Need recommendations. We are doing a Viking Cruise from Lyon to Avignon at the end of October. After Avignon we have an additonal 4 nights before we go back to Paris to fly home.
What are you recommendations to do. We are thinking going to Marseille and doing some day trips or going ti Nice and to the French Rivera or open to other suggestions.
thanks in advance
I was in this area a couple years ago and I love Arles & Aix en Provence. I went by bus to Avignon from Aix. If you like Van Gogh, Arles is for you. If you like relaxing in a street cafe on a lovely pedestrian street, Aix is perfect.
I would head to Nice. There’s so much to do in that beautiful area! Very easy to get around by train or bus along the Riviera.
Whatever you decide, be sure to return to Paris the day before your flight out. Do not plan on going to Paris on departure day.
If you're up for driving, I'd say rent a car and explore in Provence. Avignon or Arles would be a good base. You could finish in Marseilles and get a TGV back to Paris. There's also TGV service from Avignon, Aix, and other places.
I loved Provence mainly for the Roman ruins, which are all over the place and generally in better shape than those in Italy. Fans of Cezanne and Van Gogh will appreciate different parts of Provence. Maybe you could describe your interests more specifically for better suggestions. Also whether driving is a good option for you.
Nice and the Riviera are a different experience, not as interesting to me as Provence but YMMV as they say. With just three full days to sightsee after the cruise, you might not want to spend so much time getting to Nice.
I'd just stay in Avignon.
We had three nights there a few years ago and happily spent a couple of days just wandering the lovely town, visiting the Palace of the Popes and doing wine tasting.
We did book a private tour one day that took us to St. Remy, Les Baux, Arles and amazing Pont du Gard.
We really enjoyed our brief stay there.
I’m with Dick and Laurie Beth on this.
Other than the Palais des Papes and walking out on the bridge remnant (Sur le pont, d’Avignon …), I thought Avignon was a little meh.
We enjoyed other sights in Provence: Orange, the Luberon (Font de Vaucluse, Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux, Luberon), Arles, the Camargue, Cassis, Les Baux and then on to Nimes in the nearby Occitanie.
We travelled by car. 4 nights/5 days for all that other than Orange - which we saw before we arrived in Avignon. (One of the 4 nights was still in Avignon; we took a day and evening trip through the Luberon). We missed wineries in Chateauneuf du Pape, Aix, and Marseilles, as well as Pont du Gard.
