Hello - My partner and I decided not to do the Rhone River Viking tour next year and instead just rent a car and explore the Provence region along the river by ourselves. We will probably start in Aix and work our way north and end up in Paris. We are thinking about maybe having a tour guide for one day and then explore on our own the rest of the time. I am early in our planning and haven't read the RS guide yet, but wanted to start to get ideas on where to stay, if we can pick one location and stay there the whole time or if we should stay in a couple different places. I am thinking we'd like to stay in a hotel so we can mingle with other tourists and maybe have the benefit of knowledgeable innkeepers for sightseeing tips. I'm thinking probably 5 nights or so. We are not particularly interested in the Cote D'Azur for this trip. Any suggestions as to good are appreciated!
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
80 posts
Hello,
I'd recommend staying in Avignon. It's probably my favorite Provencal town and easy to access the area making daytrips around Provence. There's plenty to do and great places to eat. We found parking to be easy and the city is so charming and definitely takes you back in time when you step through the city gates!
Kate
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
52 posts
Thanks! That seems to be the consensus that we are seeing. The next thing will be figuring out if we need a car or if we can rely on trains to get around. We may hire a tour guide for one day to go to places that are less accessible and use the train otherwise. Still have a lot of research to do but I feel like we can start looking at lodging which I’d like to get locked down early. Thanks again!
Posted by
Washington DC
28092 posts
I traveled around Provence via public transportation last year. You'll probably need to use buses quite a bit if you're interested in small towns, and some places don't have frequent service at all. Basically, if you want to visit some less-overrun places, you'll find a car helpful. There's also the issue of how much ground you want to cover. That said, there are plenty of places that are readily accessible by train; it just depends on what places end up on your list. I did not get to Roussillon or Gordes, for example.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Avignon would be an improvement over Aix but other than, with a car, I'd look to a smaller city like Arles or a town like St Remy.
The Rhone Valley sights are close enough that in my view it makes little sense to stay on more than one place to see them. You can also manage a day trip to Aix or the Luberon from a central Rhone base.
A useful exercise is to plot the locations of the places you want to visit on a map. Pick a base that is in the middle of that.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
52 posts
Once we’ve had a chance to go through the guidebooks that’s what we’ll do. I don’t want to wait too much longer because nicer places can sometimes get booked up far in advance. I like the idea of staying in a smaller town and driving though on the other hand the thought of having to drive into the larger towns and deal with traffic trying to navigate into them doesn’t excite me. That’s why I like the idea of staying in Avignon. I suppose we could either rent the car just on the days we’d need it when we want to go somewhere not so accessible by train, or just rent the car and leave it at the hotel on days we’re not using it.
Posted by
Florida
341 posts
Avignon is a great base for visiting the hill towns (Gordes, Roussillon, Ménerbes, etc) but you will need a car. And it’s more fun that way as you get to travel at your own pace and you might see things along the way. We took 2 days and visited 3 villages each day stopping for a typical leisurely French lunch. I also suggest a rental car for the week or total number of days you will be in Avignon. Daily rental is expensive. You can book while in the US and I think you will find the rates good. If you have an AMEX card you can purchase (ahead of time) an insurance policy for $19.95 for the entire rental time. You can use this service for your next rental too for the $19.95.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
52 posts
Thanks those are great tips! As of now day trips that I think we can do by train seem to be Lyon, Aix and Arls, my partner also wants to think about Viviers, Tournon and Vienne that are on the Viking cruise itinerary. So I think we will think about gettting the car for the week and then just using it when we need it. That was the conclusion we were coming to anyway, you confirmed what we were thinking. And our plans are expanding to 7 days. :-0 Then on to Paris for 7 days.
Posted by
martinez, ca, usa
2409 posts
he jay
like others have said, look at what you want to see and pick a hotel/B&B/apt.within range so you don't have to keep packing/unpacking. you can also stop at tourist info (TI) office and get info, also from owners or staff. sent you a PM (private message) check your inbox
aloha
Posted by
shingle springs, CA, USA
782 posts
We stayed in Arles for seven nights with a View of the Rhone River and had a car so we were able visit the Locations that interested us.We went to Les Baux,Nimes,Uzes,Gordes,Roussillon,Loumarin,Pont du Gard,Avignon and the Camargue.With a car you can travel at your own Pace and we also went with the Amex insurance.We did Lyon as a stay of four nights,fabulous city.
Mike
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
52 posts
That sounds great, thanks, I’m adding all these places to our list to think about. If we stay in Avignon is Lyon doable as a day trip or should we plan on staying there a couple of nights? We only have two weeks and we’re planning to split them between Provence and Paris.