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Barcelona + Provence or French Riviera?

Posted by on

Hi,

I would love your advice. I'm traveling with my husband and baby for 9 days to Europe. Spending a couple days in Barcelona and a couple days in South of France. We will be renting a car and driving up to France.
We planned to base ourselves in Nice for 4 days and do day trips along the Riviera (Monaco, Villefranche, Èze, Cannes, etc). The issue is, the weather is forecasted as rain the entire time we would be there. I’m wondering if we should change our plans due to the weather and switch course to spend time in the villages of Provence while basing ourselves in Marseilles. Arles, Aix en Provence, etc. The nice thing about Provence is that it’s less time in the car.
I’ve always wanted to tour the French Riviera, but if it’s set to rain, I’m not sure it’s worth it. As of now it’s supposed to be nicer weather in Provence.
I would greatly appreciate advice from those who have spent time in Provence and the French Riviera! Thank you!

Note: We are not into art museums, but we love history and beautiful scenery and sightseeing.
The drive from Barcelona to Marseilles is 4.5 hours while the one to Nice is 6/6.5 hours. Thanks

Posted by
1816 posts

Weather forecasting is not an exact science but for the moment, with the exception of Wednesday May 4, when a possibility of "rare showers" is reported over a large part of the southern coast of France, and a risk of thunderstorms in Nice on May 6 and 7, there is no no rain expected in the next 2 weeks.

https://meteofrance.com/forecast-meteo-france/cannes/06400

Posted by
262 posts

I can only address Provence ...

Check/Take the Michelin Green Guide for Provence. This probably has the most information for trip planning, sites, towns, routes, history, and cultural information for the area -- from Nimes to Marseilles to Avignon and surrounding. There is a separate Green Guide for the French Riviera. Each about $23 on Amazon, or perhaps available at your public library.

Why Marseilles as your base, rather than Arles or Avignon or Aix-en-Provence? It is less central and it is a much larger city. You say you want to spend time in the villages - and less time in the car. Bonus, each of the alternatives will be a shorter drive from Barcelona ... and you may want to stop in Figueres on your way from Barcelona to the French border.

Posted by
6895 posts

Weather forecasting is not an exact science, and I doubt that there will be much difference in Marseille if the weather is rainy in Nice (although Marseille is a bit drier). Also, there are more things to do on a rainy day in Nice than on a rainy day in Marseille!

Posted by
10189 posts

I just watched the weather report and checked on my phone: the forecast is the same in Nice as in Marseille, as well as where I am.

When you see the symbols for rain, you also have to see the % attached. The highest is on Wednesday with 67% predicted. That's not 100%. Thursday and Friday are lower. Rain is usually short and light. Once in a while it's heavy and causes a lot of damage, but most of the time it isn't.

Finally, the weather blows in off the Atlantic and the predictions change every day. I'd just keep your original plan.

Posted by
847 posts

Provence would be less driving and it's as wonderful as the area around Nice is. But if driving I wouldn't base in Marseilles. I really liked the city but it is a big city so driving in and out every day would be a pain. Arles or St Remy would be my preference as a base. Aix is wonderful as well but less central to other towns. If you don't have to stay in the same town all 4 nights I'd do one night in Aix and the other three in St Remy (or Arles)

Photos of Provence - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p233500526

Posted by
27111 posts

I don't know what your entire trip looks like, but if you rent a car in Spain and drop it off in France, there will probably be a very high international drop charge.

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