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Toulouse to Lyon or Barcelona

Posted by (Far East, Canada) on

We are considering starting a trip in Toulouse in October this year. Paris and Nice were included on an earlier trip. Hoping for nice fall weather and generally taking it easy. Roman ruins are of more interest to us than castles and museums, though we are not planning a trip around Roman ruins. We looked at a few Gîtes in this part of France that could work well. We are pretty sure we will land in Toulouse and depart from Lyon, the towns we stay in are not confirmed. Toulouse has convenient flight times for us.

We are thinking about basing in three locations for 14 nights:

  • Arrive in Toulouse and spend three or four nights
  • Four or five nights based in Nimes, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Avignon, Uzès or other town in this area.
  • Four or five nights in Lyon

Do we need to add another location or increase the allotment of days? Any other guidance as we plan this trip? We previously rented cars in Europe and it is a good possibility we will have one for the middle part of this trip to explore the countryside.

Another possibility is to arrive Toulouse and depart Barcelona which also has convenient flight times. Is this route better in October?

Thanks

Posted by
603 posts

In April/May we went from Toulouse to Nice (19 days). I think your day allotment sounds good but that’s from someone who likes walking towns, history, seeing sights, people watching, wine and food and goes to bed early.
We spent 5 nights in Toulouse with a day trip by train to Albi (excellent). We had plenty to do but also we flew into Seattle so we usually take our first full day slow.
We were in Nimes as a day trip from Montpellier but loved it. A beautiful town. We traveled by trains this trip so i don’t know about driving as a home base.
We went east to Beaulieu Sur Mer for a week and used it as a home base to explore the Core d’Azur.
If Carcassonne is on your list I’d recommend arriving at the end of the day and spending the night. The castle at night is beautiful.
I have notes on this trip if interested.

Posted by
2322 posts

Four or five nights based in Nimes, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Avignon,
Uzès or other town in this area. Four or five nights in Lyon

These places are more located in Provence and in the South East than in the South West of France, even if Nimes and Uzes can be administratively integrated into the Great South West, culturally, sociologically and historically they are more associable with Provence. The atmosphere, landscape and accents are completely different.

If you want to plan a trip to the South West from Toulouse, it is in regions such as Dordogne, Bordeaux, the Basque Country, the Pyrenees that you have to go.

In this case a return from Barcelona can make sense

The Gîte is a good solution as accommodation.
The official website of Les Gites de France is this one.
https://www.gites-de-france.com/en

Note that sometimes they are only bookable over a period of at least 5 to 7 days

Posted by
126 posts

Renee - you accurately described our preferred travel style, right down to early to bed.

JoLui - thank you for the regional information, the thread heading is updated. Some of the Gîtes we looked at are very good value even if we do not stay for seven days.

We are looking for a trip that makes sense logistically starting in Toulouse. It might be better to return from Barcelona in October if the weather is not great taking a route to Lyon.

Posted by
126 posts

I've looked online for October weather data in Provence and Lyon. The temperatures look comfortable and the rain not too bad. Does anyone have any autumn experience in these parts of France?

Posted by
7300 posts

October is a great time of the year for Provence.
Weather wise, no big difference vs. Barcelona!

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