If you also love France and would like to enjoy its wonders in a few days, we suggest an itinerary that explores southern France in seven days. A true discovery of the French territory in the southern part of the transalpine country. Alternatively, you can choose an itinerary in Roman southern France.
Ready to immerse yourself in the colors and scents of these areas? Here’s the program to enjoy the most beautiful locations.
Itinerary Southern France
The first town, Nice, is a well-known summer vacation spot since past centuries, periods when nobility from all over the globe chose this area to spend their holiday periods. The town still maintains a royal and princely appearance, and it also offers a wide variety of attractions for both adults and children. You can choose between a visit to one of the famous museums hosted by the city, or a stroll along the Promenade des Anglais, rich with stretches of crystalline sand. Nice is full of venues where you can enjoy royal meals and taste typical local dishes. Moving inland, you reach the town of St. Paul de Vence: this is a village rich in medieval history, a well-known place where both Signac and Modigliani found inspiration for their masterpieces. Going down towards the coast, we find Antibes: a port town always hosting rows and rows of moored boats and a very rich museum, the Musée Picasso. Afterwards, you can reach the hill where Grasse is located, the world capital of perfumes since the distant 1600s.
After a quick stop at the Fragonard and Molinard perfume museums, 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. Despite its fame, Saint Tropez has remained a fishing town, once a village rich with fishing boats, now fewer in number due to the advent of very luxurious yachts.
About 200 km by highway from Saint Tropez lies the characteristic town of Avignon. Upon arrival there, it is advisable to park the car in the space reserved for the city center and walk up to Place du Palais. In the square, from which it takes its name, stands the Palace of the Popes, the building where the papacy was transferred from 1309 to 1377. The visit to the Palace of the Popes takes at least a couple of hours. The center of Avignon presents itself rich with strong 14th-century walls and hosts cathedrals and historic buildings that are truly worth visiting.
About 36 km from Avignon lies the town of Arles. It is a World Heritage Site, in fact, it hosts a marvelous Roman amphitheater, almost intact over time. Then, after a few kilometers, you reach the town of Camargue. It presents itself in a suggestive way with marshes, stretches of sand, salt flats, the presence of animals such as flamingos, white horses, and bulls, all animals living together in a perfect ecological balance. The area that hosts all this is truly immense: it covers 820 square kilometers.
About a couple of hours from Camargue is Sète, a port town less known to tourists but ideal for a stop inside one of the local restaurants. After enjoying a good meal, you can head to Béziers and admire the Cathedral. About 90 km away is Carcassonne, a city enclosed by Gallo-Roman walls and very well restored bastions. The ideal would be to 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 hosts the wonderful Place du Capitole, known especially for the great variety of restaurants ready to seduce you with their typically regional culinary specialties.
We proceed northward 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 of the day. Crossing the Cahors bridge and the green lung of Perigord, you reach Rocamadour. The town offers unique sensations of its kind: besides venerating a 13th-century Black Madonna, it is completely developed on a cliff, forcing the tourist to walk with their nose up. 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 for an exciting journey to discover the beauties of southern France.
