BostonFlyer1624

Hello fellow FT friends,

This August, I will be headed to Europe from Boston.

I have about 3 days that I would really like to spend visiting the wine regions of Southern France, specifically somewhere like Chateauneuf de Pape.

My ideal trip would be a day or two of visiting vineyards/Chateaus, going to tasting rooms, tours, and enjoying a nice meal or two in the evenings.

Right now I am thinking of flying BOS-MRS.

I am looking for a hotel in that region where I can use points of some kind. I've seen a Renaissance (Marriott) in Provence, a few Best Westerns, and a Park Inn in Orange (Club Carlson).

Are there other places I am missing? Also, does anyone have a suggested tour operator, or even an itinerary I can use?

Lastly, should I stay somewhere in a more populated area like Avignon?

Any and all help is appreciated!!!

Gagravarr

When I've done trips like that before, I've tended to head into somewhere big, and spend the rest of the day and a night there, seeing the city and a museum or something like that. Then, next morning, collect a car and head out. Tour round a bit of the countryside, maybe visit a Chateau or an interesting walk or something, and aim to get to where I'm staying mid afternoon. Often that's a small independent hotel or a B&B or something. Late afternoon tour round the Cave / Vineyard etc, enjoy the wine tasting fully (no worries about driving), then a nice relaxed dinner after. Repeat for as long as time permits, then drop the car back somewhere big and head home.

Chain hotels may work for each end of the trip, but I'd suggest you aim to stay in small independent places that are in a good location, and not worry then about driving after the visit, rather than trying to get back to somewhere big for a chain hotel every night.

laelae

La Maison d'Aix was my absolutely favorite place to stay in Provence. I'm generally not much of a bed-and-breakfast type, but this place proved me wrong. Please do yourself a favor and consider it!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Provence.html

I didn't have the chance to stay in Avignon...we just went for an afternoon, and I wish we spent more time there to explore.

If you make your way up through Burgundy, you should also spend some time in Beaune -- charming town with many restaurants and wine shops.

BostonFlyer1624

Anyone have thoughts on staying in Avignon? I am thinking about flying into MRS and using Avignon as my base. Any better recommendations? I am mostly into seeing a bit of the local culture, food, and doing vineyard tours. Have about 3 days.

DENROC

Have stayed many times in Avignon. Interesting city; can be seen in 1 to 2 days. Can get "busy" if you are traveling by car. IMHO, if your are looking to experience the south wine country, I would base elsewhere

BostonFlyer1624

Any suggestions for a different base?

YVR Cockroach

As others said, I'd avoid staying in cities due to parking issues (not always available let alone free) as well as the aforementioned traffic (can be a pain not to mention time-consuming to get in and out of).

Might want to be itinerant and not "base" to cover more area. I really like the wines from Montpeyroux (Coteaux de Languedoc AC) and it's a nice area there not too far from Montpellier.

Not too much of the hotel chains that you list but surprisingly a lot of charming old hotels are affiliated with BW in France.

If you want to do the B&B (chambres d'hôtes - by definition 5 or fewer rooms, anything larger is a hotel) thing, see www.gites-de-france.com though there are others not affiliated with that (national) agency.

BostonFlyer1624

I'll have a parking spot with my apartment so not too worried about that.

I'll only be using the car to drive out to vineyards really.

Mike Jacoubowsky

You could fly into CDG and take the direct train to Avignon from the airport. Might be easier than a connecting flight to MRS. For a base of operations, if vineyards are your thing, perhaps consider Orange, just a bit north of Avignon?

BostonFlyer1624

Wanted to check back in with you all. Any suggestion for vineyards to visit or wine tours in the Avignon region?

lhgreengrd1

Having done this sort of trip a few times - but not in the last decade - I would also recommend small, independent Inns, rather than chain hotels. I would recommend some place outside of Avignon - maybe Montelimar or Orange, or even one of the many small inns between those two towns.

I would also suggest, if you're not wedded to Chateauneuf du Pape, I prefer the northern Rhone between Cornas and Cote Rotie. A great base for touring this area is the town of Vienne. It's probably easier to access this area through Lyon.

tridawg

We did Avignon about 7 years ago as a base for exploring other towns in the area(by bus and bike). I don't have any specific tour recommendations, we just went to the local tourist office and booked through them. But we preferred the wines from Gigondas(SAUREL CHAUVET was our favorite) to those in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.