road trip Avignon to Lyon.

GoYears,
Will you have already spent some time in Provence or the Luberon before heading off to Lyon? Or is Avignon your first stop in France?

10 - 14 days does sound to me like too much time; however, I have a couple of recommendations. The town of Tain l’Hermitage is quite delightful. It’s the home of Valrhona chocolate. You can have a tour, then sample lots of their products. There are wineries where you can visit and have tastings. We had a very good lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Rhone.
Across the river is the medieval town of Tournon. There’s a castle to view.

Very close to Lyon is the town of Vienne which has great Roman ruins.

I don't know the area between Avignon and Lyon at all, but Lyon itself has a lot of interesting neighborhoods to explore and many worthwhile sights.

thanks for your replies. This will be our first time in the area. We will start south in Avignon and head northbound to Lyon and then travel around there. Arles looks good for a couple of days and venture out from there? Maybe start in Nice for a few days? We are open to the areas around there but do not want to travel hours a day. Thanks.

GoYears,
Avignon is less than 250 km from Lyon, less than 3 hours drive. So, here is my deux centimes.....
If you have a car you can stay in Avignon, Arles, St Remy de Provence, or any number of other nice towns in the area, and take day trips to see the sights (e.g. Les Beaux, towns of the Luberon....etc). You could stay 3-4 days in one town and 3-4 in another in Provence/Luberon. Take a leisurely drive to Lyon and spend 4-5 days there.
There are innumerable threads on this forum about what to see in these areas, so I would pick a spot (such as Arles) and enter it in the search box above to see what suggestions come up. (e.g. Search Arles, then filter for forum, then filter for 1 year or less or 2 years or less). Also, check out a guidebook from the library or purchase one (RS is good, so is Frommer ) and read up on the areas to choose what interests you.

Do you want to see museums, churches, Roman sites, wine tasting, hiking, biking, medieval villages, gorges, hills? Depending on when you go, the lavender fields may be in bloom. Oh yes, when driving around, or on your way to Lyon, I strongly suggest NOT taking the autoroute. Take the D roads to be able to stop at a spot that calls to you, maybe for lunch or a picnic or a peek at a small church or a tasting of honey or olives or jams at a farm. (These opportunities pop up as you drive along through the countryside)

One last thought...you could begin your journey at the Bouche du Rhone area, where the river meets the sea. Towns like Bandol could be the start of a northward journey through Provence. A good paper map, such as a Michelin one, can be ordered from Amazon or Barnes and Noble to see the whole region at once. We always use one to plot our road trips in France.
Lucky you to have two weeks to see the area....beautiful countryside, yummy food to be had, charming towns, interesting history, and all relatively close together. Bandol is less than 375 km to Lyon, for reference.

Have a great trip and enjoy this part of France!

Thanks Judy, that is good information and suggestions.

I would second the recommendation to avoid taking the Autoroute. Try looking at the book "The official guid to the Most beautiful Villages of France", and go to the section covering the southeast. Then locate some little villages which are kind of on the say from Avignon to Lyon (they will not be directly on the path, but you have enough time to see several of them). Then get a very good map, or use Via Michelin to plan your route. You can usually find a "gite" either in the little village itself, or nearby. We did this on a trip from Lyon to Bordeaux, and saw some wonderful villages. Peter

What Peter said.

It’s a little unclear to me how far you want to stray into “surrounding areas.” LATE NOTE on second read, I see you’re talking about Nice so you are considering a fairly broad ranging trip.

We drove through some of this area for a week a number of years ago (1999). (Traveling from Geneva to Barcelona). Agree that good maps are useful. We used the Michelin map for Provence. Better yet for planning are the Michelin Green Guides. You will want to look at two: Provence (incl. Avignon, Nimes, Arles and Marseilles) and Auvergne-Rhône Valley (North of Provence and including Lyon). LATE NOTE: East of Cassis and the Calenques, to the Riviera and Nice will involve a third Green Guide, French Riviera.

Our highlights near Avignon included the Luberon (Bonnieux, Roussillon, Gordes, Fontaine de Vaucluse) to the East, as well as the following to the north: Orange (with Roman ruins including an open air theater and a triumphal arch), Mornas’ semi-ruined castle, Montelimar and the “beau village” of Mirmande. Other highlights were Les Baux - a dramatic hilltop town and ruins with its history of the Huguenot resistance - and Nimes for its Roman architectural remains.

The Michelin Guides offer multi-day driving itineraries that you can use or adapt. For example, the Provence book has a suggested 6 day loop from Avignon to the southeast, then north and finally back to Avignon that includes the Luberon, Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue, Carpentras, Mont Ventoux, Nyons (not a typo), Orange and back to Avignon. There’s a 3 or 4 day loop from Avignon to the southwest (away from Lyon) that takes in the Camargue, Arles and Les Baux. There are two other loops, one north from Nimes and one that includes Aix en Provence and Marseilles. The Green Guides also offer rich information on many towns, cities and sights with local maps. Major sights get richer descriptions.

Also agree with #Judy’s and Peter’s (#adodd) comments.

Since you will have a car and want to spend 10 - 14 days in the area, I strongly suggest you get the Green Guides for planning purposes. (New and used ones are available through Amazon; used ones are pretty cheap). 10 to 14 days is not too much; we spent 7 but that did not include as wide an area. We missed Nice, the Côte d’Azur and Lyon and we only spent a couple of hours in Arles while the market was open. We merely drove through Marseilles without stopping on our way to La Ciotat and the Calenques/Cassis. Bon vacance.

We spent several days in Arles and one long day trip visit to Avignon but vastly preferred Arles. We visited the Papal Palace, historic but essentially devoid of furnishing, walked along a pretty street Rue des Teinturiers and danced on the bridge (an homage to my days in second grade French class) but found Arles much more charming. Mind, I don’t know what we didn’t see in Avignon but had no regrets spending our time in Arles with Van Gogh sights and easy drives to Les Baux, St Remy. Bonnieux, Roussillon,and Gordes. Driving in the region was easy. Frankly I’d be hard pressed to imagine more than a day in Avignon, but YMMV. In Arles we enjoyed our stay at the Hôtel de l'Amphithéâtre. They offered breakfast and parking, but we chose to park in the nearby municipal garage a short walk from the hotel rather than negotiate the narrow streets.Lyon is on the list but we haven’t made it there yet. Safe travels. .

That you all for your info. We will process it.

any thoughts on staying, for two nights or so, in Tournon vs Vienne? We will be driving from Avignon areas. we will end in Lyon to meet up with friends there.

Vienne is bigger than Tournon, and just across the river from St Romain en Gal, a major archeological site that I find fascinating. (if you like Gallo-Roman stuff!) Vienne also has a wonderful Roman theatre; in the summer Jazz à Vienne is a big music festival. So more going on generally in Vienne than in Tournon. However, the area around Tournon is lovely, and I’ll put in a plug for the Train de l’Ardèche (Chemin de fer du vivarais) which is a cute tourist train - again, if you like that sort of thng. And had fabulous meals in Tournon and Lamastre (nearby).

thanks for the info. We are leaning towards Vienne and visit Tournon. Do you have any hotel recommendations? We will be spending more time in the Lyon area later.

I agree 100% with clawssmith. Vienne also has a fascinating museum of Roman objects is a deconsecrated early-Christian church. We’ve stayed at the Ibis hotel there, a simple but reliable chain.

thanks for all the info.
Lastly, ideas on lodging in/around Lyon? we are 2 couples so a bnb is ok or 2 hotel rooms. 5nights? we have planned day trips from there. Merci.