5 days from Nice to CDG through Lyon

We will be leaving Nice in Mid-June and 5 days later must return our car to CDG. In that 5 days we would like to see Lyon, Lake Annecy and Chamonix (to hike a bit in the mts). How is the best way to do this? I have tried different routes on ViaMichelin but there seems to be much back-tracking. Would it make more sense to turn in the rental car in Lyon and take the train back to Paris for our last night? If we had to, perhaps we could steal another day from Provence....

Too much to see, too little time!

Thanks for any input.

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There is a fast route from Nice by Autoroute roughly

Nice

Aix En Provence

Avignon

Lyon Paris CDG

This will take around 7 hours if two people drive at Autoroute speeds we have done Calais to Avignon in 61/2 hours so it is do-able

Personally I%26#39;d catch the train and relax for the last big journey if I could

Regards

Gray

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That%26#39;s what I mean by backtracking--we will already have spent 8 nights in the Avignon area, THEN down to Nice....to go back to Avignon--backtracking. if we reverse our stays, then coming from Sarlat to Nice first, we drive right past everything we are going to see in Provence to go to Nice, then again, BACK to the Avignon area to stay...

It%26#39;s not just getting from Nice to CDG--I can figure that out no problem. It%26#39;s including Annecy and Chamonix in the 5 day trip from Nice (or Provence, whichever the case ends up being) to CDG....

I%26#39;m thinking Nice to Chamonix for 2 nights, then hit Annecy on the way to Lyon (for 2 nights), and yes, perhaps turn in the car in Lyon and train back for our last night. I guess there%26#39;s just no easy way to get to Chamonix without covering some of the same territory since it%26#39;s in that out-of-the-way corner. (and we%26#39;ve already been to Geneva--both the city and the lake--so no interest in doing that again)

I%26#39;m trying NOT to complicate it further, just trying to do what makes the most sense.

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I suggest that you take the shorter way to drive from Nice to Annecy, that is the most scenic one: select the Michelin shorter drive, you will find out the route, through the Alps: Digne, Sisteron, Grenoble, there you will take the highway to Annecy, where you may spend 3 days; Chambéry desserves a stopover, and you may have a day trip to Chamonix from Annecy. Then get to Lyon, where I suggest you spend 2 other days, and take the TGV back to CDG, faster and more comfortable than a drive and the TGV train station is in the airport facility. No back-tracking that way and a very nice tour.

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