Provence & French Riviera

I would do a stopover in Avignon, see the Papal Palace, and then use Aix en Provence, as it is more centrally located for your base for Provence and there are commuter trains from there, and move on for a day/night in Nice see Old City Market in the morning, then Chagall Museum.

Can you rent a car for a few days in the Provence portion of your trip? I know there is car rental at the train station in Aix, and I agree, that might be a better location for a base. You could spend 3 nights here for some day trips (much easier with a car), then take the train to Nice for 2 nights before your flight.

Thank you for your responses. Yes, we will be getting a rental car in Avignon. Our plan is to take the train from Paris to Avignon, & stay there 3 nights and do day trips from there. We looked at staying in Aix as well .
Any recommendations for accommodation in Avignon would be appreciated. We will have a rental car so will need parking .

Since you’ll have a car I suggest basing in ST-Remy-you’ll have better luck finding lodging with parking there
We didn’t care much for Avignon and getting in/out with a car was a pain

Use booking .com to search for lodging with parking

We stayed here-loved it
https://lamaisondeline.fr/home/

Also enjoyed our stay in Arles -but without a car

How are you getting from Provence to the Riviera, car or train? How many nights in the Riviera, two?

We are planning 3 nights in Provence then 2 nights in Nice. Thinking of renting a car for touring Provence region. Dropping car in Nice or possibly taking train to Nice. Looking for ideas for best town / city to base ourselves in Provence

Hello,

I second the opinion that Avignon with a car is rather complicated... we scratched our rental when trying to meander the small streets. If you choose to base yourselves there, I recommend getting car insurance and a smaller car rather than a 4-wheeler.

Aix is also a great option but it resembles Nice more than Avignon does, so it's nice to counterbalance.

I would take the car with you to Nice to explore the surrounding area. The hilltop towns nearby are magical and more easily visited by car.

With only two days in Nice you can fit in a long morning visiting Eze, Villefranche-sur-mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. I would do the walk around the latter, starting in the centre of town. There is a small fish restaurant called restaurant Capitaine Cooke that is a nice departure from those on the port, although I do quite like the Mademoiselle restaurant and the staff is very nice.

I also recommend checking out the Villa Kérylos in Beaulieu-sur-mer. An architectural wonder.

Nice has many wonderful restaurants and things to do. Some of my recommendations include : the Chagall museum the Palais Lascaris and the Villa Masséna, walk up to the old fort ruins, then back down to the port and around. Be sure to visit the Cours Saleya in the morning to see the market and take a café en terrace.

Some good restaurants include La Merenda and Le Bar des Oiseaux. For fine dining Jan is apparently exceptional.

Parking in the old town is impossible, but finding a spot near the port is usually doable.

I have lots of other recommendations for small villages within 30 - 40 minutes of Nice in lots of different directions. Let me know if those interest you. You could also visit Antibes & Biot on your way from Avignon. Very lovely. The coastal walk in Antibes is fantastic, one of the nicest on this half of France's coastline.

This comment might displease you but it's simply an honest suggestion. I would probably choose to spend 5 days either in Provence or on the French Riviera. My personal pick would be the French Riviera. I feel like otherwise you're going to be cutting both regions rather short.

Best of luck and let me know how I can be of more help.

I agree with Gabrielle. I was planning to see both the area around Nice and Provence. There is so much to do, they seem to require much more attention than my 2 weeks will allow, so I am making them two trips.

Have a great time!
Lee