Se anche tu ami la France et que vous souhaitez profiter de ses merveilles en quelques jours, nous vous proposons un itinéraire qui explore le sud de la France en sept jours. Une véritable découverte du territoire français dans la partie méridionale du pays transalpin. En alternative, vous pouvez choisir un itinéraire dans la France romaine du sud.
Prêts à vous immerger parmi les couleurs et les parfums de ces régions ? Voici pour vous le programme pour profiter des plus beaux sites.
South France Itinerary
The first town, Nice, is a very well-known place for summer vacations since past centuries, periods in which nobility from all over the globe chose this area to spend their holidays. The town still retains a regal and princely appearance, and also offers a wide variety of attractions for both adults and children. You can choose between a visit to one of the city’s famous museums, or a stroll along the Promenade des Anglais, rich with stretches of crystal-clear sand. Nice is full of restaurants where you can enjoy royal meals and taste local dishes. Moving towards the inland, you reach the town of St. Paul de Vence: this is a village rich in medieval history, a famous place where both Signac and Modigliani found inspiration for their masterpieces. Heading down to the coast, we find Antibes: a port town that always hosts rows and rows of moored boats and a very rich museum, the Musée Picasso. Afterwards, it is possible to reach the hill where Grasse is located, the world capital of perfumes since the 1600s.
After a quick stop at the perfume museums of Fragonard and Molinard, we say goodbye to the town of Grasse with its endless fields of mimosa and lavender and, after about 80 km, we reach Saint Tropez, passing through Cannes. Saint Tropez, despite its fame, has remained a fishing town, once a village very rich in fishing boats, now reduced due to the advent of very luxurious yachts.
About 200 km by highway from Saint Tropez lies the characteristic town of Avignon. Upon arrival, it is advisable to park the car in the area reserved for the city center and walk up to Place du Palais. In the square, which gives the same name, stands the Palace of the Popes, that is the building where the papacy was transferred from 1309 to 1377. The visit to the Palace of the Popes requires at least a couple of hours. The center of Avignon is rich in strong 14th-century walls and hosts cathedrals and historic buildings truly worth visiting.
36 km from Avignon lies the town of Arles. It is a World Heritage site, hosting a wonderful Roman amphitheater, almost intact over time. Then, after a few kilometers, the town of Camargue is reached. It presents itself in a suggestive way with marshes, stretches of sand, salt flats, and the presence of animals such as flamingos, white horses, and bulls, all animals living in a perfect ecological balance. The area that hosts all this is really immense: it covers 820 square kilometers.
About a couple of hours from Camargue lies Sète, a port town less known to tourists but ideal for a stop at one of the local restaurants. After enjoying a good meal, you can head towards Béziers and admire the Cathedral. About 90 km away is Carcassonne, a city surrounded by Gallo-Roman walls and excellently restored bastions. Ideally, you would visit the medieval village and dine in one of the restaurants overlooking the Basilica of St. Nazaire.
Defined by some as the most important town in southern France, Toulouse hosts one of the largest aerospace industries. About 90 km from Carcassonne, Toulouse boasts the wonderful Place du Capitole, known especially for its wide variety of restaurants ready to seduce you with their typically regional culinary specialties.
We proceed north and reach Albi. The town is best visited in the very early hours of the day, otherwise it is better to “take refuge” in the city’s museums to escape the hottest hours. Crossing the Cahors bridge and the green lung of Périgord, you reach Rocamadour. The town offers unique sensations of its kind: it not only venerates a Black Madonna from the 13th century but it is completely developed on a rock, forcing the tourist to walk with their nose tilted upwards. Only in this way will it be possible to admire houses, basilicas, chapels that seem to be one with the surrounding rock.
All that remains is to choose where to stay and set off on an exciting journey to discover the beauties of southern France.
