Considering Rick's Provence and French Riviera itinerary by train...Fly RT or open jaw?

Fly open jaw into one and out of the other. They are a two-hour train trip apart, so no sense backtracking. Nice has one or two direct flights to the US during some months of the year; otherwise you will need to change planes in your arrival city (Paris, Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, etc.) to get to either Nice or Marseille.

You are correct, you can't tour either the Gorges du Verdon nor the Camargue without a vehicle. You should be able to find day tours from Arles to the Camargue. My choices would be to stay in Arles in the south and Vaison-le-Roman in the north. Note that RS says you need to take van tours to see some of his suggestions while staying in Vaison-le-Roman. You may find that you do have to stay in Avignon because it is a tansportation hub, but beware of the huge theater festival July 5-26 that takes over the town.

If you don't want to stay in Marseille or Cassis, go to Aix when you arrive. You could still do day trips to both. The airport is positioned between Aix and Marseille.

Everyone is going to tell you it makes more sense to fly into one city and out the other. And it might. But you also need to look at the price and decide if that makes sense. I often find in spite of what Rick says this sometimes costs considerably more. I have an upcoming trip where find into one city and out of another was going to cost over $1000 more. That’s $2000 for two people. Obviously, we are going to backtrack on this trip.

You can do an open jaw or roundtrip, it really depends on your particular routing and time, for what works out. Another alternative is to fly into Nice and fly out of Paris. You can take a TGV from Avignon or Aix and arrive at the airport. There is a connection risk, of course (some do an overnight). Or you can reverse that route or use another portal city (often I find my flights route through AMS, GVA or FRA instead). Nice now has 7 airline routes flying from the east coast of the US (Delta, United, American, La Compagnie, Air France). These are seasonal (the earliest starting in March/April)

As others implied, it depends a bit on what flights are available to you, how you prefer to travel in relation to flights, and that times of fast trains have shifted the balance.

For myself, on return, a direct flight to the US, taking off mid or late morning is a preference.

So if I could find a direct flight back from Nice or Marseille, that is maybe where I would start, then compare the cost of Round Trip vs Open Jaw, adding in any incurred costs for getting to your return city.

Another option that is not out of the question, is that Marseille is a short 3-4 hours from Paris by fast train, meaning an open jaw Paris/Nice itinerary is possible. Land in Paris, Train to Marseille, travel, fly home direct from Nice.

Interesting ideas! Thank you for your input. I don’t think I can get a direct flight to Nice from DTW. But I have definitely flown open jaw before for other trips and I like that idea. It does look like it would be about $150 more expensive to fly into Nice and out of Marseille, but if we flew RT, we’d also be having to pay for train tickets to get back to Nice, so maybe it would be close to a wash.

I think we’re planning to stay in a relatively small area geographically this time, so I wasn’t thinking about the TGV on this trip. But I suppose if we took the train to Paris, then we would have a nonstop flight home. Something to consider!

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Laurie

Hi Laurie-

We have an 18 night trip planned this spring to Nice/Provence. Have been there before and looking forward to return!
We have RT Nice flights- it’s direct/nonstop for us so makes the most sense (and best price).

Not sure where you plan to go on that RS itinerary but I would highly recommend a car for the area. Driving in France is super easy, very enjoyable in that area as well.

Rather than having a split stay in Nice we will go to Antibes on arrival for 2 nights. It’s a quick drive so not worried about driving/jet lagged. We are picking up car at airport and decided to keep it the whole trip- got a very good sale rate.
Antibes-Aix-ST-Remy-Uzes-L’Isle sur la Sorgue- Nice

We’ve been to Nice, ST-Remy, Arles and Avignon as well as some of the Luberon towns.
Much preferred Arles over Avignon. Would love to go back to Arles but it won’t make the cut this time. Wanted to visit Nimes this trip but it’s the week of their festival- which would be a lot of fun but hotel prices were spiked and I think trying to drive in and park during all that would be a bear. Couldn’t make it work- although I am still fiddling with itinerary.
Would also like to see Marseille- still fiddling with fitting that in as well.

