My husband and I have rented a car for the drive from Avignon to Nice on a Friday in September. What is a good route to take with interesting things to stop at along the way? How long should we expect the journey to take, assuming we make stops, and what kind of traffic should we expect? This is our first time visiting this region of France. Thank you!
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Maybe the first decision for you to make is between 2 basic routes: 1) You can take the longer route south from Avignon, toward Marseilles, which then turns east and goes roughly along the coast, going by Marseilles and Toulon. Some travelers posting here have found that this "coast route" was not as scenic as they had expected.
Or 2) you can take the shorter route (shorter km wise) going east of Avignon, through the Luberon, and the Grand Canyon of the Verdun.
One of the secrets to planning driving trips in Europe is the www.viamichelin website. click here for that
When you get to that site, click on Routes or Maps (top ribbon). That site will help you make preliminary decisions about which route, coast or direct, and will give travel times. One footnote: the travel times will not include stops, you must decide those and add the time for those.
After you do that, come back here and let us know how you're trip is shaping up and if you need additional info, we'll try to help.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
Though not far from Avignon, try Les Baux and St. Remy.
Posted by
San Carlos, CA, USA
392 posts
Just to give you an idea, my husband and I drove from St. Remy (close to Avignon) directly to Nice without stopping and it took us almost 3 hours.