South of France road trip advice

[spellman]

I’m planning a road trip for August this year between Bordeaux and Nice in France. The plan is to use Avios and BA for the flights to/from the respective airports, then do a one-way rental between them over the course of 8-10 days in the summer.

I’m a SoF virgin (apart from half a day spent in Monaco from a cruise ship) so would love to draw on the hive mind as to:
a) which direction is best (East to West or West to East?)
b) Must-see towns or events to take in en-route
c) Any recommended hotels (I prefer Hilton as I have HH Diamond so get the free breakfasts, lounge access etc) and am sitting on a large pile of points

and anything else which I should take into account. Will be travelling with a teenage daughter.

We’re more picturesque scenery, nice restaurants, vineyards, cute villages etc people than museums and art galleries to give you some guidance.

Any tips appreciated!

[Richie]

Also consider a shorter route, replacing NCE with MRS or MPL, avoiding possible high traffic levels around NCE.

[Anna]

Roads will be busy in August as the whole of France will be on holiday. Hilton doesn’t have much of a footprint outside the big cities. Best value is going to be places like HIE, but nothing will be cheap!
Frejus is a nice little town with a pretty square with market stalls and restaurants selling local produce.
As Richie, suggests, Montpellier and the surrounding area are also very lovely, you can see flocks of flamingos on the salt marshes and there’s a very pretty place at the coast called Aigues-Mortes (iirc) which is worth a visit.

[NigelHamilton]

I could quite happily write an essay on this topic, but will try and keep it to a sensible length! France is my favourite country bar none and we’ve done lots of road trips, albeit mostly in a motorhome. Your two ‘absolute musts’ are Carcassonne and the Lac de Saint Croix/Gorge de Verdon(French version of the Grand Canyon) in Provence. Outside of those two, you will find multiple small cities, picturesque towns and glorious countryside,so it’s hard to go too wrong!
Couple of practicalities. In August it will be hot, at least 30 degrees and maybe more. If, like me, you don’t like the searing heat there are three options – drive in the heat of the day and spend morning/evening sightseeing, go to the coast, or drive to altitude (possible in several places, but not the most direct routes). Second is that you can take the toll motorways which are very good for covering long distances and usually traffic free, but you will see a lot more on the ‘N’ roads that usually run alongside them. Driving in France is a pleasure, you’ll encounter little traffic outside of cities and the most touristy areas.

If you went from Bordeaux I would either go East to the Dordogne(Perigord), or South to Pau. Either way, second stop would be Carcassonne. Then you probably want to hit the coast across the bottom, and the Camargue (salt marshes) are worth seeing. Aim for Aix-en-Provence and then the Gorge de Verdon before dropping down to Nice. In terms of hotels, as others have said there are not many chain hotels outside the major cities. You will find more joy with some wonderful B&B’s, several English speaking ones in Perigord as its a popular expat area. Some restaurants also offer rooms. If you like cycling /canoeing etc. there are several places that offer bike hire or are based on the water and can organise trips. The food is also very different region by region so find a local restaurant and enjoy the flavours! The French tend to eat late so you will find early evening tables easy to come by, but the atmosphere is better later on.
Final tip would be not to drive every day, find a couple of good places to stop for at least two nights, ideally within a town or walking distance of an attraction so you can leave the car behind.

[Kuestrian]

I second Nigel’s recommendations, having done quite a bit of France over the years (albeit on 2 wheels rather than 4).

For the Gorges-du-Verdon take a look at a place called Moustiers-Saint-Marie which is a quintessential French village complete with gorgeous bistros that enjoys a unique position high up, and is a good launchpad for the Lac-de-Sainte-Croix and the gorge. From there you can pick up the Route Napoleon which drops down to Cannes & Nice via Grasse, with views all the way down to the Med from a far way.

Although as Nigel says, it’s difficult to go wrong around those parts.

For accommodation we used Sawdays books & site (sawdays.co.uk) which listed superb places to stay for decent rates. Avoiding the chain hotels made the trips even more special. A favourite one was a small, restored and converted monastery on top of a hill near Digne-les-Bains which had breathtaking views across to the Alps, and only €70 for the night. We’ve not used them since the pandemic so can’t attest to whether they still have a good range of properties on there, however.

[spellman]

Thanks for everyone’s contributions – lots to digest!

[Hbommie]

If you go as far as Nice continue a little further on to Villefranche sur mer and on to Eze, views!