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Where to visit first? Provence South France or Paris?

Posted by (Seattle, WA, USA) on

Hi,

We want to visit Provence and Paris in summer, approximately 7 days for each. Do you recommend to go to Provence first (take TVG train to Avignon directly from CDG airport)? or stay in Paris first then go to Provence? Then take the TVG train from Avignon on the last day of the trip to CDG airport? If go to Provence first, will it be tiring after the long flight?

We have been to Paris twice and visit most of the tourist places, so we are pretty flexible on our "things to do" list. We are thinking we may be revisiting some of the places (like Versailles) or explorer the further palaces outside of Paris. One of the places we definitely want visit is House of Van Gore (Auberge Ravoux) and Mont Saint-Michel.

Thanks,
Jenny

Posted by
10 posts

Hi Jenny,

I would recommend spending the first week in Paris and the second week in Provence. You will be very tired when you fly into Paris and just getting to your place in Paris may exhausting. We spent a week in Paris and a week in Provence. If you love going to markets, there are wonderful ones in Provence. We flew into CDG and then flew out of the Marseille airport. At the end of our trip in Provence we stayed in Aix-en-Provence, because it is very close to the Marseille airport and is a very charming city.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Sue

Posted by
10748 posts

I would recommend you fly open jaw, into Paris and out of Marseille, or visa versa. If you must fly round trip to Paris, I would head for Provence right away. Why? First of all your arrival day will be a wash. You won't really get any sightseeing done, so why not jump on the train and head south. You will probably be tired either way. You can get to Avignon or your desired location in Provence and settle in. Walk around a bit, have a nice dinner and call it a night. You should be good to go the next day. Saving Paris for last you won't be stressing over getting back to Paris from Avignon in time for your flight. What if there's a problem with the train and you miss your flight?

Posted by
172 posts

Thanks.

If we also want to add Nice in our trip. Is it better to fly in/out to MRS? or NCE airport?

Posted by
2262 posts

For what it's worth, we're planning a similar trip, and have decided to fly into Marseille then train from the airport to Aix en Provence-about 30 minutes away (looks like Avignon is 45 minutes from airport by train). We felt like this was a "softer landing" then coming in to Paris first. We'll spend four nights in Aix, renting a car for two or three days to get out to the some of the Luberon towns and Avignon, then Arles and Nimes. We will then train to Lyon for a couple of days, then on to Paris. We fly home out of Paris. Just doing it differently may be the best reason for us; we flew into Paris the last time, so mixing it up makes sense to us. Have a great trip.
Dave

Posted by
10748 posts

If you want to add Nice into the mix, fly in there, then go to Provence. End in Paris. Or reverse the trip. Either way works.

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