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new itinerary from active 70 year-olds

Posted by on

Over the years I have received such great responses from you the Rick Steves followers.
Because of the Covid-19 virus, my wife and I have scrapped our previous itinerary after much research and would value your
opinions and critiques of our new itinerary which we find very much to our liking. We are both active adults in our 70's !!!!!

Arriving in Paris we would take train to Annecy (4 nights)
Rent car (?) to go to Chamonix (3 nights)
From Chamonix drive to Antibes on the Riviera (4 or 5 nights) - includes day trips
From Riviera take train to Aix-en-Provence ( 4 or m5 nights) - includes day trips
Aix-en-Provence to Toulouse (5 nights) - we have several friends to visit
Toulouse back to Paris for 5 nights

Thank you for your comments. They are much appreciated!

Posted by
1633 posts

We did almost the exact same itinerary back in 2011. We rented a car in Lyon and drove from there to Annecy - Chamonix - Villefranche sur mer - Arles - Carcassonne - Sarlat - Toulouse. We had the car from when we left Lyon until we flew home.

I'd say 4-5 nights in both the Riviera and Provence is just adequate. We spent four nights in Villefranche and five in Arles. In retrospect I'd add another night in Arles, or more preferably add that night and divide the stay between two parts of Provence. I could have added a night to Villefranche too.

We flew home from Toulouse. Maybe consider adding Paris to the front end of the trip and fly home from Toulouse?

Posted by
265 posts

Depending on your desired level of Alpine adventures, Chamonix is doable as a day trip from Annecy if your focus is the Aiguille du Midi. If you need more time there, go for it. The town is not architecturally compelling, but serves as a base for the alpine hikes, cable cars, shopping, etc. The rest sounds great. I prefer to spend the first night in Paris to de-stress the time between arrival and catching the train. Leave your car in Toulouse, of course. I hope you get there in 2021!

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