2 weeks in south France, more Riviera or Provence?

Looks like you have 13 nights?
We’ve been to Nice and Provence and are returning next month.
I see you love Nice as do we- but you might consider dropping a night there just because you have been there. See a bit more of Provence.

Are you sure a car is a no? It’s an easy area to drive around in.

Nice 4 nights- day trip Menton
Aix 2 nights- day trip Calanques? Verdon? Or none
Avignon 3 nights- day trips- Pont du Gard, Nimes, Arles, etc so many (top 2 for me Pont du Gard, Arles)
Lyon 4

Avignon was our least favorite town in Provence but it is the best transportation hub if you don’t have a car.
We liked Arles- could also be OK without a car.
I have not been to Aix yet- we will visit this June.

Our trip is a bit longer than yours
RT Nice- decided to save Lyon for future trip
Picking up car on arrival, dropping before Nice
Antibes, Isle-sur, St.Remy, Uzes. Aix, Nice

Since you've been to Nice once, you can take a day from to Menton from there. I'd suggest Eze and/or St. Paul de Vence as some new day trips this year.

You can take your days and add them to western Provence. Avignon is a good choice without a car. However, for western Provence I suggest getting a car from the TGV station in Avignon and taking day trips from a central village/town. You can easily fill up days with many small villages, a part day in Avignon, or Nimes/Pont du Gard, the Luberon valley, Arles+St, Remy+Lex Buax.

Thank you both for the feedback. Decided to cut out the 2 nights from Menton and make it a day trip from Nice.

So, the new plan is 5 nights in Nice (with maybe 2 day trips tops), 4 nights in Provence and 4 nights in Lyon.

I am also leaning towards getting a car either when leaving Nice for 5 days (till Lyon) or after getting to Provence only for days I need a car. I only drive automatic and my apprehension is due to the way the French drive (been to France probably 10 times and all I saw on streets was chaos). I am sure I will be ok as I drove in Dublin and Ireland for a weekend (only time I drove in Europe) and it was fine after the first 5 minutes or so getting used to the wrong side of the car and the street. But then again I felt like the Irish were calmer drivers. No offense to any French folks around here.

How is the drive from Nice to Aix? I plan to now stay 1 night in Aix and 3 nights in Avignon where I plan to do day trips for 1 or 2 of those days. So far I have only decided on Gordes. What else would the kind folks here recommend?

You shouldn’t have any problems booking an automatic with pick up in Nice, Aix or Avignon (tGV stations)

If you have a car stay in one if the smaller villages! We loved St.Remy and are returning next month
Avignon would be my last choice and it is a pain to drive in and out, parking is also an issue there as well as Aix
Arles would be my choice if you want a larger town than somewhere like St.Remy or Isle sur la Sorgue
We found Arles to be much more charming than Avignon , more to do in town and a fabulous Saturday market

St. Remy lodging
https://lamaisondeline.fr/home/
https://hotelsouslesfiguiers.com/en/

Just some of my favorites:
Arles is a great little town and makes a good base; park in the large parking garage and walk into the center for your hotel.
Roussillon is a charming village, certainly worth a day-trip or overnight stay; wonderful to stroll around and see beautiful ochre colors.
Les Baux is a unique and fascinating place to visit; hilltop village and castle ruins.
Pont de Gard is an impressive Roman structure that’s a must-see.

I'd plan to drop the car at the Avignon TGV station rather than driving on to Lyon. If's 140 miles, and the fast trains make the trip in 65 minutes.

From Nice, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and the Villa Euphrussi de Rothchilds makes a good day trip.
I’ve read so many people say that Avignon was their least favorite in Provence - except for it being a transportation hub. But if you have a car, stay in one of the smaller villages. We found Gordes to be centrally located in the Luberon Valley - so much to see in that area. You can easily day trip to Arles from there too.

Thank you all for the additinal feedback. I made some more changes as a result.

For Nice, we are planning a full day trip to Menton as I mentioned and seems like we will add another for Eze. I read Eze is a half day thing and looks close to Cap Farrat which I would like to visit in the afternoon as it seem close by. Is this doable comfortably? We will visit the Roths villa.

I avoided Eze last year because it seemed like a lot of work to spend a short time in Eze. Can somebody point me to where I can get the route from? It's has not been fun looking for it even on the Nice transit site. I depart from Le Meridien Nice. How much is an Uber? Maybe I will just do that even though I hate paying for taxis when public transit is available. We plan to walk back down from the village to whatever the name of the bus station at the bottom? Can somebody please share it?

For Provence, my plan so far is this: Rent a car from Nice to Aix and stay there 1 night. I love the pictures and videos on Aix and more importantly so does my wife. Btw, the extent of my wife's involvement in planning our vacations is looking at location pictures and deciding if she likes them or not. Even then I have to force her to do it. She loves the travel but wants no part in any of the planning... rant over.

