Itinerary Advice - Provence and Loire Valley

I should add -- I am finding France a little overwhelming. It is a very large country with so many things to see and do. I have always wanted to see Provence but we do not have to do that on this trip if our time is better spent in more northern areas of France. Thanks so much!

Julie, you will get lots of great advice here from folks who have travelled a LOT in France. This past October my mother and I spend 2 weeks, mostly in the Loire valley on a major chateaux-viewing trip, and in May 2013 my daughter and I spent a week in Languedoc. So here are my thoughts from those two trips:

In southern France, we stayed 3 days in Montpellier [because daughter had done a summer study program there in 2012] and 3 in Avignon. We did not have a car. We were focused on the Roman ruins [she majored in French and ancient Greek] and did a FABULOUS one-day trip with Provence Panorama to see a number of Roman sights, including Pont du Gard, the theater at Orange, and the town of Glanum outside St Remy [also saw Les Baux, St Remy, and other sights that I'm forgetting]. That day ended with a chocolate/wine tasting. Really a great day. Other sights we saw on our own via public transit - Nimes, with its arena, Maison Carre, and "temple of Diana" was especially fun. I would suggest adding Nimes or Avignon as your second stop in the South.

In the Loire, we had a car. We spent 2 nights in Azay-le-Rideau at Hotel de Biencourt, very nice, to see the older chateaux/sights on the west of our area of interest - Chinon, Fontevraud abbey, and Loches. And Azay-le-R itself. Then we moved to a small rental cottage in La Croix en Touraine, not far from Amboise on the Cher River, where my sister and brother-in-law joined us, and stayed 5 days. That was a good base for us for Amboise and Clos Luce, Chenonceau, Langeais, and Blois. Then we spent the last 2 nights outside Cheverny and saw Chambord and Cheverny before driving back to CDG.

Since you have 3 days not 2 weeks, it may not work for you to rent a cottage, but just be aware that it's at least an hour's drive from Chinon to Amboise. You might consider basing yourselves in Azay, which is sort of midway between Chinon and Amboise, rather than in Chinon. We loved Clos Luce - it has furnishings, a nice kitchen, and the basement and garden are full of models of da Vinci inventions. Since you will be in Amboise already, consider the Amboise chateau which we also enjoyed. Chenonceau is a must-see; glad it's on your list already. Azay-le-R was nice too; I especially enjoyed the great wooden beams and trusses in the attic, and a very interesting video showing how they created the decorations and bedlinens in the King's bedchamber. Blois was also very interesting.

Driving in France is easy [and I almost never rent a car in Europe]. You could train from Bayeux back to Paris, then down to Tours, and pick the car up there... or you could rent the car somewhere in the Bayeux/Caen area and just drive to the Loire. My sister spent her first few days in Paris, then headed to Bayeux; they were going to train to Normandy and then rent but found better prices for picking up the car in Paris. So you should check out various options.

I know what you mean about how overwhelming the planning can get! My trip was simpler because its main purpose was for Mom to see the Loire sights, but I still tore my hair out a lot in the early stages. You have a great outline here and will get lots of help from other posters. Feel free to PM if you'd like any more details on my trips; I do have a trip report in the France section on the one this past October.

Happy planning [really] and have a great time!

The late summer / early autumn hiking around Vaison-la-Romaine will be fantastic; there are several hill towns that you can get to from trails that connect to the upper town at Vaison. To me it's dream situation b/c the trails are away from roadways. No car traffic!

There is also an excellent English guide who does walking tours of the Roman ruins; search for my post on the subject for details -- she was listed in the RS Provence guide this past edition.

I stayed in Orange and side-tripped to Vaison but if I had it to do again I would do the opposite.
I also stayed in Nimes rather than Avignon but that might just be my contrarian nature. If you look carefully,
the Gard region makes an effort to show off its connection with Catalunya and be a little bit spicier than straight Provencal.
Every spot has its distinctions!

Hi Julie

Vaison-la-Romaine is a decent option though a little "up country". Many go for Saint Remy de Provence as it is a nice enough place and strategically well placed for things Roman in the area.

For somewhere a bit livelier you may want to consider Aix en Provence, for me it is one of the best cities in France, a superb place to spend quality time in France. It has the edge over Avignon as it has a student population so there is a "younger" feel, it is also nicely "up market" and has a strong modern art connection. On saying that Avignon is more convenient for seeing things Roman.

October can start to be chilly and windy in Provence. The cote d'Azur would be better the later you decide to go.

I too am planning a multi-region trip to France for 2015 (Loire-Dordogne-Provence-Alps) and over the course of the last 4 months have become immersed in everything France. This podcast has been my latest find http://joinusinfrance.com/author/admin/page/11/ - note that there's many episodes but I dropped the link for the one on 'driving in france'. This a a fantastic episode which pretty much answers, in detail, every question one would have about driving in France. I highly recommend listening to it. In addition to that episode, there are several on the places/regions you are intending to visit.

Good Luck!

-Matt

We stayed in St Remy in early May. To give you some idea of pacing, here's what we were able to do using St Remy as home base:
Day 1: which was a 1/2 day due to arrival, bull game in a nearby town, Glanum, Les Antiques
Day 2: visited winery, small hike, Vaison La Romaine
Day 3: Les Baux, Carrières de Lumières, walked around Isle Sur La Sorgue, Senanque Abbey at vespers
Day 4: Friday morning market, Arles (museums, ampitheater, Cryptoporticus), Pont Du Gard

We like to keep moving. If I had it to do over I think I would have substituted another town for Isle Sur La Sorgue; we were a bit underwhelmed by it. The museum associated with Pont Du Gard is world class and information dense. DH and I would have preferred more time there. It made Friday a long day for us, although thoroughly enjoyable.

