My partner and I are going to France as part of our honeymoon. We are thinking of doing a road trip from Nice (as we'll be coming from Italy) to Paris.
We have 12 days to do so and are keen on stopping and spending time at places along the way.
Does anyone have recommendations of places to stay in between? Keen on anywhere from small villages to bigger cities!
Get a Michelin Green Guide to show you where to go and what to see.
Get on Michelin Red Guide for hotels (also eats, but we prefer potluck as there seem to be no bad restaurants in France except US fast food & sushi..
Thank you! I'll 100% get both
We need to know more about what kinds of things you want to see. Castles? Beautiful scenery? Museums? Nightlife? If you are interested in seeing quaint villages, I would recommend that you get a copy of a book called The 100 Most Beautiful Villages of France, and then use that to help plan your trip. Peter
Thank you for the reply! We are interested in seeing small villages, scenery, hiking and vineyards. We know we don't have much time but seeing small villages that are a good representation of France would be ideal? We are also going in September!
Thanks again
Always worth to include is Burgundy with lovely places like Vézelay, Auxerre, Noyers, Semur-en-Auxois. Further the medieval hospital in Beaune, the abbey of Fontenay and if you want to see a medieval fortress under construction the old fashioned way not to miss is Guédelon. Much overlooked but certainly worth to visit too is Troyes. Approaching Paris from Burgundy a visit to Château de Fontainebleau and/or Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte can be a worthy end of your road trip.
I enjoyed driving along Route Napoleon between Cannes and Grenoble, but this is already over thirty years ago so missing most of the details and a bit cautious to recommend it whole heartedly. Just an idea, maybe others has better options in that part of France. With 12 days you can add another region like the Loire Valley or Alsace. No worry about wine, all the three mentioned regions are well known for this.
So here's my suggestion; September is a beautiful time and I'm also looking at honeymooning the same time in a Paris, Burgundy, Alsace, Champagne, Paris loop.
Hiking: No better place than Chamonix area.
Small Villages: No better place than Burgundy and Alsace. Alsace villages are half-timbered (think of the village in Beauty and the Beast). Each town is prettier than the last. Burgundy has medieval stone villages, also each town is prettier than the last. Use the cities for bases but don't neglect to see the villages.
I don't agree that every restaurant is good in France. After visiting Beaune my rule of thumb became, if it doesn't require reservations, you probably don't want to eat there. I don't usually reserve and had some horrible meals in Beaune (I wished I'd gone to a grocery store and bought a pre-made sandwich). Ask your lodging to help you book dinner reservations. They know the good places and will bridge the language gap reserving a table for you.
Start with staying in Antibes instead of Nice. Antibes has the nicest beaches, a nice Marina, wall, ramparts, a medieval center and a small restaurant/cafe area (plus one of the top art galleries) all in a walkable package. You can always catch the local train into Nice (there are three Nice stops, the first about fifteen minutes from Antibes, the other two are ten or fifteen minutes apart). Use the train, not a car, for getting around the Riviera.
As far as linking it together, I'm not sure I have the best advice. I visited as parts of three separate trips.
I'm a fan of Michelin Green Guide. They have some coverage of every little town. The books aren't large because they're broken down into smaller regions - but they're heavy. My only gripe is I wish they had an ebook option (I like to travel light). For lodging, I like to use TripAdvisor and Airbnb and rarely book in advance. I avoid Booking.com and Hotels.com because my worst experiences have been through them.
Thank you @Brad and @Will! Appreciate the super helpful responses.
I think we may rent a car and travel from Antibes to Paris, then from Paris through Burgandy and Alsace areas.
I need to pick up a green Michelin too!
rent a car and travel from Antibes to Paris, then from Paris through Burgandy and Alsace areas.
