Hello! I will be in Nice for about 2 weeks and Paris for 1 week. I have another 2 weeks in between that I am trying to figure out where to go. I am looking for a place with beautiful scenery and/or great food! These two weeks will be at the end of June/beginning of July. Also I will not have a car.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
You may want to edit your title. I think you mean Paris.
I really liked the time we spent in the medieval city of Beaune in Burgundy. You can tour the surrounding wine area with a bike or on a wine tour.
I've not been there, it's high on my list of places I'm working on getting to, but Lyon appears to be an attractive city.
Thank you just did! Thank you for the suggestions.
Hey there, @Barbara N, an experienced Francophile, wrote this excellent Trip Report on the region that might help. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-paris-lyon-dordogne-lot-toulouse. If at all interested in ancient Roman ruins, I would consider adding Nimes with a day trip to Arles as well!
Thanks, Sandancisco, for mentioning my report. While the Dordogne was amazing, I think it's relatively difficult to get around without a car., although some forum members have done so. Others on the forum have suggested Avignon or Arles in Provence for people traveling without a car, with access to places like Aix-en-Provence, St Rémy, Ile sur la Sorgue, Nîmes, and the Pont du Gard. Or you could head north, where it might be cooler, to Lyon and Annecy or Chamonix and then Alsace. I'm headed to Alsace for 5 nights this week, with no need for a car. I could easily find enough to do for a longer stay, including day trips into Germany if that would be of interest,
There are a number of forum members with extensive experience traveling in France without a car. I'm sure some of them will weigh in.
Edited to add that a search on the forum for France without a car gives some useful results. It would help to know if you are hoping to go to just one or two bases for the 2 weeks, or if you are interested in shorter stays.
Burgundy is well situated and easy to explore between Paris and Nice.
Panda -
We just returned from an all train, no car trip mostly in France.
My wife and I started in Milan and after a long weekend met our 3 children in Nice.
after our wonderful say in Nice we trained to Antibes for a day visit and then the same day trained to Cassis.
Our son found an app or website that offered him places that stored our luggage for the day while we toured about. In Antibes at an English store and in Marseille at a women's boutique. It was very convenient as we had 10 bags between the five of us!
Cassis is a lovely small town on the Mediterranean. Beautiful harbor - a nice, relaxing time for our trip. There is a grand 3-star Michelin restaurant there but the eateries along the harbor were more than fine. We took boat ride to view the Calanques. A really lovely two night stop.
From Cassis we trained to Marseille for the day and then spent the next four nights in Arles. You won't go wrong staying in either Arles or Avignon. We used a Rick-recommended wine tour company named Wine Safari one day. Mike was fantastic and drove us to the towns Gordes and Roussillon and two vineyards in the Ventoux and Luberon.
From either Arles or Avignon the train is easy to get you to Paris quickly.
We went to Montpelier and then Barcelona from where we flew home.
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Provence (Avignon, Arles, Aix-en-Provence) is a logical next stop if you're coming north from the Riviera.
From there it depends on your interests, how quickly you pace yourself and what public transportation options are available. But generally you should look at:
The Alps (Annecy/Chamonix) - beautiful scenery and hikes - will be really nice that time of year.
Burgundy - less touristed cities with a food and wine focus.
The Loire Valley (Tours/Amboise/Blois) - relaxed vibes, grandiose chateaux (some of which are accessible by public transit) and bike trails.
Alsace (Strasbourg/Colmar) - charming villages with half-timbered buildings and a mish-mash of different regional cultures.
Thank you for the awesome advice everyone! I really appreciate the awesome feedback. I think I will stay in Nice a bit longer and head to Corsica then plan to go to Avignon.