We felt well-located for our itinerary. If I wanted to minimize travel time further I would have stayed somewhere between St Remy and Avignon. There are tons of mas (large farmhouses) in the countryside that have been converted to B & B's and vacation rentals . We found ours using TripAdvisor. It had a pool table and parlor games in the common area, so after dinner we would amuse ourselves for awhile before turning in. We were five minutes from St Remy, which had a great choice of restaurants for dinner. It was nice to be back at the area of our hotel for dinner and then just an easy drive back to lodgings. We normally like to stay in city centers for the after dinner atmosphere, but also enjoy staying the countryside occasionally because it's just easier for navigating, parking, quiet.

Hi Julie-As with Spain, France is so big that we've generally concentrated trips in just a part of the country, and those parts keep getting smaller and smaller, with fewer long-distance transport days. Somewhere in Provence is where's I'd live if not at home in the good ol' USA, and we're planning a 3-week Provence trip for next July, staying in gîtes (www.gites-de-france.com), a home away from home. These usually rent from Saturday to Saturday for a whole week, which may or may not fit a traveller's preferred schedule, but offer a kitchen, sometimes A/C (which can be really helpful in the scorching summer but maybe not quite as necessary in early fall), sometimes a washing machine, and sometimes an on-site owner who can provide help with sightseeing, timetables, etc.

We're basing ourselves one week in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. and another farther north, past Vaison-la-Romaine. The ruins at Vaison used to only be open during the day, but were spectacularly lit up for viewing from a distance at night. I understand you can now go in at night as well.

Having a car is really handy, especially for visiting hilltowns in the Luberon area in Provence, but the bus service in Provence is surprisingly good. You're on the bus's schedule, though, and sometimes there aren't a lot of buses running certain places, especially on certain days. Also, every town has its own market day(s), many of which Rick describes in his guidebook, and those are never to be missed! Avignon provides a fabulous base for public transportation, but you can get around to and from other towns without a car, if necessary. The aqueduct at Ponte du Gard, west of Avignon, is a must-see if you want impressive ancient Roman structures. Arles, south of Avignon and Saint-Rémy, is definitly worth at least a visit for a day, for its Roman ruins and outstanding museum. Bon voyage

One option, if you decide to drive and you're doing some wine tasting over more than one day, is to have a designated driver each day, or do the "swish and spit" tasting method, rather than actually drinking your samples. Some of the roads can be narrow, and/or twisty, with tall plane trees lining the shoulder of the road instead of a guardrail, and you might encounter a few fast-driving tailgaters, so driving can have its issues, but it gives you many options, too.

Julie, these are great ideas for Provence. Fodors publishes, or once published, a book of walks in France that includes a few in Provence. There is one in the Luberon that I'll bet you would love.

However, a few logistical cautions.

The trip from the Loire to Provence is 5 hours, including a subway trip across Paris. Longer if you are getting out to Vaison, which is not served by rail; longer still if you drive. So between that and settling in you'll have 2 days in Provence. (That's assuming that you plan 3 nights there, and only 3 in Paris.)

The pacing of the first part of your trip sounds exactly like how you say you like to travel: active but not crazy. After the Loire things get a little crazy.

If you are in a town like Vaison and want to see anything else in that time you will want a car. If you want to walk in the countryside you will want a car. There are some impressive Roman antiquities accessible by rail, but if you want to visit the Pont du Gard you will need to fiddle with bus connections (doable, but a drain on your limited time) or have a car. The thing to do would be to rent a second car in Avignon, unless you absolutely love the highway.

The trip to Paris is not quite as long, but by the time you are settled, even if you are very nimble, most of the day will be gone. So just 2-1/2 days in Paris, at best.

A minor improvement might be to see Paris first, or after the Loire. Then you could either fly home from Marseilles of take the direct train from Avignon to deGaulle. This will save you the better part of a day.

But better still would be to add a few days to the end of your itinerary. Or bite the bullet and skip the Loire (or Normandy) and add the days to your other fabulous destinations.

Thank you all for taking the time to give me such thoughtful and detailed replies! There is a lot to digest here and I appreciate them all!

Adam, I think you may have hit the nail on the head with the timing -- I spent more time researching and I am afraid the trip to Provence may be take too much time in travel and it would be better to save it for another trip? Perhaps Dordogne and Provence and Alsace? I really hate to not see Provence, but I would like to maximize our time as much as possible and give Provence (and the other destinations we already have planned) the time they deserve. I will be most definitely be saving everyone's recommendations for Provence for that trip! We don't want to skip the Loire or Normandy (and those two are already close to Paris so it makes sense to keep them) so we will be re-thinking the other leg.

So we are now considering adding Burgundy to our trip and distributing any extra days to the other destinations already planned. Maybe an extra day in Normandy to see Mont Saint Michel? We wouldn't mind seeing Alsace area but I think it's in the same boat as trying to do Provence...not enough time.

Burgundy would be kind of a natural. Based on your interests I think you would like it a lot.

Logistically you could do this two ways. With your current itinerary, there are TGVs from Paris, about 2 hours to Beaune. You'll want wheels, so rent either bicycles or a car. (Note that bicycles would solve the wining/driving thing!)

If you see Paris first you can drive from the Loire through northern Burgundy enroute to Beaune or other, perhaps breaking your trip in Vezeley.

There is also an early direct train from Dijon (with connections from Beaune) that will deliver you to Charles deGaulle by 9 AM.

You sound on track for a very memorable trip, have a blast!