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4 days south of France with 14 yr old-Cassis or small town near Nice (6/9-6/13)

Posted by (Redwood City, CA ) on

Hi folks,

I'm taking my twin daughter to Europe for the first time, (I took her twin brother last year and utilized all your help) we are spending the first 4 days in Paris then we want to break from the hectic city life. I'm looking for a good base to explore. June 9-June 13. She loves water, free swimming rivers/lakes/ocean. She'd like to see lavender. We'd love to see verdon gorge but not sure there is really time. I'm concerned Cassis might a bit too long for 4 nights? Perhaps its good place to explore the region.

I also thought of staying on the other side in a place like Antibes or Menton and exploring places from there. Any advice. We will need back to London from either Marsielle or Nice after our 4 nights. I was not going to rent a car, thought we could uber, take some small tours,etc. Thank you, I really appreciate this forum and everyone's help.

Posted by
27057 posts

Tours are a lot more likely to be available from places larger than Cassis (Avignon, probably Arles and Marseille), though I assume a private tour ($$$) could be arranged from Cassis. If you opt for a place along the Riviera like Antibes or Menton, you will have lots of options by train. I'm not sure Cassis is logistically convenient as your only stop in Southern France, but there are definitely people here with more experience in the area than I have.

The Riviera coast and Provence are quite different.

A plus for Provence is that some of its cities are quicker to reach from Paris (by train) than Nice and the smaller cities along the Riviera coast.

Posted by
105 posts

when I was in france in 2021. I flew into Paris, then flew to Nice. Stayed there for 2 nights then took the train to villefranche sur mer for another 2 nights. One of the days in villefranche sur mer I took the train to Menton for lunch and wander.
are you planning to take the train from Paris to Nice, its quite far.
Cassis would be a few less hours on the train from Paris. On the same trip I also went to Cassis, and did the walk to the cassis calinque. I also saw people on kyak tours which maybe would be of interest to a 14 yr old who loves water.

Posted by
755 posts

According to Rome2Rio it takes about 5 hours to get anywhere in the south of France from Paris by train and flying is not much faster. How were you planning to get there? I agree with a previous poster who suggested that Cassis would be a fun place for a teen who likes water and if you tire of that you can hop on the train and go to other towns along the coast or perhaps inland to Aix-en-Provence or Arles for something different, but four days including travel isn’t very much time.

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