mobidre

We are planning a 15-16 day trip to France in September and we've gone back and forth between splitting time between France and Italy but I think we've decided to stick to France only this trip.

Our itinerary seems to change by the minute as I do more research, but this is where we've landed currently:
- Paris: 6 nights (we've been there before and love it)
- Lyon: 3 nights (one of the days we'd day trip to Annecy)
- Provence area: 6 nights: torn on where to setup as base, but we'd like to visit Aix, St. Remy, Avignon, Gorge, & L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

I think my biggest concern is that its too much traveling around. We want to see as much as possible, but we also dont want to exhaust ourselves with traveling here and there so much, so trying to find the best balance. Another concern is that it will be too much of the same, meaning all the towns will be too similar to each other and we might get a little bored (if thats even possible). If anyone has any recommendations that would be greatly appreciated!

Our interests: walking around the towns, enjoying amazing meals and wine, going to visit a few vineyards, picnicking, shopping at boutiques and antique shops (furniture).

Lastly! We want to splurge once on the trip on a nice hotel since it is our honeymoon, so if anyone has any recs for a chateaux in the countryside, please do share! Thanks!

hetismij2

Your plan is for 15 nights, so 16 days with no mention of getting to an airport to get home again. Where are you flying home from?
Budget for the splurge?

bilboburgler

Just a few thoughts, neither Lyon or Paris have a vineyard (well Paris has a tiny one)

you might like this https://vide-greniers.org/ (empty the attic) which can be a load of plastic kids tat or some fascinating ancient stuff out of a loft from greatgrandma's time. Normally in the countryside and mainly Sunday morning.

I think it is too much travel but what are your two airports (are you flying out of Nice), why have you gone south? Rather than say north-east or west. What made you chose these places especially?

mobidre

We havent booked our flights yet as we wanted to finalize our itinerary first so we knew where to fly into and out of. With the above plan (if it stays as is) we would be flying into Paris and out of Nice

Budget for splurge hotel: around $500 a night

bilboburgler

september is a tricky time to visit some vinyards (most vinyards) as its harvest and everyone is busy, however going south makes a lot of sense as it is now finishing in August, often (climate change)

mobidre

Any recommendations on where to setup as "base" int he south, i.e where we should look for a hotel, and then what is worth visiting in the area? What villages and towns

zebec

Yo Mo, Best Wishes on your honeymoon.
Regarding a base you may want to check out Aix or Uzes in Gard. Those choices are purely subjective, but hold plenty of appeal.
Further advice: for Lyon, try to be there for the weekly St. Antoine riverside food market (Sat or Sun, I forget which). One of the best such markets IMHO. You may also enjoy staying at the rental in the old town called La Tour Rose, not to be confused with the luxe hotel of the same name. We loved it's being part of the actual miraboule with its distinctive pinkish tower. Happy to provide contact info. Reasonably priced, outstanding location and atmosphere amidst real history.

If you'd ever want a splurge rental in Uzes, we also have one to recommend: Maison Theodorit. Seems that their minimum is now 7 nights.
I'll soon extend our recent TR/photo essay here titled 'D'Aix: a photo essay of Aix', by adding imagery of Cucuron, known for its historic 'etang' water tank.---you may want to check that smaller town out.
Bon Chance.
I am done. the end.

shelemm

Did you mention how you plan on getting around? Roussillon is my number one destination in the Vaucluse, and I also adore Fontaine de Vaucluse much more than L'isle sur Sorgue. Well, too many great places to mention.

mobidre

We are planning on renting a car to get around. shelemm When you visited Roussillon and Fontaine de Vaucluse, how long did you stay there? Were they overnight trips or day trips? I think thats where I am getting stuck in planning. It sounds like they are all small villages to a day trip is enough from what Im reading but that could be wrong

shelemm

Yes, these are small places that can be visited in a day. That's what I did. Though Roussillon gets so popular in the tourist season that some feel it's best when the crowds die down and find advantage in staying there. Other favorite places of mine are the Grottes de Calès near Lamanon (7th century BC Ligurian grottoes) and the ruins of Vieux Vernegues, a destroyed village.

Of course, the more time you spend at each place the more you can enjoy, especially with a car. Don't overthink it, If you get to a place that is so magnificent you don't want to leave, then just stay longer. Make sure you descend into the ochre quarry at Roussillon. Fontaine de Vaucluse has a walk up to the Chateu des Evecques de Cavaillon that is epic.

There are so many things to do and see in this area: here is a brochure in French to give you some idea of the scope.
https://grandsitelafontainedevauclus...ures+4501.html
Select 'telecharger' in the green box to download the map.

Here is the main site:
https://grandsitelafontainedevaucluse.com/

Lexma90

You need to include time in your planning to get to whatever airport you will fly into and out of.

We just returned from a trip to France that included four nights in Lyon; we found it a lovely, delightful city. I think you'll have enough to do with a three-night stay (which really means 2+ days) without a day trip to Annecy. We stayed at Hotel de l'Abbaye. It's a little outside the busier part of town, but the hotel was gorgeous and very comfortable. It's not a splurge $500/night place, but we thought it was great.

In terms of Provence, we've stayed in St. Remy in the past, but spent three nights in Arles on this last trip. St. Remy is more centrally located. You can do much more than only visit small towns in Provence. One day we drove to Chauvet, which has amazing prehistoric cave paintings; what you see is a very detailed recreation, but we still enjoyed it very much. We spent time at a couple of vineyards, it's best to book in advance (but you don't have to). If the weather hadn't been so windy when we were there, I would have gone biking.