Hi. I’m planning to take a solo 2-week trip to France. I’m hoping to figure out the details soon and maybe fit the trip in June (will most lodging be already booked?) or in September. My goal is to live life as a temporary local as much as possible even though the time is short. I would ideally like to spend one week in a big city and one week in a small town. I have been trying to narrow down the places and am hoping that you might have suggestions of two places that would be easy to travel to/from for this trip.

For the small town experience, I’ve been considering Provence. Frequenting the open-air markets and seeing what life is like there is attractive to me. I am concerned that I might have difficulty exploring the area if I am not planning to rent a car. Is a car absolutely necessary to get around or is there enough to see via public transportation or walking? Because I am traveling alone, I would rather not have to drive/navigate an area that I am not familiar with, especially since I am not familiar with the French language. Also, I am wondering if there will be enough to keep me occupied since I will be on my own this trip. Any thoughts on my concerns would be appreciated.

For the big city, I have been thinking about Paris. I have been there once before, but only for a short time so I wouldn’t mind going back, but are there other big cities that might be closer to the South of France that would be good to stay in for a week and easy to get to via train, possibly to/from Provence?

I know this is a France discussion forum, but if any of you are familiar with Italy…that is the other place that I have been considering – the Tuscany, Cinque Terre, or Amalfi areas. If you think they might be a better fit, please do let me know.

Thanks!

Welcome to ST, DebbieK.

You have all the right ideas in terms of the content of your trip.

You have the right idea to try to live as a "temporary local". The best is to find a rental instead of staying in a hotel. You can go to the market and try out local cooking. That for me is as thrilling as visiting the best museums.
But that also means June is too soon.
Good rentals are booked way before a hotel is booked up. The most desirable rentals can be booked up 9 months to a year in advance for the July-August period.
You can still have a chance to find a good rental outside Paris for the September period.
Paris is of course a good base.
I suggest for your 2nd base Arles, for so many reasons:
Arles is a rather compact and beautiful small Provençal town with great art, great food and very good transport.
It is also one of a handful of Provence towns where you won't need a car.
From Arles you can visit many nearby interesting Provence destinations like St Rémy, Glanum, Les Baux de Provence, etc.
Arles is about a convenient 3 to 3.5 hours train ride (TGV) from Paris.
Don't worry about not havning enough to do.
Worry about the opposite: the rule of Provence is that you never have enough time to see all that it has to offer.
I go to Provence about every two years or so, and always find new gems.
One last tip: try to pick up some basic French before you go. It is easy to do and will help you have a much more enjoyable time.
Bon séjour.

Thank you, Americana in Parigi, for your reply. I will definitely look into Arles!

I am doing a very similar trip this June/July. One week in Paris, then to Lourmarin in Provence for a week. To get from Paris to Lourmarin, I'm taking the train to Aix, and then renting a car. I'm not sure I would want to be in Provence without a car. On the other hand, I think perhaps in Italy if you wanted to spend a week in Florence and then a train to the Cinque Terre you could do it using only public transport.

I don't know your budget, but have you considered Untours? I just checked their website and they still have openings for sampler untours which feature a week in Paris and a week in Provence. Their website is www.untours.com -when you get there, click the sampler selection on the right hand side and select the one for a week in Paris and a week in Provence. The apartments available will be shown after you indicate the dates you want to go. They don't do that sampler in July and August.

I have used Untours twice and will use them to go to Greece in September. We have been more than satisfied. Remember that the price includes air, apartments, rental car in Provence, and metro plus museum passes in Paris. The also meet you at the airport in Paris and drive you to you apartment and pick you up again at the end of your stay.

Good luck!

Paris is worth a week, you can only scratch the surface and if you already saw the main sites then you can truely enjoy a neighborhood with its markets and traiteurs and cafes.

hi Debbie,
I spent 11 days in France last Sept, and it was a perfect vacation - started with 3 nights in Paris, TGV to Avignon for 3 nights, then TGV to Nice for 3 nights, and finally the TGV direct back to Paris to fly out a day and a half later.
the weather was perfect - sunny blue skies and 70-75 every day except one dinner under a large awning when it poured in Avignon.

although people rave about Paris, I prefer smaller towns & cities, and loved Avignon. while there, took a 20 min train ride to Arles which is smaller but very interesting, and we went on market day... we brought back an incredible lunch to eat in a park area in Avignon... local cheeses, ham, melon, olives and the best French baguette I've ever tasted! plus wine of course! :-)

also took the bus to Isle Sur Le Sorge (about 30 min)

my friend and I decided to avoid the expense of a car rental & insurance, and were able to use the train and buses with no problem to see all kinds of places, plus the metro in Paris is wonderful, and safe... lots of people on there all the time, at all hours.

I also spent 10 days in Dijon in 2004, and unexpectedly was there for Fete de la Musique, a national & free music fest every summer solstice (June 21st) that was incredible - every different kind of live music on every other corner. took the train to Beaune. very easy train ride from Paris.

I wanted to return to France for the music fest, but now that I went in mid Sept, which is a bit cheaper because it's technically off season (the plane trip was almost $500 less than in June) I think I'd go back then again, and would love to, but no one I know wants to go, or has the money... :-(

In Sept, we found great hotels on the hostelbookers dot com website - clean and cheap - we split with 2 twin beds for about 60-65 USD each per night - even in Paris and Nice, which is unheard of... obviously a bit higher now that the dollar has dropped more.

people have told me I should consider going solo, but although I wouldn't mind going solo part of the time, I wouldn't want to do that the entire time.

Jude

Sorry for the late reply. I wanted to thank you so much for sharing your trip experience with me. Knowing that you were able to navigate France solely by public transportation was encouraging to hear.