Still can't decide on where to go in France

Alsace: Strasbourg is a wonderful city, charming. We spent 3-4 nights there and then three or four days in Riquewehr. The two villages you mention are equally good to stay, visit.
We have taken several trips to Burgundy staying in Beaune. If you drive the wine road you will see villages.
Provence will offer the most charming villages. Paris to Beaune to a location in Provence works well. We always rent cars.

What time of year are you planning to visit ? That may make a difference.

We will go to Italy first then France about April 26 for about 16 days.

If you will travel by train and bus, forget the Dordogne (if that is what you meant by writing Dorgougne), it is not visitable without a car.

Generally speaking, seeing small towns and villages in France without a car is generally difficult, if not impossible.

So are any of those other areas impossible by train or bus? I knoew there are some buses on the vin route in Alsace.

The extent to which you can travel without a car depends on what compromises you are willing to make on destinations and pace. It's often a challenge to get to two small towns in one day, and hitting three in one day is a real jackpot. My trips are via train and bus, and I go to a lot of interesting places; it's just that most of them are not tiny villages, and I spend a more time in each area than the typical tourist.

In Burgundy I didn't try to go anywhere beyond Dijon and Beaune; I'm sure more would be possible.

In Alsace I've been to Strasbourg, Colmar and Selestat. There's some bus service to the little wine villages, but I expect I'd struggle string two or more together on one day.

In the general Dordogne area I stayed in Agen, Bergerac, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Cahors and Perigueux; I also visited Figeac and Sarlat-la-Caneda without too much difficulty. On the other hand, my side trips to St-Cirq-Lapopie, Rocamadour, Martel and Brantome were all challenging, requiring a lot of transportation time compared to time in the village.

In Provence I slept in Marseille and Avignon with side-trips to Cassis, Aix-en-Provence, St-Remy, Arles, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Aigues-Mortes. The trip to Fontaine de Vaucluse was a struggle and the destination definitely not worth it.

It would have been smart of me to spring for a one-day bus tour in the Dordogne and in Provence, so I could easily get to some of the cute little villages. I sometimes forget that when traveling, time is at least as valuable as money.

This is very similar to a leg of our trip in Sept/Oct - except we are just staying in France, your interests are the same as ours, travel modes too.
Can I suggest, as you are coming from Italy : Provence region (we are basing ourselves in Avignon), then up to Lyon (this is apparently the place for food/wine in France) and then onto the Alsace region (we are basing ourselves in Strasbourg for this area). We are doing various day trips from each base.
I really think a short amount of time on Paris is worthwhile if you can make it work time wise - especially if your friend has never been, as it really is quite a spectacular and beautiful city.

I'd be interested to know what you decide to do, and how it all goes for you.

Rwellington, Your answer is really helpful. So just skip Dordogne and Loire altogether? That does make sense. One op said "The most charming villages are in Provence." I've had Alsace and Burgandy as musts. Now we'll just add Provence. Also, I am thinking we should stay in Paris for 3 days, especially since we will probably fly out of there, and I never get tired of it .
How much time did you stay in each of those regions? Which were your favorites?

This might not be the primo year to visit Paris, with the Olympic craziness. The below is from David Lebovitz's January newsletter this morning.

emphasized textParis admits the transit system won’t be ready in time for Olympics. The transit system will also be almost doubling transit prices during the Olympics, and hotels are raising their rates 314%…and the government is tripling hotel tourist taxes, too. (France24, CNBC and L’Hotellerie Restauration)

…and Paris booksellers on the Seine are refusing to move for the Olympics (RFI), and the city is not sure how the 350,000 athletes with limited mobility who come for the paralympics will get around on public transit. (France24)

[Somehow these things all seem to work out, in spite of talks of strikes during that period. And the Paris Olympics Chief says the Seine will be ready and clean enough to host swimming events. So there will be plenty to watch!]emphasized text

We enjoyed several days in Dijon and did day trips by train from there, including to Beaune. Dijon feels small with a lovely old town area. We did the same staying in Strasbourg, with day trips by train to Colmar and the concentration camp Natzweiler Struthof. Lyon is another great option.

Acraven, Your advice was very helpful, too. Thank you. Was Dordogne something not to miss? What did you really like about it? I know the cave paintings sound wonderful, however I've read that they don't take reser vations at the best one, so you have to get there very early and you still might not get in. That probably won't happen with my friend being quite slow to get out in the morning.

