We are hoping the experienced travelers on this forum might help with an itinerary challenge. We are booked on a May 2026 Loire to the South of France trip that starts in Chartres and ends in Nice. We will have about a week after the trip for independent travel. Our initial plan was to leave Nice right after the tour and spend two nights in Aix en Provence, three nights in Lyon, and then two nights near Paris to tour Vaux Le Vicompte and Fountainbleau. We would then return to London via the Eurostar and fly home from London.
However, we are considering scrapping that plan and simply staying in Nice and exploring the area, with a flight back to London from Nice. Our considerations are as follows: Our tour does not stop in Aix and we have never been to Lyon (we have been to Paris multiple times). On the other hand, the two nights in Nice from the tour don't seem enough to do that area justice. Should we just bite the bullet and commit to Nice and its environs for the week and flight out of Nice back to London for the connection home? We plan on returning to France many times and perhaps we should just save Lyon and the Chateaus for another trip. One thing we are concerned with is the impact of cruise ships and mass tourism in the Nice area. Any insights that might help us decide would be appreciated.