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First trip to France, multi family trip help please (thinking Provence), all tips welcome!

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Hello fellow travelers. We are planning a trip to France next summer (late June, for 7 days - maybe 10 total); 8 adults, 4 teenagers and 2 children (14 people total) from age 6 to 72. We were thinking of renting a house in Isle sur la Sorgue and planning day trips from there. Definitely some wine tours and vineyards and local must see towns. Any recommendations? All types of suggestions are welcome. None of us have been to France.

Also, should we fly into Paris and take a train to Avignon and then rent some cars?

A few summers ago we did a similar trip to Siena, Italy and it was amazing. Many of you were instrumental in that trip's success with your suggestions. I thought I would start here again.

Thanks!
K

Posted by
27094 posts

Life will be simpler if you can book flights into and out of Marseilles so you don't have the unattractive choice of paying the walk-up fare for a long, costly trip or guessing how much time to allow between scheduled arrival at DeGaulle and train departure time in order to buy non-changeable/non-refundable tickets.

You can easily fill a week in Provence with side-trips by train and bus, but cars will definitely be beneficial. Pick up Rick's guide to,southern France so you can decide which olaces,seem most interesting to you. Be sure to hit at least a couple of markets. Isle-sur-la-Sorgue has a massive one (I think on Sunday) and a somewhat smaller one (maybe Thursday).

Posted by
2544 posts

Your overall planning is good. Train tickets purchased early (at least 3 months) from CDG to Avignon are inexpensive. The train takes about 3 hours. Rent two cars and drive to a rental.

With 8 to 10 people, the key will be simplicity. Keeps things as simple as possible.

Posted by
4132 posts

K,

This is a good way to travel. You will have no problem filling the time with rewarding and memorable activities.

Flying in and out of Marseilles is a good idea, but of course some have trouble with jet lag on the first day, so driving may be problematic. There are no longer any direct trains from deGaulle to Avignon--all require at least one transfer--though perhaps that will change by next summer. Waiting around at the airport followed by a 4-hour train trip will be enervating and exacerbating of jet lag.

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