Hi!
We are heading to the south of France in a week and have not booked a thing except our return flights from Nice. We have 5 nights to play around with--- where would you go/stay? I love Rose, so would love to go to Cotes de Provence... and my husband loves reds. Any fun wine tours or B&Bs? Any recommendations outside of these thoughts? Open to everything! We can also rent a car when we get to Nice area... for the duration of the trip if helpful.

Thank you!

I think you first need to pick a destination where you want and give your key value points.

The best area for reds is the southern Rhone region, around Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas. That is about 3 hours by car from the Nice airport. (I would not take the drive the first day if you are coming off a long flight. Stay the first night in Nice or nearby. The best area for rose is near Bandol or closer in, near St. Tropez (on the peninsula). You can also find rose (and reds and white) more inland in the Var. St Tropez is closer but this time of year it is the offseason, and you will find the beach clubs closed plus other seasonal closures. There is a small region wineries near Nice called Bellet (the summer shuttle bus schedule is over) You can also book day tours with transport into the Var from Nice. (Also, in about 3 hours and 15, you can be in the Barolo wine region of Italy).

But, what is your preference for the trip? Wine-centric? Village life?

I just returned from a trip to Nice, we stayed the first few nights in Villefranche sur Mer and the rest of the time in Nice, doing day trips.
I can highly recommend a wine tour we did through azurwinetours.com. We were collected in Nice in front of the Hotel Beau Rivage and taken to 3 different wineries, had a great guide, Edwin and thoroughly enjoyed it. We tasted whites, rose's, and reds.
I don't think you need a car, you can get around easily by train and bus and with only five nights I'd stay in Nice and venture out from there.

In Nice, we really liked the Hotel le Grimaldi
https://www.le-grimaldi.com

Are you going there from London? See my post there.

I would rent a car for the entirety of the trip and mostly explore villages. In addition to that I love Marseille for a day, especially the old port and taking a boat trip out to Chateau d'If and Port Frioul (part of les Calanques).

Côtes de Provence stretches from Aix to Cannes and points south down to the coast. That's a wonderful area to visit.

provenceweb.fr list all points of touristic interest in the region. Sometimes obscure sites (like an unusual dolmen) that you stop to see along the way can be just as rewarding as the destination you've chosen.

We are heading to London for two nights after our trip. We are now contemplating foregoing Paris for two nights and doing 7 nights in Southern France.

Yes, we love different places to visit and does not necessarily need to be the most popular! Will Cotes de Provence region be open or should we be worried that restaurants and bars will be closed since a bit off season?

You should be fine, especially in larger towns and villages. You may encounter a seasonal closure or reduced hours,