Hello all, my husband and I are planning a trip in late September for our 25th anniversary. I've asked a few questions on this forum and you have all been very helpful, so I am hoping you will be willing to give some feedback on our proposed itinerary. We have traveled to Europe numerous times, but this will be our first time in the south/west part of France. We like history, art and architecture, outdoor activities, beautiful scenery, wandering small towns, sitting at cafes, and people watching. We prefer to stay in smaller towns for this trip, and are considering renting a cottage/apartment for at least one of our stops. We want a semi-relaxed pace for this trip, with time for long lunches and spur of the moment exploring, and will have a rental car. My original plan was to fly into Marseilles and out of Paris, but we have decided to focus on the southern half of France and are now thinking of flying into Montpellier (thanks Ed!) and flying out of Toulouse. Flights seem to work better out of Toulouse than Bordeaux. We have been to Paris several times, and while I love it there, I think we'll do another trip at some point and explore Northern France more so will skip Paris this time. Nothing is booked yet so we can rearrange at will. We'll have 14 nights/15 days actually in France. So here's what I've got so far:
Day 1 arrive Montpellier 5 PM - pick up rental car, drive to lodging - 4 nights Provence - if we don't arrive until 5 PM, will we have time to drive through Aigues-Mortes (maybe for a dinner stop?) as Ed suggested in a previous topic question and still make it to a lodging place before it gets too late?? Or should we go straight to wherever we base and eat dinner there? We can fly into Marseilles and arrive about 12:45 PM - would that be a better option?
Days 2-4 Provence - priorities - Pont du Gard (will it still be warm enough at the end of September to canoe/kayak?)
Van Gogh sights/dinner one night in Arles
one day spent exploring Gordes/L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue/Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque
Can anyone recommend a good town to use as a base for these sights?
Day 5 - drive to Languedoc-Rouissilon, 4 nights there - considering basing in Le Boulou?
Days 6-8 Languedoc-Rouissilon - Sightseeing options - Abbaye St-Martin du Canigour, Abbaye de St-Michel de Cuxa, Ceret, Chateaux of Peyrepertuse and Queribus, hiking, exploring, wandering
Has anyone out there done RS's recommended Madeloc Tower Hike?
Day 9 - drive to Carcassonne - spend one night. Is it worth spending a night here? Better to sleep in La Cite or outside the walls?
Day 10 - leave Carcassonne early, drive to Albi, have breakfast, see Cathedrale Ste-Cecile, Toulouse Latrec museum, drive to Pech Merle for late afternoon tour, then to lodging in Dordogne Valley - spend 4 nights. (This is our longest day - suggestions on better logistics? Would it be better to stop in Albi on the way back to Toulouse at end of trip? Is the museum worth a quick stop? Should we stay the night closer to Pech Merle rather than continuing on to our lodging for the Dordogne? I was trying to minimize one-nighters…)
Looking for a vacation rental in Dordogne, not sure yet where we'll be based. Or would it be better to stay in one of the river towns?
Days 11-13 - Dordogne - priorities - Font de Gaume, Museum of Prehisttory, Lascaux II, hiking, canoeing, maybe Chateau de Castelnaud for Museum of Medieval Warfare, exploring river towns
Day 14, drive to Toulouse arriving early evening, drop off car, take bus into city center, spend one night, have dinner
Day 15 - early afternoon flight out of Toulouse
Thanks so much for any feedback/advice on this trip!