Sometime in mid to late October, I will be visiting my daughter who is doing a semester abroad in London. We've done a little bit of travel in Europe (Italy, Austria, Ireland, Scotland, and Paris and London)so we are looking to do something different. She will be doing several other trips with friends from school, so several places that we have not done are ruled out because she'd rather go somewhere with me that she hasn't been.
The plan is I will fly into London, spend a couple of days there, then the two of us would take off for a nice long weekend, probably four nights.
First, what's the most efficient, pleasant way to get from London to the French Riviera? I know that sometimes you spend so much time getting to the London airports, on top of arriving up to two hours early, that it's almost less stressful and perhaps cheaper to take the train, so we're open to both options.
Next dilemma is picking a town to base ourselves at. She's a 20-year old theatre/vocal performance major, and is more interested in the off-the-beaten path experiences, like I am. For instance, my favorite part of Ireland was County Clare as I really felt like I got a taste of how the Irish live.
We also love beautiful beaches, even if it is too cold to swim in late October.
I know not heads or tails of any of the towns in the French Riviera, and do not wish to rent a car. She's had two years of French in college, but it's been a year since her last class, so her French is minimal.
If someone could give me several recommendations of towns to stay in, I can do the research to see if it would appeal to us. We like to do a little shopping, but don't live for it. And we avoid tourist traps like the plague (such as Monte Carlo, etc.)
Thanks. You all were extremely helpful when we planned our trip to Ireland a year and a half ago!