We are planning a 14-day trip end of August; flying into Paris, staying for 4 days. We would like to visit some French vineyards for 4 days on way to Cinque Terre, Italy. We are considering the Arles/Avignon area, or Beune. Considering we are going to Cinque Terre next, is one a better jump off point than the other? We do not plan to rent a car unless advised to do so by readers. Depending on whether we decide on Arles/Avignon or Beune, should we fly or take a train, to Genoa or to Pisa, in preparation to take train to Cinque Terre?
Posted by
Toronto, Canada
415 posts
This is a very difficult itinerary. Paris is quite far from Cinque Terre and I doubt you can fly to Genoa or Pisa from Avignon/Arles. Nimes is the closest airport to Arles and Avignon's is very small. If you are interested in seeing vineyards and tasting wine you could visit the Champagne area easily from Paris. The towns of Reims and Epernay are around an hour by train from Paris and you can take the train between them as well. In Epernay there are champagne houses right in town. In Reims you would be bettter with a car. In general if you want to visit French vineyards you need a car. If you are fixed on this itinerary, the better wineries in your path are Cote du Rhone wineries (Rhone river). Chateuneuf du Pape village is home to some of the world's great wines and is north of Avignon. I'm pretty sure you need a car to get there from Avignon. Arles is not as good an area for visiting vineyards - and not particularly geared to winery visits. Costiere du Nimes area is the closest wine area to Arles. There is a high speed train from Paris to Avignon which takes about 3 hours. Arles is going to be a longer train ride and likely a transfer somewhere. Once in Avignon or Arles, you would be pretty much reliant on the train to get from France to Italy. Current schedule shows travel time of between 7 and 10 hours from Avignon to Genoa depending on trains available. Two transfers of train as well. YOu might find flights from Marseille or Nice to Genoa or Pis - I don't know about that. I would really recommend that you rethink your trip.
Posted by
Green Bay
21150 posts
We did a similar itinerary in Sept. Paris, Colmar, Beaune, French Alps, Milan. Skipping Colmar, Beaune very worthwhile for visiting vinyards and wine tasting. Continue to Avignon for more of the same at Chateau Neuf de Pape. Continue to CT, then on to Milano and home. Good plan. I'd stay on the train from
Avignon to CT. Don't break the vibe.