I am planning a 7 day trip to France in April looking to see the following sights on my bucket list: Giverny, Lake Annecy, St. Remy and the Chauvet cave paintings. I realize these sites are not in close proximity to each other. If you had 7 full days to visit these sites, what route would you take and days allocated to each site? I have been to Paris several times and if I happen to have an extra day I would like to spend it in Paris. Thank you!
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
228 posts
With just seven days, you are looking at spending a lot of it travelling to fit in all of these sites. There are a couple of things to be aware of before you set out. First, you cannot visit the actual Chauvet caves, but instead a replica of them created between 2007 and 2015, when it first opened. I think the Pont du Gard is a more interesting and authentic site in the area. Second, Saint-Remy is a very nice little town (I stayed there for a week last May and loved it), but it is not much of a destination in itself. It’s a great base for visiting the area, but unless you are a big Van Gogh fan, there are other towns that make for better day visits.
That being said, if you are intent on fitting all of your bucket list sites in, here’s my recommendations based on our trip last spring. I would start out in or near Avignon- St-Remy is less than a 30 minute drive away. Depending on flight availability, fly in to Marseille and rent a car, or get an early morning arrival at CDG airport and catch a direct high speed train (TGV) from Terminal 2 to Avignon TGV station and pick up a car there (all major renters are right at the station). We did the latter for our trip, and were driving out of Avignon TGV station by noon. I’d recommend 3 nights in Avignon/St-Remy to allow time to get over jet lag, as well as drive to the cave facsimile and other sites. Then drop your car off at the Avignon TGV and take the train to Lyon, then Annecy. We caught the train at 10:23 from Avignon TGV and were in Annecy at 2:07, with about 40 minutes between trains in Lyon. Spend two nights in Annecy, then take a train to Paris for the last two nights, with a day trip to Giverny from there. I can’t give you specifics on this train route, as we went from Annecy to Chamonix to Geneva before heading to Paris, but the fastest route probably involves going back to Lyon. If you are able to get direct flights between wherever it is you are flying from and both Paris and Marseille, that would be the best option. However if you need a multi-leg flight to get to Marseille, weigh the timing and cost against the TGV from CDG to Avignon.
I hope this helps. Have a great trip!
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
1688 posts
Tanya,
Well, Giverny can easily be a slightly more than half-day trip from Paris.
However, travel between Annecy and St Remy looks to be a bit of a pain (no train station in St Remy). There is a TGV from Paris to Avignon, then a half-hour (approx) bus to St Remy. After a stay there, the Chauvet Caves are about 3-4 hours by bus or train from St. Remy (I haven't looked up the details). The time and distance from St. Remy to Annecy is also about 3-4 hours at best, but in an opposite direction than Chauvet. I guess you could go to Annecy, then St. Remy, then Chauvet, or vice-versa, but you will spend a lot of time moving around.
As I see your hoped-for plans: Arrive day 1, overnight in Paris
Day 2, Giverny and about a half-day in Paris (if you get an early start to Giverny)
Day 3, travel to Annecy, see it for a half day, overnight
Day 4, travel to St Remy, see it for a half day, overnight
Day 5, travel to Chauvet, see it for a half day, overnight
Day 6, travel back to Paris and overnight before return home
Day 7 Depart Paris
If you are actually departing on a day 8, you can add another overnight at Annecy, St Remy, Chauvet or Paris.
None of the options for order of travel are good, IMO. I would pick places closer together, or at least ones with better transportation options, or drop at least one of the three farther from Paris.
A half-day to visit, the Chauvet caves, or Stg. Remy, or Annecy, is much too short IMO to justify the travel time involved. You may feel differently. Best wishes for your planning.
Posted by
OP
18 posts
Thank you for the replies. This is wonderful. I did not realize the Chauvet caves were a replica. Good to know as I will probably drop that from my itinerary. I fell in love with the town St. Remy many years ago and during my last trip in 2023 met a painter from the area who has an exhibition in April that I don’t want to miss! I treasure these connections made during travel.
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1898 posts
We visited both the Chauvet Cave replica and Lascaux IV (a replica) a few years ago and found both to be very worthwhile. They are VERY accurate facsimiles, not slipshod copies. You just need to suspend disbelief a tad in order to enjoy them. While there are a very few prehistoric caves which one can still visit, the two replicas have many drawings.