11 days in early July
Fly in Marseille
Fly out Paris
Some thoughts:
Need beach time for kids (9,10 yr old boys) - Does Cassis or surrounding has nice beach? Or other places you recommend for nice beach /swim time
Need some village/cute towns (St Remy’s in mind)
We would like to stay some days in Paris
bushrat,
Will you be picking up a car at the airport? If you are looking for a beach town, we like Bandol, about an hour east of Marseille. It has a lovely harbor area, a small pleasant beach, a classic farmer's market, nearby wineries to visit, and a pleasant Mediterranean ambience. You can stroll along the beachfront promenade. There is a carousel and casino there as well. I don't know Cassis, but it has more beach than Bandol, and is not far away.
Inland, St. Remy de Provence is a good choice. We really like it for it's size, charm, Glanum Roman ruins, historical art background,
and it is not a long drive to many other charming villages.
Paris has so many things to see and do it is hard to even begin to list them, so I won't even try.
I hope your 11 days are days on the ground. If they include arrival and departure days I would drop one location. If you have 11 full days, I would spend them in this way:
Day 1-Arrive Marseille, pick up car, drive to Bandol-Sleep Bandol
Day 2 and 3-Bandol and neighborhood-Sleep Bandol
Day 4-Drive to St. Remy (half day) and explore town-Sleep St.Remy
Day5 and 6-Explore towns and area around St. Remy-Sleep St. Remy
Day 7-Drive to Avignon, turn in car and take TGV to Paris (Gare de Lyon)-Sleep Paris
Day 8, 9, 10 and 11-Paris-Sleep Paris
Day 12-Leave (If return home is on day 11, then "Sleep Paris": is just Day 8, 9 and 10 in Paris. These are all full days in Paris.
(If you are not renting a car at all, the beach plans need a major adjustment from what I suggested.)
Have a great trip!
Yes, we will rent a car and we will stay in ground 11 days.
This is a great itinerary! I am going to be take consider these suggestions for my bookings
Cassis only has small beaches, which can get very crowded in July (although still ok in the first week, as the school break won't have started). Bandol is a better suggestion IMO, but in general you won't find great beaches around Marseille. The coastline is spectacular but not very beachy!
