Help with itinerary

Hi everyone,

My husband and I will be backpacking through France in mid-october. We will have a total of 15 days and we are on a tight budget. So we would be relying on public transport. Out of 15days, we will be spending 3 days in France, 2 in Colmar and 4 in Provence. the remaining 6 days have not yet been decided. We love small charming towns. We live near the tropics. So we don't enjoy the heat much and we are not looking for beaches. We have just realized that France does not have a point to point public transport system. Last year we went to Italy and we covered Rome, Sorrento, Positano, Umbrian hill towns, Cinque Terre, Bologna and Venice. I don't know if that gives you an idea as to what we are looking for. Please share in your suggestions.

My husband and I will be backpacking through France in mid-october and we will be spending 3 days in France< This is not quite clear and seems a contradiction. Please explain.

We have just realized that France does not have a point to point public transport system.<
I thought that every public transport system had the idea to bring people from A to B. In which way do you think that the system in France should be different?

I don't know what you mean by " We have just realized that France does not have a point to point public transport system. " France has an excellent rail system and buses too but you need to understand that small charming towns are not well served by public transport. Some regions have better public transport to places of touristic interest than other regions. Around Colmar there is good public transport to places of interest. Provence is a large region and you don't mention where you'll be going in Provence but there are many places of interest served by public transport, specifically the coastal locations. The Loire region has a good public transport infrastructure as well. A good website to learn about rail travel in Europe is www.seat61.com. Here is some info about getting around France using public transport:

There are three types of websites you'll need to get familiar with using: 1) train websites 2) bus websites 3) tourist office websites.

Look at this link to see a map of where the regional and long distance trains go in France:

http://www.bueker.net/trainspotting/map.php?file=maps/french-network/french-network.gif

Here is a map of TGV train lines in France:

http://medias.sncf.com/sncfcom/pdf/destinations/Carte_ReseauTGV.pdf

Here is a map of Intercités train lines in France:

http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Carte_TETallegee-20140227.pdf

To see maps of the local train routes for each region go to www.ter-sncf.com and look at the map of France on the right side of the page. Hover your mouse over the region that interests you and click on it. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Each region will set up its page a little differently but under the various topics and headings at the bottom look for the words, or combinations of words, that include “carte réseau” or “carte” or “réseau”. Sometimes you won't see any of these words and in that case try looking under the topics in “Services & Gares”. For example, in the Provence region you look under “Services & Gares” and click the topic “a votre service”. Then scroll down the page and you'll see “Carte du Réseau TER PACA”.

You can use the TER website to search train schedules and prices in each region but it is in French only. You can also use the SNCF website to search for schedules and prices. Keep in mind that for any train journey that requires a TGV train and most Intercités trains you will get the cheapest prices by booking three months in advance. Last minute fares for these trains will be the most expensive. The TER trains are local trains and have fixed prices and no reservations are needed.

To buy train tickets and check schedules and prices for anyplace in France you can use www.capitainetrain.com. Remember, buy tickets up to 3 months in advance for TGV and Intercités trains. You can also use www.voyages-sncf.com for the same purpose but it has a tendency to redirect people to the RailEurope site, which should be avoided as it has higher prices and doesn't show all available trains.

Look at this link for bus info. It has a list of all the départements in France so find the département that interests you and click on the link and you'll be directed to the bus website for that département.

http://www.itransports.fr/fr/reseau/departement

You also need to learn how to use tourist office websites. You should google the tourist office websites for any region, département, city, town or village you may want to visit. You will find loads of info on these websites including hotel/accommodation and restaurant info as well as what to see and do in the area. Occasionally the websites have English versions. In doing a google search enter the words "office de tourisme" followed by the name of your region, département, city, town or village and this will bring that place to the top of your search.

" we will be spending 3 days in France, 2 in Colmar and 4 in Provence"
Did you know that Colmar and the whole region Provence are also in France? It can be very helpful if you take a map from the country first.

If you want to spend
3 days in Paris
Then Colmar : 2 days. Going to Alsace area, I would allow at least one day more to visit Strasbourg. Spending 3 days in Alsace, you have plenty places to visit (old villages, vineyards, Colmar, Strasbourg)
4 days in Provence. I would make a stopover between Alsace and Provence. It's quite a long way. So I would spend 1/2 days in Dijon/Beaune/Burgundy Area or in Lyon
I would then stay more near Provence for example visiting Pont du Gard, Nimes or spend 3 days for Carcassonne and Toulouse (and back by plane to Paris)
So you already almost have your two weeks full so it could be :

3 days in Paris
3 days in Alsace area (Colmar-Strasbourg-village in vineyards)
2 days in Burgundy area (Dijon-Beaune - village in vineyards)
4 days in Provence (Avignon - Pont du Gard- Nimes - villages in Luberon area...)
3 days for Carcassonne and Toulouse and plane back to Paris

Agree with sjeanmarc1 : worth spending some days in Alsace: Strasbourg, vineyards, Haut Koenigsbourg castle, great villages...Worth a sight.
If you want to optimize your time, I'd recommend skipping Paris and heading South by train. Come back another time to focus on Paris.
From Alsace, it's easy to head south by train to Dijon and Burgundy, then stick to that North - South axis along the train line.
Burgundy is a fantastic region if you like scenic villages, roman architecture (beside wine & food !). Southern Burgundy is great also but you won't probably have enough time.

I'd strongly advise stopping for a few days in Lyon. Great city, plenty of things to do/see (UNESCO World Heritage city - the Vieux Lyon Renaissance quarter the second most important after Venice), great food, worth a 2-3 days stop.

You have only 15 days my recommendation would be to stay focused. According to your points of interest, plenty of things to see along the train line from Alsace to Provence:
- stop 1 = Colmar/Strasbourg
- stop 2 = Dijon & area
- stop 3 = Lyon
- stop 4 = Orange + car rental to visit scenic villages -> Gigondas, Vaison la Romaine, Nyons, Buis les Baronnies + Mont Ventoux
- Stop 5 = Avignon + car rental for visting Luberon or Alpilles (Les Baux de Provence, St Remi de Provence, Eygalières...) or anywhere els in Provence. If you rent a car in Orange, keep it to go to Avignon + further visits unless you don't want to pay for dropping off at a location that's not where you picked the car up.

It's easy and fast to go back to Paris by TGV from anywhere along that line (Avignon or Aix en Provence for example) if you need to fly back home from there.

Already looks like a packed planning for 15 days...

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