Early Stages 2 Weeks Southern France Planning

I'm a bit dated on Collioure as we were there in July 2018. It is a beautiful town on the Mediterranean. It has always been popular with artists because of the light. Matisse perhaps the most famous of the many who worked there.
The Royal Palace is very much worth a good long visit. Up on top of the hill above town is Fort St Elme which is quite marvellous. That hilltop area has fantastic views. My Collioure mornings were wonderful. Up to watch the sun rise across the Mediterranean wander past the little harbour with it's traditional boats then up past the historic windmill and a quick jog through vinyards to the Fort. Spectacular views. Then back down and stop at various beaches for a dip. Finish off with swimming laps between the pontoon and the walls of the historic church. Then breakfast at our hotel Les Templiers with its bar and dining area full of extraordinary art. Very fond memories.

We also stayed in a small village (pop.200?) about an hour away called Villefranche de Conflent. It was one of our favourites. It is completely surrounded by medieval walls. Above the village is a great fortress which can be accessed via tunnels and the 1000 steps. Near the village are a number of caves. It was a pretty awesome little place. The open topped carriage Little Yellow Train runs (check it is still operating) from V de C up through the Pyrenees to Latour de Carol. It chugs along at a delightfully slow pace. We used it to connect with the Barcelona Toulouse train but it can be done as an up and back daytrip.

I also have fond memories of Collouire but mine are from 20 years ago. I also stayed at Templiers hotel and had breakfast in the bar. It was not an upscale hotel or bar when I was there, but the fun part is that they supposedly used to accept paintings from starving artists who couldn't pay for their rooms and consequently have an extensive collection. I visited Collouire on my way to Barcelona and spent a night and day in Girona (Spain) on the way. I did not have a car but would recommend a stop in Girona if traveling by train or car. If I were doing your trip, Peripignon, Carcassonne, and Toulouse are cities in France I might want to visit.

I was in Provence and the Cote d'azur in October, 2025. For Cote d'azure, I stayed in Nice and did daytrips by train and bus. Nice is a major city with a number of great museums, lots of restuarants, and busy urban life that is not all or even most connected to tourism. That was attractive to me but isn't at all a beach resort vibe even though Nice has extensive beachfront (no sand). Personally, I had no desire to visit St. Tropez or Cannes but those are my biases. I did a daytrip to Saint Jean cap Ferrat. If I were in the market for higher end beach resort in summer, that would be my choice for beauty and coastal walking/biking trails. It is very easy and pretty quick to get a train from Monaco to Nice (or the other direction to Menton) so you could have a night out in Monaco without needing to stay there or drive coastal roads after your night out. Many of the beaches are rocky or pebbles or gravel more than sand. Villefranche and Antibes have some sandy beach if that is a priority.

Just to clarify, your Week One is in the French area of Occitanie, and it's your Week Two that's in Provence-Cote d'Azur.

Are you planning on spending any time in Barcelona? It will be very crowded at that time of year, but it's a wonderful city. Keep in mind that if you plan to pick up a rental car in Barcelona (Spain) and drop in Nice, you may incur a significant one-way drop fee. One way around it (we have done this for trips that began in Barcelona and ended in France) is to take the train from Barcelona to Perpignan, France, and pick up your rental car there. It's an easy trip.

Collioure is definitely part of the Catalan culture, and you will see restaurants serving tapas as well as more typical French food. You could easily drive to Perpignan, which is a bit inland, or drive into Spain for the day. Figueres, a nice town, is less than an hour away. If you like modern art, the Dali museum there is amazing. Girona, a beautiful little city, is a little further away.

In Collioure you will be relatively close, as well, to French "Cathar country," which has an interesting history (Google it!). The chateaus of Queribus and Peyrepertuse are about an hour away, and especially if you like clambering around ruins at the top of hills, you will love them.

We are planning our first trip to Nice for next Spring (May), so I can't give you advice there, except that it seems like there's a week of things to do in and around Nice. In terms of seafood, based on my experiences in other European towns that are on the ocean, there will be many wonderful restaurants on the ocean with views and great seafood.

Because you'll be driving from Collioure, you could also spend a couple of nights (at least) somewhere in Provence between there and Nice, such as Arles or Aix en Provence (though I much prefer Arles, I think it's prettier). It sounds like you like beach time, but after a week in Collioure, you may decide to split your remaining time between another oceanside city (Nice) and an inland town in Provence.

...15 minutes from the small coastal town of Collioure near the
Spanish border, in the Provence-Côte d'Azur region.

Collioure is in the Occitanie region. To say that Collioure is in Provence-Côte d'Azur is like saying that Los Angeles is in Florida.

Collioure is the most touristy place in this region, so as long as you don't stay in Collioure itself, you'll avoid the tourist crowds as well as the traffic and parking problems. There are plenty of lovely places inland around Collioure. As for the coast, it's packed in July and August with holidaymakers from all over Europe (lots of resorts and campsites).

If you're driving from Collioure to Nice, be aware that during summer weekends, the highways in the south of France, and especially between Collioure and Nice, are very busy. You could end up like thousands of other travelers every year, stuck in traffic jams for hours.