Driving from Paris to Provence

Sounds like a good plan. You could stop near Vezelay, just below Lyon in Vienne or in Lyon itself, and Avignon, which is already in Provence. You could shorten the drives even more: Auxerre, Dijon or Beaune, Vienne and then on to Provence which starts around Montelimar. The area north of Montelimar has recently added "en Provence" to its name; it's a transitional area. Hopefully others will give you many more suggestions.

Heidi
Perhaps you have already looked into this. Check viamichelin.com for driving Time not distances. Mileage can be deceiving as not as many multilane highways in Europe. Perhaps the website has scenic routes with places to stop along the way. You will love Provence. You might want to consider taking the TGV Train from Paris to Avignon and renting a car there. Really the only way to see Provence is with a car. Bobbie

Unless there is something specific you want to see along the way, I'd take the high speed train to Avignon and then get a car. It's a more efficient use of your time in Europe. The South has a lot more to see than the drive to get there.

'not as many multilane highways in Europe' Hrumph! Paris to Avignon is less than four hundred fifty miles and it's four-lane freeway every inch of the way. You move at eighty mph to keep up with traffic - - that makes it well less than six hours with one quick gas stop. Tolls run less than seventy-fve bucks for the trip, gas maybe a hundred. Unless my mind has failed, you stop twice to snag a ticket and twice more to pay the tolls. The OP asked about driving and potential stops. She did not ask about trains or donkey carts. Pay attention to Bets.

Then why act like an ass?

There certainly are plenty of multilane highways in Europe. I put thousand of miles on them every year. France, England, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Austria are all honeycombed with them. Its all I use for long distance driving and I can get just about anywhere before the big road stops. I find that driving on Autoroutes in France is considerably faster than on Autobahns in Germany even though Germany has large sections with no speed limits where I regularly go at speeds over 170 kph. It is so fast in France because they are very nearly straight, with gentle long bends, a speed limit on most areas of 130 kph in the dry, and often less traffic.

I completely agree with those suggesting taking the TGV to a city further south such as Lyon or Avignon, depending on exactly where you'd like your Provence adventure to begin. As mentioned, there is a 4-lane highway so it's fairly speedy, but the views get much better in Provence, in my opinion. If you've only got 4 days, all the better to spend them enjoying more time in the country! Have fun!

Ed - You're not making driving from Paris to Provence look very attractive even while advocating for it. The TGV train from Paris to Avignon is only 2 hours 38 minutes, as opposed to over 6 hours of driving. The full price ticket for the train bought the day you depart at 88 Euros is STILL cheaper than the gas alone!! If you book in advance you can get a ticket as cheap as 30 euros. Heidi if there are specific places and sites you want to see between Paris and Provence, by all means, drive down there. If you mostly want to sightsee in Provence, I would strongly suggest taking the TGV and renting a car in Avignon.

I don't advocate nuffin. I provide information. What I do for myownself suits myownself and I don't give a rat's rear bumper how anybody else does something. BUT WE SHOULD AT LEAST ANSWER THE QUESTION THAT'S ASKED AND NOT INTERJECT JUNK. The OP said she's going to drive and spend three nights along the way - - that should have been the departure point for the responses. We really, really need to try to stop running other people's lives based on what we have done, seen, or think. Some people have only been to Provence and Paris and not the area in between, yet they say that it should be skipped. Why? How can you speak against an area you don't know? How can you speak about roads which you've not seen? How can you advocate a train which you've not ridden? Only Bets stuck to the point, and did it very well.

Ed,
I respect your knowledge and experience in all matters Europe but ......... The only question in the original post was, "Any good suggestions?". That is a pretty broad question and without any other background information we can only assume the rest. My suggestion is to not spend three or four days on that route and instead use the time in more scenic areas. If the OP has already seen Provence and wants a more in depth visit to less touristy destinations than the proposed drive may be worthwhile. For us less traveled folks it makes more sense to stick to the highlights the first time around.