Janet. I didn't realize the Olympics were in Paris this year. Do you know when they start?

mlw5000 we haven't actually been to the areas I mention - but I am in the planning stages for a personal trip to France in Sept/Oct 2024. This is a big trip for us, so I'm all across making sure things are well organised, and experiences in the places we visit are worthwhile and memorable.

We have the following nights scheduled for our 2024 France tour : Paris (7) Bayeux (4) Orlean (3) Toulouse (3) Avignon (5) Lyon (6) Strasbourg (4) ending in Paris (4).

I have previously travelled to north western France to the WW1 battlefield sites so will not be doing that again this time around. My husband hasn't been to France before, hence our 11 nights overall in Paris.

The 2024 Olympics are late July / early August, and the ParaOlympics are late August / early Sept.

Without a car, I didn't attempt to get to any of the Dordogne caves, but they are prime sightseeing targets. I also didn't do thinks like canoeing on the river. I'm not big on castles, so I didn't seek those outs. I enjoyed the many picturesque towns (spending many hours walking around each of them), the nice scenery, and the large market in Sarlat. Without a car, I'm not sure you'd get a great deal more out of the Dordogne than out of Provence, but the Dordogne seemed to have fewer foreign tourists (though it's very popular with the British).

Lyon is a great city. France has uncountable cities of interest, but it seemed to me Lyon has the broadest variety of things to see outside Paris. Given the likelihood of extremely high costs in Paris this summer due to all the Olympic folks who'll be showing up well before the Games begin, you could do a lot worse than spending time in Lyon this year. I wouldn't necessarily push for that on the same trip as a long stay in Paris, but I suspect in the end you won't spend that much time in Paris this time around.

mlw5000,We spent 10 days in the Dordogne region this past June, and 2 days before and after in nearby Bordeaux. I would definitely not want to visit there without a car, as it really limits your freedom to enjoy the area as it should be enjoyed. However, if you decide on going there, you shouid reserve your visit to the caves ahead of time. We did, and for some places, such as Font de Gaume, it would have been impossible to visit without them. No need to get there ahead of opening time with your reservation in hand. With only 16 days in France I would only try to see two areas, and add about 5 days in Paris at the end. Five days in Provence, five days in Alsace, and five in Paris would give you adequate time to really enjoy the areas. Remember, traveling between these areas will take up most of one day, whether you fly or take the train, but once settled at, say, Strasbourg, you can use the local transportation systems to explore the area as well as Strasbourg itself. The same applies to Provence, staying, for example, in Arles.
Whatever you decide, giver yourself enough time in each area to savor what it has to offer.
Bonne chance et bon voyage!

Thanks for your comments. I wonder if we shouldn't go to Dordogne instead of Provence because of less tourists.

As you plan to travel by train and bus, I assume you’re pretty independent in your travels. Since you’re interested in history and chateaux, I think the Loire and Dordogne each might be of great interest.

I don’t know if you have considered travelling by bike, but let me throw that thought out there. In France you can easily find one or another outfit that will arrange for bike or e-bike rentals for you, book your hotels, transfer your bags each day and give you routes, maps, itineraries and a GPS phone app to keep you on course in real time.

We did such a trip this past spring. SEE:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fabulous-tour-de-france-2-weeks-on-foot-and-by-train-2-weeks-by-e-bike

There’s a woman in England who has a phenomenal website that will lead you to all kinds of possibilities in every part of France. SEE

https://www.freewheelingfrance.com/

The cost for our two weeks of “self-guided” e-bike tours with mostly 3 star accommodations and some 4 star accommodations was quite reasonable. We moved at our pace (two 70 year olds), covered 20 to 40 miles a day, truly travelled through the back door and met many locals, as well as French and other European travellers; relatively few Americans.

Olympics are July 26-Aug 11. But preparations will be ongoing before that.

So a lot would depend on your dates.
If your friend does not care if she sees Paris or not, then maybe you should concentrate on being south of that. Of the areas you mentioned, I loved the Loire, Dordogne and Provence. I drove a rental car but it has been quite a few years since I did that. We were there pre-navigation system days, so there were times we ended up someplace we had not planned. And loved that adventure.
Try to winnow down your choices (not easy) and then spend a bit more time in each place.