Hi,
My partner and I will be traveling from Italy to Nice in late October and plan to spend 10 days in the South of France before making our way to Lyon and then London. We plan to hire a car and be able to shift around in that period. We have read many articles and travel sites and were wondering if anyone had recently spent time there and could advise on what sites/towns/must see's or does there are within that area?
As usual in your post nothing is written about in what you are interested. Must see's'places did not existe in this part of France.
A car is fine to discover the region, the back land but inside towns and villages it make no sense and parking places are rare and expensive.
After the border you will be in the region PACA (Provence, Alps, Cote d'Azur) three departments along the sea front, the rest in the Alps. October has no more tourists on the beach, trafic is normal, weather is mixed and daylight get shorter.
For excursions a good base to stay can be near the main roads, the national 7, the motorway for example. Nice, Cagnes, Antibes and Cannes could be a good choice.
Daytrips: into the Alps on the N220, a roundtrip to Grasse, Gourdon, St. Paul de Vence and Valbonne. A full day via Draguignan to discover the grand Canyon of the river Verdon, another day for the road Napoleon starting from Golf Juan. The north-eastern part behind Nice to Chateauneuf de Contes, Sospel and the valley of the river Roya including the village Saorge. If the weather is fine take a ship from Cannes to the islands Lerins and if the weather is bad look which of the museums find your interest at the coast.
Note that if you hire a car in country A and dehire in country B you're gonna attract a hefty penalty fee (included in the quote when you book). Further, bear in mind that French motorways are tolled and that fuel is very pricy - use http://www.viamichelin.com for an indication of costs. Personally I'd take the train between areas and hire a car locally as and when you need one. For example Lyon to London is now possible via a direct non stop Eurostar train.
Thank you very much for the advice. I'm a novice from New Zealand so everything is a learning curve.... Including lonely planet and forums.
Excursions and sites such as you have mentioned are exactly what we are looming for. We aren't really people to laze on the beach or spend Constant hours in museums.
Good and culture will be our main interest and viewing the true French lifestyle in those areas.
Thank you for the heads up on the travel. We will defiantly consider this if it's practical.
Any tips on how to find. The Eurostar route that you mention as we have been trying? What is the Eurostar like? Any tips?
Eurostar is a train that runs between Paris and London through the Channel Tunnel. Prices go up the closer to your trip date so if you have the exact date you will be travelling, buy your train tickets up to 3 months before on the site voyages-sncf.fr.
St Remy is lovely. Hire an electric bike to see the nearby villages and countryside, no need for car. Definitely no car required in Lyon, set aside time and money for fantastic meals in Lyon. Arles, Avignon, these are classic tourists spots for a reason! Well worth seeing.
Eurostar is not operating from Lyon to London. Eurostar is the best choice to travel from central Paris to central London for comfort and speed. From Lyon to Paris, should you wish to have time in that city, take the TGV. As mentioned above, pre purchase as soon as the time allows for obtaining the best fares (which is now for late October). I once heard, unsure if true, fares are cheaper on the french eurostar website than the UK eurostar website.
Best idea is to borrow a couple of guide books from your local library. Guide books I feel piece together better itineraries than stand alone articles. Whichever guide you then like best go and buy. Books don't have roaming charges:)
wayaoutback it seems your information is wrong. Eurostar goes from Lyon to London and not only.
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/promotion-train/multi/eurostar-depart-province
This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.