Traveling to France with three other ladies in May. We will spend the first part of our trip in Paris and the Loire Valley. I need to plan the last several days of the trip. Any suggestions? I was thinking of spending three nights in St.Remy and two nights in Villefranche. Or would we enjoy it the other way around? We love aspects of both areas. Being from South Carolina, we love the coast but also enjoy the things Provence has to offer. Please offer advice.
Thank you!
Wardie
Posted by
Washington DC
28065 posts
I take it you'll be driving? St.-Remy isn't a suitable base without a car because it has no rail service.
I wouldn't consider five nights adequate for both those areas, so I'd pick one of them. With a move in the middle of the five-night period, you'd just have 2.5 days at one location and 1.5 at the other.
A car would be very helpful in Provence, whereas you can see a great deal along the Riviera by hopping on the train, and there's bus service up to some of the hill towns as well. If you'll have a car, that would be reason enough (to me) to choose Provence. If you don't have a car, I'd go with the Riviera.
Rick has a "Provence and the French Riviera" guidebook that should help you a lot in figuring out what you most want to see in southern France.
Posted by
OP
South Carolina
2 posts
Thank you! We will have a car and I agree that it’s not ideal to split the time between the two places. I think we will settle on Provence. I appreciate your suggestions.
Posted by
Washington DC
28065 posts
I'm sure you won't regret that. There's a lot of variety in Provence. You'll be able to see a lot more than I did, because I had to wait on a bunch of buses!
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Just as an aside, St Rémy is my favorite town in all of France (and i grew up in Paris). Charming, relaxing, wonderful.
YouTube videos of places you’re interested in are very helpful, it’s how we choose where to go.
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
486 posts
And for St Remy you might want to track down the blog posts and/or book(s) by Keith Van Sickle. We found his specific tips super helpful on our trip last year. Like this one:
https://keithvansickle.com/secrets-of-st-remy-parking/#.WVeLttOGOvN
Or this one:
In that area you could spend a whole year I think and not run out of things to do right there or within an hour or so drive.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
“In that area you could spend a whole year I think and not run out of things to do right there or within an hour or so drive.”
So true!!
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
283 posts
We did both last year. I agree with Acrovin that do one over the other. St Remy was great, we spent 5 nights there. couple of days driving to the different hill towns. One day to Pont du Gard. Easy to do Arle for the day. Same for Aix and Avignon although we spent a couple nights in each of those. So much to see! Enjoy!