Itinerary help for three day's travel from Nice to Perpignan

It's a wide broad area with much to see and do, depending how far you want to stray from the autoroute (kind of a must). What are you most interested in seeing? Cute villages? Coastal sights? Roman ruins? History/art/adventure/shopping? Is the night you booked the 2nd night? So you will need a first night's stay and then will try to drive the rest of the way. From Arles to Perpignan, you have choices of places like Aiges-Mortes, Setes, Montpellier, Pezenas, Narbonne.

Hi, thanks for responding. We are staying in Nice France are first night, Arles the second night then Perpignan the third night. We will drop the car on the evening of Oct 29th and board a train to Barcelona the next day. We are good with straying away from the coast for something really good. We love history, villages, local culture, architecture, shopping and some Art. We would love to see the water via the drive. I have been told that some of the area along this route is quite costly to park in and near around Monaco, Cannes, and some of the other bigger and well known cities. How much is it to park in the more touristy areas? We would like to go and see these areas but not at the expense of not seeing something else that would be better. We could drive through these areas and be ok. In my research there is SO much to see and trying to narrow it down has been a challenge. Any suggestions on what to see would be wonderful. Thank you

Both Monaco and Cannes have large parking structures. The easiest for Cannes is built under the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, where the film festival takes place.

Saint-Guilhem le Désert is worth a visit.

To see the coast, after you leave Nice, drive along D6098 & D559 from Mandelieu-La-Napoule (exit 40 on the A8 highway) to Saint Raphael, then join the A8 highway again at exit 37 in Puget-sur-Argens. This is the longest stretch of coastal highway you can get in one go, without big detours.
Aix en Provence would be a good 1st night stop before Arles. Cassis as well, for a smaller, coastal location (in which case, try to drive along the Route des Crêtes between La Ciotat & Cassis).

Thank you both so much for the advice!

Thank you for responding ! I’m still hoping to get “the must sees or out of the ordinary “ from this forum. I believe we have plenty to see from Nice to Arles. (Thanks!) I’m more concerned about the last half from Arles to Perpignan. Again I’m very thankful for all of you and your suggestions.

Where are you dropping off the car, getting the train?
Perpignan? or beyond? We loved charming, seaside Collioure.

Hi Suski,

We are dropping the car in Perpignan and catching the train to Barcelona the next morning. Any places to see between Arles to Perpignan would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Between Arles & Perpignan, but closer to Arles, Aigues-Mortes would make for a charming stop. It is a pretty walled town at the edge of the Camargue flats.
Montpellier & Nîmes are very interesting cities to visit as well. Nîmes for Roman remains mostly, and Montpellier for the pretty city center with lots of 18th c. buildings.
Further south on the coast, Sète is also quite cute in parts, but nothing unforgettable even though it is getting fashionable these days.
Instead, inland and west from Montpellier, I would suggest St Guilhem le Désert, which is an amazingly well-preserved village that is well worth the side trip.
I care less for Béziers and Narbonne.

Let me add that Saint Guilhem le Désert has an extremely interesting Medieval monastery you can visit. The setting for the whole site is quite beautiful.

Thank you all for the information !! I will be looking all of these places up before we hot the road.