I know many of those locations are close to each other but we like to experience the towns in the evening and are not big fans of busy day trips. I’ve acquired some mobility issues so we like to be near hotel for a mid day rest ;) We prefer longer stays as well. We’ll use the car to poke around countryside from St-Remy, L’Isle Sur-la-Sorgue as those towns are easy parking, in/out with car.

Anyway- hope that gives you some ideas.

Thanks, Christine! This is really helpful to see your itinerary. Some of the places you've already seen would be new for us, and we don't think we want to drive...although hearing you say it's pleasant in this part of France may change our minds! We've only driven from Cahors to Toulouse...all of our other travels in France have been by bus or train, or by a friend driving! :-)

Here's a tentative plan for our 16 days on the ground (not counting travel days) - interested in feedback please:

Fly into Marseille
Bus or train to Aix-en-Provence, stay for 3 nights
Day trips to visit Nimes, Pont du Gard
3 nights in Arles - especially to see VanGogh locations and hope to enjoy a market day

Middle part - not sure - see Isle-sur-la-Sorgue? Avignon? Make our way east and stop somewhere midway to Nice?

2nd week: explore Nice and surroundings, preferably staying in one spot for 5-7 days and venturing out
Antibes, Eze, St. Paul de Vence, Villefranche sur Mer are on our list - open to more ideas, too.

Fly home from Nice

Or, fly RT to Nice, sleep one night, then make our way to Provence, wander around, and pay more for train tickets to retrace our steps back to explore Riviera region and Nice for the trip home. Cost-wise, it seems pretty similar to fly open jaw compared to RT to Nice when adding in more train travel to return to Nice. (After last trip to Europe, with a long train + bus ride on arrival day, and not sleeping on plane, we decided we wouldn't do that again...)

Thanks for any input you can share!

Laurie

Visiting Nimes and Pont du Gard from Arles makes more sense location /distance wise

If you fly in to Marseilles might consider Arles first then work your way east to Aix then Nice

Laurie,
For your move from Arles to Nice.......
A town we like is Bandol. It is on the coast, just east of Marseille, and would make a nice stop between Arles and Nice. There are some good wineries nearby. The Bandol area is known for some great rose wines. It has a nice harbor, a small sandy beach (and other beaches nearby), a pleasant and typical market on Tuesdays. There is a night market in the summer also. A stroll along the quai is sweet after dinner. There are many good restaurants. It is a charming town to spend an afternoon and evening in. Next day, off to Nice. Driving from Arles to Bandol takes 1 1/2 to 2 hour; from Bandol to Nice about 2 1/2 hours.
Have a wonderful trip!

If coming from the states, you will most likely arrive in the morning. Our excitement and adrenaline and cappuccino carry us until afternoon. So rather than spend the night in Nice, take a train to Aix and start there. Explore Aix until you drop, then pick up a car the next day to start exploring Provence. Drop your car at the last place before you head to Nice. Then you’ll gain that extra day in Nice back at the end of the trip. I checked with Delta - they don’t have non- stop from DTW to Nice, despite being a hub. You would transfer in Atlanta or Amsterdam. But unless you live in Atlanta or New York, you’re always going to have to transfer once. So I would say that flying into and out of Nice is a good option.

American has ditect flights to Nice from PHL

Great suggestions - thank you all! :-)

Now I'm thinking this:

*Marseille airport to Arles, stay for 4 nights - see Nimes, Pont du Gard, and more
*Bus to Aix-en-Provence and stay for 3 nights
*Bus from Aix to Nice or swing south to the coast and stay in Boulon, then on to Nice.
*Nice region for about 7 nights. Not sure where to stay - we like the idea of staying in one place for a while and venturing out...but don't want to stay too long in one spot.

Are there particular regions in Nice that would be good for a week long stay? Preferably close to the train station?

Thanks!
Laurie