Hi all,
My partner and I will be in France next April and I%26#39;m trying to sort out a logical itinerary. We will be coming into France from Cinque Terre in Italy and we would like to go at a minimum to Avignon and l%26#39;alp-d%26#39;huez (partner is a big tour de france fan) before we head to Paris. We will have about 7 nights or so to play with (before Paris) and we will have Eurail passes rather than a car.
I had a few questions. First, does anyone know whether it is difficult to get from Avignon to alp-d%26#39;huez (which I believe is south-east of Grenoble)? Is there anywhere near the mountain that would be recommended for an overnight stay?
Second, we both enjoy our wine, and though we would be doing a wine trip from Avignon, is there somewhere else that has good wineries that you would recommend? Is it worth travelling to Bordeaux or Burgundy or would we be better saving the travel time and going somewhere closer to the south east?
And finally, if we had time to squeeze in Lyon, Marseilles or Nice, which would you recommend?
Thanks very much for your help.
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Hello,
Getting from Avignon to Grenoble is fairly easy by train : it is a roughly 3 hour ride, with a connection either in Lyon, or in Valence. The hardest part, not travelling by car, is the trip from Grenoble to Alpe d%26#39;Huez or Bourg d%26#39;Oisans, the small town in the valley below Alpe d%26#39;Huez. There are buses however : Transisere (check their website : www.transisere.fr). I am sure that you can find accomodation in Bourg d%26#39;Oisans.
When in Avignon, and if you are big Tour de France fans, to miss the climb to Mont Ventoux. It is a must see. And there are small wineries on the way !
If you travel from Avignon to Paris, it makes sense to stop at the vineyards of the Rhône valley, and up north in Burgundy. From Avignon to the northern part of Burgundy, you%26#39;ll find vineyards pretty much everywhere. Hospices de Beaune, for example, are a must see. Going to Bordeaux seems completely out of the way.
I would rather stop in Lyon, in part because the city is on the World Heritage List. The setting of Marseille is great too, but my opinion is that the city itself is not as beautiful as Lyon. Nice would be the last on my list : nice setting too, but there are more things to see in Lyon, I would believe.
Have a great trip !
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You%26#39;ve had some great advice already, but some of this is going to be very tough without a car. As was suggested, Mont Ventoux is a great visit, because you can combine visiting one of the classic Tour de France climbs with a visit to local vineyards of Gigondas, Vacqueyras and others in the Côtes du Rhône.
The very best thing to do if you could would be to rent a car from Avignon for one or two days, then you can explore the area.
Moving on up to Alpe d%26#39;Huez, I think that that time it will take you to get there may not be worth your while. Also, in April there is likely to be snow up there and the ski season will be still going on.
Most of the great cols that are crossed in the mountain stages of the Tour de France are only able to be reached by car (or by bicycle of course).
It certainly makes sense to go from Avignon up to Lyon and spend a day there, and then go on up to Beaune and/or Dijon to explore some of the heart of Burgundy wine country preferably again by renting a car for a day, but if not then the tourist offices do organise day tours and there is much on the Beaune and Dijon sections of this forum.
From Beaune or Dijon it is easy to go onto Paris by train.
I would spend 2-3 days in the Avignon area, 1 day in Lyon and 2-3 days in the Beaune/Dijon area.
Please contact me by private message for any more information about organising the wine visits.
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Thank you both - that%26#39;s incredibly helpful. We have done a bit of rethinking and will probably go from Cinque Terre straight to Avignon, then up to Lyon and then Dijon. Your advice was much appreciated!
Cheers
Sam
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