Be realistic in your planning. Nice-Paris-Dijon-Alsace is about 1000 miles point to point on the most direct (not very scenic) highways. Use the michelin.com website to estimate driving times and costs. Keep in mind that they are minimum times, don't factor in pit stops or traffic conditions. They are usually better estimates than google maps. If you are taking scenic routes and stopping in charming places, you'll add lots of miles and lots of driving time. Do the 12 days include time in Paris? If so, you really are biting off too much. If not, you will not want to drive in Paris. The best solution is to park the car for your entire stay in the city. That means paying for parking and daily rental fees. Are you flying into Nice? Where are you flying out of? In Alsace, the nearest major airports are Paris and Frankfurt.
If you need an automatic transmission, it's usually better to rent at an airport, where there's a much bigger selection of cars on hand. Automatics are rare for smaller cars and even if you reserve one, it may not be there when you go to a small city location, even Nice.
think we may rent a car and travel from Antibes to Paris, then from Paris through Burgandy
But it would make most sense to drive to Paris from Antibes via Burgundy, rather than backtracking . . .
Hello. What a wonderful honeymoon adventure! My partner and I traveled on our own several times to France. We love France. Regarding you asking for suggestions, as someone else posted, it depends upon what your interests are.
1) the region of PROVENCE has a lot of ancient Roman history (ARLES has an arena/bullring, a forum & excavations, many museums); (AVIGNON has the famous Palace of the Popes); the PONT DU GARD is not to be missed - a large Roman aqueduct that you can drive across as well as walk across the top of it (with a river way down below).
2) If you head west, please do not miss CARCASSONNE. It is one of my all-time favorites. Probably the largest European walled-in city from the Middle Ages. It is stunning with much to explore.
3) if you head north from Provence, you could make your way to the Alp region and visit the charming town of ANNECY. It is the French version (smaller version) of Venice with many canals and bridges. It's situated on the lake where you can take a scenic boat tour. Annecy also has many cookoo clock shops (if that's an interest). Not far from Annecy is the mountain town of Chamonix. Here you can take a couple of aerial trams to a mountain top next to Mont Blanc. Breathtaking scenery. Just beware that this is high altitude and some people experience some breathing difficulties. But it was exciting and beautiful.
4) one other favorite region of mine is the LOIRE VALLEY (south/southwest of Paris). Dozens of majestic chateaux to visit. Chenonceau is not to be missed. Other favorite chateaux are Chambord and Amboise. But there are many other beautiful ones and you should read up on them to choose which ones if you get to the Loire Valley.
France has many different regions with much to see. Do your research to see what you both are interested in. If you want to discuss some favorite foods not to miss, don't hesitate to ask. Have FUN!!!
Ed
Thank you Ed for the amazing suggestions. I'll be looking into each of those as much as I can.
Would you recommend driving between each of these areas? Or is train more practical and cheaper? We would like to be able to have the flexibility of making short stops if we see a nice village and then store out luggage within the car.
Also food suggestions are definitely welcome for Paris!
Hi again. As you probably know, train travel in Europe is fun and convenient. But 2 of the areas I would definitely recommend having a car to get around at your own pace. Those areas would be Provence and the Loire Valley. My personal reasons: even though you can get to the major towns & cities by train, you would enjoy having a car to stop at many charming towns and villages and sites that the train does not go (such as the Pont du Gard in Provence, and the many chateaux in the Loire Valley.) These are mostly rural areas.
Some of my favorite meals of France are: Duck, and Cassoulet (both abundantly found in southern/southwest France). Cassoulet is a delicious dish of 3 meats (usually duck, lamb, and sausage) cooked with garlic, herbs, and beans. It's my favorite.
Daube is a lamb stew from the Avignon area of Provence.
Choucroute Garni is a dish found more in the northeastern areas of France. I understand in Paris you can find a good Choucroute Garni in restaurants near the area of Gare du l'est. That's because the trains from that station go to the Alsace region where it's from. It's a dish with sauerkraut, potatoes, and many assortments of pork meats. I've had good ones and some were disappointing because sometimes of a lot of fatty meats.
Have fun! Ed
