Last Minute-ish Trip Planned

Love all of these locations. But I might add another night in Lyon, do day trips, and spend one less night in Annecy. Most fun thing in Annecy (in my opinion) is a boat trip on the lake to the Abbaye de Hautecombe.
Will you rent a car? Getting to Chamonix on public transport is time-consuming. It's a spectacular spot and well worth a visit, but not well-served by trains/buses.

Thank you.

So 5 nights Lyon (which makes sense since the first day we won't get to hotel until the afternoon). Day trip to Avignon. Can you suggest another day trip?

I thought I looked at transportation to Chamonix. I saw some constraints making it a day trip vs. a one-way trip, but will look again.

I think I'm on the right track though. Any other thoughts?

What about making Avignon as a base and going to Lyon as a day trip? Then I can get to St. Remy and Arles better? Is this a horrible idea without a car? Seems there are busses from Avignon.

I wouldn't day trip to Lyon. It has way too many sights to be a part-of-a-day destination. I'd even consider two nights there inadequate.

On the other hand, if you want to see Avignon, Arles (short train ride from Avignon) and St-Remy (bus ride from either Avignon or Arles), you need to spend some nights in Provence.

The transfer between Lyon and Avignon will not be fast. The TGVs go to a separate station outside Avignon, then you need more transportation into the city. I know there are trains, and I assume also taxis. There may be buses as well, but I haven't checked on that. The upshot is that the Lyon-Avignon trip will take at least 1-1/2 hours and could be considerably longer.

Annecy isn't really a village, but the historic center is fairly small, and it is gorgeous. As a result of those characteristics, it is extremely crowded during day-tripping hours. I agree that the boat trip on the lake is probably the best local activity. I think you can rent bikes and ride along the lake too. However, Annecy can be very, very hot in the summer. (Be sure your lodgings are air conditioned.) I had trouble enjoying outdoor activity due to the heat.

I haven't been to Chamonix.

Thank you. It is clear that I will fly into Lyon and stay 3-5 days. I then need to determine if I want to go south to Provence area, or to Annecy and Chimonix area (and leave from Geneva). I can't do both in my time frame. Annecy will be at the end of May, so probably not too hot. But Chimonix might be too cold? My one other initial thought was Paris and Strasbourg. I always like to start out in big cities and end up in cute places and relax. Is this an easier option? I steered away from Paris initially because of the riots - maybe still. good call.

I could do 4 nights Lyon and 4 nights Avignon and day trips from Avignon (any other suggestions?) I will need to check all the bus schedules. I remember reading that Avignon is a transportation hub so thought the bus/train system would be easier. I am hesitant to get a car as our last trip with a car was in Italy and it was crazy. Maybe I'll change my mind.

Acravan - thank you. You are also helping me with my trip to Spain in September which I have been planning for several months. This trip just came about in the last few days and is throwing me for a loop since it's a very different type of trip than I usually plan when I go with my husband. I realize I am very lucky, but still a bit flustered at the moment since I know I need to book accommodations quickly!

I think any of your options (including Paris + Alsace) would be a fine trip. France is a country with endless lovely cities and charming towns. It's easy to get paralyzed by the options. I finally threw up my hands and divided the country in half (east and west) so it didn't seem so unmanageable. I took two long trips there in 2017 and 2019, but I still didn't get to Paris except to change trains. There's going to have to be at least one more trip to France (I'm 71, so I don't say that lightly); it will include Paris, Le Mans and such other places as I cannot resist when I start the heavy-duty planning.

Rick has a guidebook that focuses on southern France; it would help you if you opt for Provence. I can recommend L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue as a place reachable via public transportation that has lively markets on Thursday and Sunday mornings. Villeneuve-les-Avignon, right outside Avignon, is worth a look, too, by local bus (probably even walkable). Another possibility that I haven't yet seen is Nimes (just beyond the border of Provence), which can be reached in less than half an hour by train. I think there are one-day bus tours from Avignon that hit several smaller places that would be impossible to reach efficiently (or maybe even at all) by public tranportation. I regret not taking one of those tours myself.

I believe your chances of avoiding miserable heat in Annecy are pretty good in May, but the record high is 90.7 F, so one cannot be sure. There were a lot of over-80 days in May this year.

Annecy weather stats May 2023 from www.timeanddate.com

I use that website a lot, because I am not willing to draw conclusions based on monthly averages. I want to know how hot or cold it might be. I recommend checking five years' worth of weather data since conditions can vary so much from year to year.

I don't mean to suggest that Annecy will be hotter than Provence. It's just that there seems to be a tendency to assume a place with views of nearby mountains will be pleasantly cool. I made that mistake myself. It was just dumb luck that I booked a hotel with air conditioning.

First of all don’t worry about it being last minute planning- I am just working on a Bordeaux/ Paris trip for late April/early May so you have way extra time, the important thing is flexibility.
We did 4 nights in Lyon last April after taking the train from Geneva. 4 nights was perfect, 3 is doable but 4 is better, especially if that is your first arrival in the country. Definitely not a day trip- it is a wonderful city with great food and history, we were glad we went. We were sad to miss Annecy, if we could have worked it out we would have stayed two nights there- 3 seems too much. I have never been to Chamonix and don’t really have an interest in it so no thoughts on that. I assume they must have some great spas though so that might fit your agenda perfectly!

A few nights in Chamonix should be fine unless you want to use as base for other areas. Lots of options for taking gondolas up the mountains and either back down or walk. Or paraglide!

If you’re nervous about driving because of your experience in Italy, there is no comparison. Italy is nerve wracking. France is easy. I’ve driven in each country more than once.