Itinerary questions

The website for The French national railway is sncf.com; you can use it to find whatever rail connections you have in mind. For only 11 days, you might do well to limit yourself to one country.

I sympathize, because I'm heading to France myself on April 30 and I'm really stressed about all the areas I'll have skip. But here's the thing: You'll actually see more by going to fewer places, because you'll spend less time: packing up, checking out of a hotel, getting yourself and your luggage to the train station, riding the train, getting to your next hotel and settling in. (Doesn't sound like the best part of the trip, does it?)

It's best not to have to double-back to Paris (costs time and money), so I'd definitely check into a multi-city (open-jaw) flight into Paris and out of Nice or Barcelona, depending on what your final itinerary looks like. There are other airports in southern France that you can consider (including Marseilles and Montpellier); they were more costly for me but might be cheaper for your particular US airport. And it may turn out that Paris is so much cheaper that it's the logical option.

I adore Barcelona (just spent 10 days in the city), but I don't think you've really got time for it in addition to your hoped-for stops in southern France. Also, Barcelona is extremely popular these days, and you've expressed a preference for less crowded destinations. It takes time to see the top (crowded) sights and then move on to the less-busy areas, and that's time you wouldn't have on this trip. So I'd stick to France.

My own first trip to southern France is coming up this spring, so I have no personal experience to share. However, I've been reading posts here for over a year, and it's my impression that Avignon and Marseille are probably not the best choices as base cities--though if your preference is for real (rather than tourist-focused) cities, Marseille may be good. It is a very large city, though, and I have a feeling you might be more comfortable elsewhere. Let's see what the France experts have to say about one or two good bases for you to consider in southern France.

First trip, don't run around by moving every two nights...accept that you can't and won't see everything. Instead enjoy the trip. I suggest Paris for half the visit and then a nice train ride to Nice for the other half. There are many wonderful opportunities for day trips. If you stay in one country then you have time to warm up to one instead of changing language, system, etc. just when you are starting to get accustomed to the country you are in. Too many people will encourage you to run through your vacation. Don't. Stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

My best advice would be to decide where you want to end up after Paris (Nice or Barcelona or another place) before buying your plane tickets and try to get open-jaw flights into Paris and home from your last location. It may cost a bit more up front but will save you mucho time and $$ in the end. If you do decide to go to Avignon just know that you may be there during the big annual theater festival in July and you may have to book your room well in advance to get a good choice. I was there a few years ago and it was fun. I didn't go to any of the theater venues but there were parades (with outrageous costumes) and street performers that were free and fun to watch. With 11 days it would be easy to do Paris and Barcelona or Paris and Nice with a stop in Avignon (or another Provence town) for a couple of days between.

Thanks for all the good advice! If Avignon and Marseille aren't good bases, what would be?

Good bases in Provence: Without a car, Arles or Nimes. With a car--too many places to say

You could explore Marseilles from Arles pretty easily. It's a direct train, about 50 minutes.

Arles- Barcelona is 4-1/2 to 5 hours. So you could do it. But I'll bet you'd have a better time adding a day to Paris and spending the rest of the time in Provence. Lots of great day trips from Paris, btw.

Just choose your preference, Barcelona or Nice. Arrange your departure flights from there, remembering Nice will involve a connection.

Arrive in Paris - 4 nights
Train to Avignon - 3 or 4 nights (visit Nimes, Arles, Marseille)
Train to Barcelona or Nice - 3 or 4 nights
Depart from Barcelona or Nice