From the comments, it seems like Arles is a good base for 3 nights? I don't want to base out of Avignon with a car. I plan to visit Gordes and Roussillon in 1 day trip. I would like to dedicate another day trip to something else. Any advice? My wife loves villages and towns the whole Provence trip is more for her than me reality.

I will take the advice from here and just drop off the car in Avignon and take the train to Lyon but will skip Avignon if I get a good day trip idea for the other day.

Some more questions: what are some of the better hotels and AirBnBs in Aix and Arles to stay at? I don't want to spend more than $200USD per night total at most. I would love to keep it to $150USD. I prefer to keep the higher hotel costs to cities as location is much more important there IMO.

Where are the best spots to park in Aix and Arles? I want it close to old towns where we will probably base but easy to drive and out of.

Thank you all!!!

We took an Uber from Nice to Eze le Village on a Sunday morning in March and it was about 17 euros. From there, we took another Uber to Villefranche around lunch time and that was 16 euros. We took the train back from Villefranche to Nice and that all made for an easy day trip.

I prefer public transit as well, but when you're looking to get to Eze le Village (not Eze sur Mer - which has a train station easily reachable from Nice) and you want to beat the crowds (i.e., get their early), it makes sense to spend a little money in my view.

Enjoy!

In Arles, you should park in the large garage (Parking du Centre) at 8 Rue Emile Fassin, or enter from Blvd des Lices, and just walk into the town center. The garage is very easy to get to, and drive in and out of. The Arles town center has a lot of narrow one-way streets and is a nightmare for driving.

Thank you both! Yeah, I would never drive anywhere near an old town. In fact I always avoid travelling in Europe so this will be only my second time. We are walkers too, so we don't mind to walk and we only travel with a carry on, so not an issue even before checking in.

20 Euros is not bad at all for an Uber to Eze. I expected something like double. Yeah, I will just do that going there and hike down on the way back. How early should we be at Eze? Would getting there by 9am allow us to beat the crowds?

Are there any good bakery/cafe there? I found an amazing bakery in Nice (also has sit down coffee) which I frequented every weekday when they were open on trip last year (some of the best croissants I ever had and a large selection of good sandwiches). I plan to go back there again my entire Nice stay unless I could find a good one in Eze as that would save some time in the morning.

Thanks!

To answer some of your questions:

• To get to Eze take the Uber or Bus 82;/602 from Vauban, the first stop -- reach this station by Tram L1 just a 2 blocks from your hotel at Place Massena (to Palais des Expositions). There are other closer stops on this line but getting a seat or a place in peak season is best at the origin. To get down from Eze you can take the Nietzche trail to arrive at the train/bus station for Eze sur Mer (Gare SCNF). You can take the train (or bus) to the Beaulleu-sur-Mer station, and then catch bus 15 (left and down the small flight of stairs to under a bridge, I recall). The bus leaves you at the base of the driveway at the Villa Ephrussi (Passable/Rothschild stop). You could also taxi/Uber there. A bonus side trip is in Beaulieu-sur-Mer you can walk to the Villa Kerylos.
  
• The drive from NCE to Eze is mostly highway. There may be some tension driving from the airport as there are a number of exit ramps and entrance ramps to follow up to the A8 autoroute/tollway. After that, it is clear sailing until you get to the ring road. Avoid departing or arriving at rush hour. Just brush up on differences in French driving, like the need to stay to the right on highways, yield on certain routes to traffic entering to the right, no free right turns on red and watch for speed cameras. Driving in the countryside of Provence will be easy. Just take the GPS or have a data plan for your phone. It is possible to take the train to Aix (central station, change in Marseille) from Nice (or Flixbus).
  • Arles is a good base but it is a bit south and west of some of the villages and sites. St. Remy nearby is a popular stop or alternate base and is a bit smaller, with plenty of hotels that include parking within reach of the historic center by foot. It also makes a good day trip with stops in nearby Glanum (romain ruins) and Les Baux. In Arles, there is a covered public garage right next to the old town and the ancient Roman theatre -- Parking du Centre -- but it is the most expensive in the city. You can consult with your hotel on other options.
    

Thanks Gooster! I initially dismissed St. Remy due to size but looks beautiful and is much more central than Arles for the village day trips. Is it worth doing 3 nights there? We are early sleepers on vacation as we walk a lot during the day but we like taking a walk at night after dinner. Does it have a bit of an ambience at night?

If you're staying in Arles with a car, consider a visit to the Camargue. A lot of the flamingoes will have gone south, but you should still be able to see some there.
Avignon can definitely be done as a day trip from Arles.
Have a great trip!