France? Provence and Alsace?

We took the train directly from CDG airport in Paris to Colmar where we stayed for 4 days. We used public transit to visit Freiburg Germany, and some of the small Alsace towns, although I do think a car would have made it easier to see the small villages. We wasted a lot of time waiting for buses. Freiburg was fine by bus/train combo. Then we took the train to Avignon where we picked up the rental car. It was quite inexpensive and easy to travel that way and definitely needed the car to see the small towns in Provence. When I did research on getting from Colmar-Avignon, it seemed the train was the best solution. We stayed in St. Remy and used it as our base for a week with daily day trips. You must see the asylum where Van Gogh stayed just outside of St Remy, Les Baux, Gordes and Rousillion...our favorites. Worked well for us. Good luck. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.

Agree with Lin about St. Remy and the hospital where Van Gogh was. That is my favorite town to use as a home base in Provence. I would definitely have a car for the Provence area and if you don't mind a road trip you could just pick up a car at CDG. I often fly in and out of CDG if I am staying in France as we have a nonstop to Detroit, and I prefer that flight. You could get your car at CDG and do your road trip and probably drop it in Avignon and take the train back to CDG to fly out, of fly into CDG and out of Nice, as you could end your road trip there.

Into (or out of) Alsace, fly into Charles deGaulle and take the train. Rent a car there the next day if you want one. The TGV is faster than driving. Into (or out of) Provence, weigh flying into Marseilles and renting a car there versus flying into deGaulle and taking the TGV to Avignon. If you are leaving from Provence and have an afternoon return flight, there is a direct early train from Avignon to deGaulle that will deliver you at 10:30 AM. Between depends on the kind of trip you like. To me a road trip is only fun if the driving is balanced with the sightseeing. This will take you several days and eat into your time in Alsace or Provence. It might be fun, on the other hand the train will take you about 5 hours. You can't drive nearly as fast as that and you can pack a meal to eat while moving. To do this you'll need to rent cars in two locations, which is no big deal. Have a great trip!

Friends of mine recently spent a week in Alsace with a car. They flew in and out of Zurich and rented their car there. That might work for you if you plan a circular route.

For Provence, the closest airport is Marseille; Nice airport is a few hours away. For Alsace, Strasbourg has an airport. All of these get flights from various European airports, so if connecting in Paris is not convenient, you can go via Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, etc. In addition, Nice has nonstop flights from JFK. Also, from CDG airport you can take a train right to Provence or Alsace. If you buy your ticket on the Air France website, you can get this train ticketed as part of your "flight." This has two advantages. It may cost little or no more than a flight to Paris. And, if your flight into Paris is delayed, you will be put on the next train at no extra charge. Similarly, there is a Lufthansa bus from Frankfurt airport to Strasbourg which can be ticketed as "Lufthansa flight segment," sometimes for little or no extra money (and if you are paying, it can be used by anyone, not just Lufthansa passengers): http://tinyurl.com/mrw5vn4 Here are the "airport codes" for some of these stations. Note that these codes do not work on all airline websites; sometimes you have to put in the airport and choose "search nearby airports" to get trains/buses instead of flights. Avignon TGV Station: XZN Aix-en-Provence TGV Station: QXB Strasbourg Rail Station: XWG
Strasbourg Bus Station: XER