Itinerary for Burgundy, Alsace, Annecy, Provence, Carcassonne, Barcelona this Oct-Nov.

Instead of staying in Colmar, stay in one of the charming wine villages.

Suki-we will be without a car at this time...is it still possible to stay in a smaller village and explore?

Be aware that your trains for this route leave Avignon from the city station, not the TGV. It's a pretty straight shot to Carcassonne with the change in Narbonne.

I'm pretty sure your best bet for a base in Alsace is Colmar if you won't have a car and want to visit a few of the wine villages. Transportation tends to fan out from Colmar, so your opportunities to visit two or more little villages without returning to Colmar will probably be limited. You'll want to do some web research before departure to see what the best possibilities are, keeping in mind that the October schedule may be different from the summer schedule. Pay particular attention to the day of the week, because Sunday transportation may be infrequent. If you still have questions when you arrive in Colmar, the tourist office should be able to assist with transportation issues.

Colmar is lovely and may be less touristy in the fall. I think the tourist office rents an audio guide with a walking tour. The Unterlinder Museum is very good; don't miss the Isenheim Altarpiece.

I assume you have plans for side trips while staying in St-Remy. It's attractive but quite small.

There are a bunch of sights in Barcelona for which you need to have tickets in hand before your visit (if you want to see them), because the ticket, Ines are extremely long. You don't necessarily need to buy these tickets before you leave home, but it's easier to plan a Barcelona sightseeing itinerary if you schedule one of the buy-in-advance sights first thing each morning. These are all timed tickets, and it is not easy to figure out how big a gap to leave between sights. The earliest time s.ots seem to be the first to sell out.

• La Sagrada Familia
• Parc Guell
• Casa Mila/La Pedrera
• Casa Batllo
• Picasso Museum
• Palau de la Musica Catalana (Enhlish tours can sell out)

I’d drop at least one night from Annecy and add it to Barcelona.

I was in Colmar in March 2022. There was a bus that did a loop to some of the wine villages. You could get off and get back on any time. It wasn’t super frequent, but there were enough trips during the day to enable us to see three of the villages. There is also a very short train to Turckheim. The tourist office can give you the schedule and tell you where to catch the bus, assuming it runs in November.

You are going to some of my favorite places. Hope you have a great trip.

Thank you for your replies.
Bets-I do appreciate the info about the train from Avignon...we might have gone to the TGV unknowingly!

Acraven-Your insights are very informative. I have seen bus routes (as well as private drivers?) to 2-3 villages, but did not think about returning to Colmar. I will dig into this.

We do plan on day trips from St. Remy...any recommendations what not to miss? I am thinking as we drive from Moustiers to St Remy we will stop at a few of the villages (Lourmarin, Bonnieux, Roussillon, Gordes, Gault, Lacoste, Menerbes ???-please share any suggestions which/how to choose!).

Will definitely consider adding on to Barcelona as Carroll is suggesting. Also, thank you for the Colmar bus tour info.

So, so helpful. Nothing beats suggestions from those who have been there. Thank you all for your time.