this trip. There is plenty to see and do in these 2 places.

PalenQ

Everyone says to skip Monaco but I enjoyed it on several occasions - the ornate casino and glitzy yachts, etc - yes as a city looking not the most distinct but a novelty - even has a mini changing of the guard in front of royal palace.

also a great walk along the coast from Monaco to Cap d'Ail - just a few miles but so so scenic and tranquil with little development just natural beauty - Cap d'Ail has frequent trains to Nice:

https://www.seemonaco.com/walking/ro...ce-area-686298

acpty

@Tulips, thanks a lot. I didn't even thought about the grand prix and FF. We won't be around for the Prix but the FF falls inside our schedule... Not sure if will be worthwhile for us but will look into it. Also Eze looks lovely.

@PalenQ, from the pics Les Baux looks like a nice and small village... I think we can make it work.

yestravel

We have just returned from that area and I would skip staying in Avignon if you prefer "beautiful natural sights over big cities and I really enjoy driving. " While its not a big city, it is larger and very congested with traffic. I would pick one of the smaller towns and do day trips which could include a day in Avignon. We loved Bonnieux, but there are many from which to choose.

Its been years since I was in Monaco, but it was totatlly unimpressive. The corniche is a gret drive though.

I agree, save Lyon for another trip.

PalenQ

St-Remy is a great smaller town base many here have raved about - just east of Avignon and much easier to drive out of than Avignon with lots of traffic.

PalenQ

from the pics Les Baux looks like a nice and small village... I think we can make it work.>

Well there is the modern village of Les Baux but I'm on about the Dead City topping a plateau high above the modern Les Baux - the ruins of a medieval citadel town.

StCirq

Natural beauty and Monaco and Avignon are not compatible. I have been twice to Monaco and could not WAIT to get the he11 out of there. Avignon is a traffic nightmare unless it's winter.

Eze and Nîmes and Orange are worthy of stops. Les Baux is not what I would characterize as a "village," except that it is small. It is a huge tourist attraction and mobbed in high season, with parking an enormous PITA unless you go very early or very late, and mostly filled with overpriced tourist souvenir shops. The history is interesting and the landscape worthy of a look-see but If you want "villages," there are plenty of them, but Les Baux does not qualify in my estimation.

Underhill

Les Baux is not just a nice small village; the main point of going there is to go up the path and see the ruins of the citadel at the top, and also the view of the valley below. The small church in the village is where shepherds bring sheep to Midnight Mass at Christmas, and there's a nice little santon (miniature figurines of Provencal characters) museum nearby.

I too would skip Monaco and use the time for more interesting spots.

PalenQ

In May Les Baux or Avignon will not be mobbed with tourists as in summer. To me, Avignon is one of the nicer old-looking cities around but that is subjective to each.

StCirq

In May Les Baux will be plenty overrun.

MaineGG

Be aware that there are a number of national holidays in May that could affect your plans. Here's a list:
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/france/2018

Almost everything - businesses, stores, museums, service stations - will be closed on May 1st. There will be closures on the other holidays, but those will vary. Public transportation will be affected.

We did not get to the Verdon Gorge, but really enjoyed the very scenic drive along the Gorges de l'Ardeche.

PalenQ

Mon - very early car rental pick up and drive toward Avignon with a stop in Canyon du Verdon>

I've done that drive from Nice, Grasse, Verdon Big Canyon to Avignon and if taking the side roads route it will take all of a day or more but is so much more scenic than the blah autoroute via Toulon and Marseille area.

Maybe plan to stop a night well before Avignon or start early.

acpty

Wow... I'm so thankful for all the help. Based on the feedback this is the revised itinerary


Thu - Nice (arrival)
Fri - Nice
Sat - Nice / Côte d'Azur
Sun - Nice / early car rental pick up and day trip to Eze & Menton
Mon - drive towards Gordes with stop at Canyon du Verdon - stay at Gordes
Tue - Gordes / day trip to Luberon
Wed - Gordes / day trip to Bonnieux and travel to St. Remy
Thu - St. Remy / day trip to Pont du Gard + Nimes or Uzes
Fri - drive to MRS airport

I'm choosing to base in Gordes and St. Remy instead of Avignon. However seems I won't have time for Avignon, Orange or Cote du Rhone. What are your thoughts? Is 3 days based in Nice worth it? How is the parking situation in Nice? (will have the car there overnight)

PalenQ

To me Avignon's totally awesome to me Palace of the Popes and famous old bridge (a bridge to nowhere now and it is only half standing but still neat) are worth a look - personally I'd take Wed and look over Avignon - a really neat old city- stop by St-Remy check in hotel and spend afternoon in Avignon - also great place for dinner:

https://www.google.com/search?q=avig...w=1536&bih=759

yestravel

Avignon is a lovely city and certainly worthy a visit if you want. There are so many appealing villages in that area. I suggest you get a book or look online and pick the ones that sound the most appealing to you. Look up Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Or if you enjoy markets, find out the market days in various villages and use that as a guide. Look up some of the wonderful restaurants and plan some days around that if you like. We were there in September and there was very little traffic (except around Avignon!) and easy driving. Years ago we were there in May and it still wasn't crowded, but that may have changed over the years. Really, you can't go wrong wherever you choose.

yestravel

Also realize most everything shuts down for a few hours in the afternoon. Be sure to check schedules/closings as you plan.

jpie

Nice can be tricky with a car in terms of parking, but of course depends on where in the city you are staying. Here is a blog that is "semi" useful: http://www.bestofniceblog.com/transp.../parking-nice/

Really the best will be just to pony up and park in an underground lot somewhere close to where you are staying. It might be costly but for only 1 night it might be worth it. Here is another link with some of the pay lots:
http://en.nicetourisme.com/parking

I worked in Nice for a number of months and there is lots to see around the city. Besides the places you have already listed like Ezes, Vence, with the Matisse Chapel and St. Paul de Vence city (similar to Ezes) and the The Maeght Foundation are all great. Here are some links:

http://www.vence-tourisme.com/en/dis.../rosary-chapel

https://www.saint-pauldevence.com/en...ht-foundation/