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Where would you overnight between Paris and Provence?

We'll be driving from Paris to Provence at the end of June. We'd like to break up the trip with an overnight stay along the route (or not too far out of the way...). What would you recommend? We are considering Cluny or Lyon, but are open to ideas. (We are using Arles as our Provencal destination for planning purposes, but may change that, depending on what looks good for accommodation.)

As it's such a short stay, we won't have a ton of time to explore, so mostly looking for somewhere with some atmosphere, and where we can get a decent meal. We are a family of four, with two teens--we don't need nightlife or shopping, more interested in pretty streets and historic buildings we can explore.

Posted by
8556 posts

On a similar trip we just randomly chose Vienne one time on the Rhone -- we chose it entirely for location as it seemed like a good place to break our drive and we didn't want a big city like Lyon. It turned out to be a happy surprise -- there were a number of Roman ruins and was perfect for a casual late afternoon stroll.

Posted by
755 posts

Well the votes are in for Vienne but I’ll still mention Cluny, which has always been our overnight break on the way south to Provence. The charming, rolling hills of the Burgundy countryside, a quiet antidote to the autoroute. It’s about 20 minutes from the A6, on major roads, small with beautifully preserved buildings and of course the Cluny Abbey.

Little motel-like Hotel Saint Odilon is our lodging. Simple, inexpensive, in a field across the brook from town. La Petite Auberge for pizza and grilled entrees, good and not expensive..

Posted by
263 posts

Thank you all! Both Vienne and Cluny look really neat. We'll look more closely at both, and see which is the best bet for us. This is perfect--a little choice, but not too much, and some solid feedback!