We will be visiting our son in Barcelona in March for 11 days. We want to spend 3 days in the south of France, Nice or Marseille, Aix-en-Provence. Can anyone suggest any destinations? we are willing to take train or plane, no bus.
Thanks so much!
Posted by
Washington DC
28085 posts
What are you interested in doing?
Here are the one-way travel times by train to the places you mentioned:
Aix-en-Provence TGV station: 4 hr. 25 min. if you don't mind arriving at 9:10 PM.
Marseille: 4 hr. 41 min. if you don't mind arriving at 9:26 PM.
Nice: 8 hr. 20 min. if you don't mind arriving at 9:40 PM.
In all cases there are earlier trains; they just take somewhat longer.
There are quite a lot of non-stop flights to Nice. For the random day I checked, there was only one flight to Marseille, but you can see why: The train would probably be faster. Aix doesn't have its own airport, so the train would be better there, though you'd need transportation into town from the TGV station. There are some regional trains making that run, and taxis.
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
3071 posts
Hi Valerie
Three days is not much so I wouldn't go too far so as not to waste too much time travelling. Is there any particular reason you mention France?
If you're after nice Mediterranean coastal towns, may I suggest you have a look at the towns in Costa Brava, in the northern part of Catalonia instead? They're far closer to its capital, Barcelona, hence less time invested to reach them and they can offer very nice experiences. Here a video for a general peek of the Costa Brava. And regarding which particular towns, well there are many: Cadaqués, Roses, L'Escala, Calella de Palafrugell....
Just a suggestion, of course.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
If I had 3 nights.
Either
1. Train to Nimes - 3 nights
2. Day to Avignon
3. Day to Arles
4. Return to Barcelona by train
Or
1. Fly to Marseille - 3 nights
2. Day to Aix-en-Provence
3. Day to Arles
4. Return to Barcelona by train
I think Nice and the Côte d’Azur is too far with just 3 days.