It was easy to answer exactly the way the OP asked because I take that route every summer to go visit family. Having spent a lot of my adult life going back and forth along that corridor by car, (as well as by plane and train), I can say that there is A LOT to see and do along the way. Auxerre, Vezelay, Vienne, Beaune, Dijon, Lyon are incredibly interesting and different from her final destination, Provence. You could spend a week in any of these places, radiating out to visit different sites. I figured that's what Heidi wanted to weigh in her decision.

thanks to everyone for your suggestions, didn't mean to get into a heated discussion. I am not going to France until September so have plenty of time to ponder this decision. Also I didn't mention that my reason to head south from Paris is because we are spending a week in Aix en Provence, which at that time we will be taking a few day trips around the area. Just wanted an interesting way to get there. The train is definitely a great option. Thanks again for all your helpful comments.

The title was 'driving from Paris to Provence' which was followed by 'doing it in 4 days with 3 overnights' which was only then followed by 'any good suggestions'. Note the juxtaposition of 'overnights' and 'suggestions'. One could reasonably assume that the title was over-riding and that's where advice and opinions were sought. Nowhere was the question asked about alternative transportation or allocaton of time between the enroute segment and the untimate destination. Heidi has apparently made that determination on her own. None of us can know what she had in mind, what her whole trip entailed, or even if she had five months to spend in Provence once she got there. EDIT: Heidi setteld this one while I was making coffee prior to bumping the 'post' button. Provence is grand, so is Burgundy and the Rhone-Alpes. Provence is well-covered in a gazillion books, the other two areas not so much so. Maybe she wanted to poke around in the latter two areas or the southern portions of the Ile-de-France. Who knows? Were I she, I'd had left the Helpline never to return. Too many posters stick their noses into other people's business with their own prejudiced opinions and, even worse, imperfect knowledge, or, even worse yet, wild guesses. What makes it worse is when somebody says one course of action is better than another - - comparing when they haven't done both. We should be better than that. (And for the record, although I hate to admit it, I've ridden a train between Avignon and Paris - - but then I didn't make an unsolicited comparison - - just shoveled out information).

Heidi, for a road trip like this you want the original road-trip guide to France published by the Michelin Tire Company to encourage people to use their cars. It is invaluable. The Michelin Green guide rates sights from 1 to 3 stars similarly to the way the Red Guide rates restaurants and hotels. I think 4 days on the road like this, with short hops each day, would be delightful. There's lots of great stuff to see and Bets's suggestion of Vezeley is a good one. I'd skip Auxerre though. It's a very different kind of trip than one where you just want to get on a train and be in Provence as quickly as possible. Not intrinsically better, just different.

All this talk about the drive south - with so many of the named towns and cities I have enjoyed visiting as I drove to Provence and nobody has mentioned Montelimar? I know that the town isn't much to see but the hand made nougat factories are well worth visiting, and the last time I was there, just before I was diagnosed diabetic, I brought home bags and bags of the chewy yummy stuff. We still have some, and its wonderful. And I really enjoyed seeing it made and wrapped. Just inches off the Autoroute, right on the way... ((BTW - I'm not sure if TER trains stop there - TGVs certainly don't))

WOW. Anyway:
Heidi, welcome to the Rick Steves Helpline! It's only like this sometimes! Must be a full moon or something. Anyway, based on how vague the original post was, I think a few of us picked up on the fact that Heidi was still undetermined about what she wanted to do and responded with our advice. Mine was: if you want to get to Provence cheaply and effienctly, take the train. If you want to meander down there, by all means, do so. Which is really reasonable advice. Why this stoked so much passion in another poster I am not quite sure. The TGV does that to people I guess? Many areas of France are lovely and I am sure there are many wonderful things to see between Paris and Provence. However if Provence is what I'm wanting to see, the TGV is the fastest and cheapest way to get there. That is all I'm saying. It's not really sticking your nose into someone's business to suggest options that you find personally helpful or worthwhile when people solicit advice. They are free to take or ignore the advice. I think such an overreaction and drama to people offering advice would be more likely to dissuade someone from returning to the helpline than advice offered in a genuine spirit of helpfulness. Nobody is forced to take anyone's advice at all. And I would personally love to take a road trip through every inch of France, had I the time and money.

Ok, let's put it to rest for awhile. Like I said before I didn't realize the passion everyone has about posting advise and did not realize what a heated discussion this would turn into. I will certainly get a Michelin guide book, if and when we decide to drive, I have already checked out their website. Each one of you actually did give me great advice and I thank you for responding and making valuable suggestions. Sometime reading a guide book does not give the personal advice as people that have actually done the travelling themselves. Thanks again.....