Anyone have experience, strong preferences which way I should lean? ( I know, good problem to have!) Both cities have good, available programs for an intermediate French speaker. I'll be traveling from US via Berlin in late summer for a 2-3 week stay. I'm partly concerned about the travel strikes occurring as well and how they may affect the experience.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Aix is close to a wide variety of cities and Roman sites around Provence and the Riviera. If that's your focus, then Rick's guidebook for that region covers more towns than does his France book.
In Tours, you are near the Loire chateaux and 1.5 hours from Paris by train. Full fare, 2nd class for fast trains to Paris is about $75 each way, unless you book ahead to get a discount (compare to $50 from Aix to Nice).
Rick’s France rail travel page has the link and tips for buying “Prems” rate TGV tickets through SNCF (cheap, reserved, nonrefundable, available three or four months ahead of your travel date) to print at home and pay with PayPal. It does not tend to work with US credit cards, unless you have an extra level of security set up.