HoneymoonFilter: France and Italy in 10 days
September 28, 2013 4:39 PM Subscribe
Looking for guidance and travel tips on a trip I am planning - driving from Paris to Toulouse and then heading over to Italy. Where to stay on the way down to Toulouse for one night and what's the best way to get to Italy from Toulouse?
I'm planning a trip to France and Italy and looking for some advice. We'll be flying into Paris, staying a few nights, and then renting a car to drive to Toulouse. We don't have a ton of time so we will probably spend one night on the drive down to Toulouse - where do you advise staying on the drive down from Paris to Toulouse that would be most interesting/memorable? We're interested in Chateaux, little French villages and wine/vineyards. I was thinking Chenonceau and if you have other suggestions that would be great. Not sure which town to book a room in - we'd like to stay in a cute town/village. We're headed to Toulouse where I've not been in 15 years and am certain it has changed. If you have advice about where to stay in Toulouse - near or in Centre Ville that would be great too.
After two nights in Toulouse we'd like to head to Italy. What is the best method to get over to Italy quickly since we really don't have a lot of time. Should we ditch the car rental and take a train to Italy? I could not figure out how to book a train from Toulouse to Genoa or Rome - is that feasible or do I just do it when I arrive in Toulouse at the train station?
My main goal right now is to identify where to stay/what to see on the drive down to Toulouse and figure out how to get over to Italy. Our trip ends up in Rome and we think we'd like to hike Cinque Terre.
Mefites with travel experience in this part Europe, I would appreciate any and all advice. This is our honeymoon so anything special that you did in these places that would make it memorable, I would be delighted to hear about. Je vous remercie!
I'm planning a trip to France and Italy and looking for some advice. We'll be flying into Paris, staying a few nights, and then renting a car to drive to Toulouse. We don't have a ton of time so we will probably spend one night on the drive down to Toulouse - where do you advise staying on the drive down from Paris to Toulouse that would be most interesting/memorable? We're interested in Chateaux, little French villages and wine/vineyards. I was thinking Chenonceau and if you have other suggestions that would be great. Not sure which town to book a room in - we'd like to stay in a cute town/village. We're headed to Toulouse where I've not been in 15 years and am certain it has changed. If you have advice about where to stay in Toulouse - near or in Centre Ville that would be great too.
After two nights in Toulouse we'd like to head to Italy. What is the best method to get over to Italy quickly since we really don't have a lot of time. Should we ditch the car rental and take a train to Italy? I could not figure out how to book a train from Toulouse to Genoa or Rome - is that feasible or do I just do it when I arrive in Toulouse at the train station?
My main goal right now is to identify where to stay/what to see on the drive down to Toulouse and figure out how to get over to Italy. Our trip ends up in Rome and we think we'd like to hike Cinque Terre.
Mefites with travel experience in this part Europe, I would appreciate any and all advice. This is our honeymoon so anything special that you did in these places that would make it memorable, I would be delighted to hear about. Je vous remercie!
In France, www.mappy.fr is your friend if you are driving. Your route Toulouse - Genoa is here. If you self-drive please take a navi along. Also, autoroute tolls are fairly high in France. You'll pay €52.50 in tolls for that 800km stretch.
The road trip passes Carcassonne, where there is an enormous old castle that is the model for the Disneyland castle. It is lovely. Enroute you will see a lot of things worth a trip: Oppidum d'Enserune, Montpéllier in case you want to do research in coal tar derivatives or hit the huge Aigues-Mortes beach, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Monaco.... It's pretty hard to not have a good time in France unless you don't want to. Road food is at least acceptable on the autoroutes, but except in the smallest villages restaurant competition is intense and you will get a good meal at nearly any restaurant.
If you want to go by train, SNCF is the national rail system's reservation site. Unfortunately, my limited effort turned up a three-part route to Genoa: Toulouse -> Paris Austerlitz; then Paris Gare de Lyon -> Torino Porta Suza; then Torino Porta Nuova -> Genova Piazza Principe. I don't know Italy at all, but the Austerlitz - Gare de Lyon sounds to me like a Paris Métro trip. "Durée 18h15" sounds like too much a marathon.
Have you considered flying from Toulouse to Genova? Inter-European flights seem to be always less costly and much faster than the trains unless you know the rail network well.
Have a wonderful time.
posted by jet_silver at 7:52 PM on September 28, 2013
The road trip passes Carcassonne, where there is an enormous old castle that is the model for the Disneyland castle. It is lovely. Enroute you will see a lot of things worth a trip: Oppidum d'Enserune, Montpéllier in case you want to do research in coal tar derivatives or hit the huge Aigues-Mortes beach, Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Monaco.... It's pretty hard to not have a good time in France unless you don't want to. Road food is at least acceptable on the autoroutes, but except in the smallest villages restaurant competition is intense and you will get a good meal at nearly any restaurant.
If you want to go by train, SNCF is the national rail system's reservation site. Unfortunately, my limited effort turned up a three-part route to Genoa: Toulouse -> Paris Austerlitz; then Paris Gare de Lyon -> Torino Porta Suza; then Torino Porta Nuova -> Genova Piazza Principe. I don't know Italy at all, but the Austerlitz - Gare de Lyon sounds to me like a Paris Métro trip. "Durée 18h15" sounds like too much a marathon.
Have you considered flying from Toulouse to Genova? Inter-European flights seem to be always less costly and much faster than the trains unless you know the rail network well.
Have a wonderful time.
posted by jet_silver at 7:52 PM on September 28, 2013
Forgot: Toulouse's emotional center is Place du Capitole. There are restaurants all around it. I will wish you a little chilly and rainy weather so you can have cassoulet at a brasserie that looks out on the Place. Castelnaudary is the ancestral home of cassoulet and it is also on the driving route. Wherever you stop between Toulouse and Carcassonne you will find cassoulet and autumn is the ideal season to eat it.
posted by jet_silver at 7:57 PM on September 28, 2013
posted by jet_silver at 7:57 PM on September 28, 2013
I would definitely ditch the car and take a train, even though the train won't be much faster. TGVs can't run at full speed on southeastern French rail lines (this has been in planning for so long it's getting ridiculous, our regional government is actually suing the French government for dragging their feet on it).
The reason I suggest training from Toulouse to Italy is road safety. And it is not Italian drivers who pose that big of a problem, they at least are predictable (fast and nimble). Southeastern French drivers are the worst, worse even than Parisian drivers. There are deadly accidents two or three times a month on the autoroute that goes to Italy (there's only one), and severe-but-not-deadly accidents twice a week.
The train line is gorgeous, it goes through parts of the area that you can't see from the autoroute, such as the red rocks in the Estérel. It's also cheaper than car, even for two people, when you account for gas prices and tolls, which are numerous. If you have a wee bit of time, you could stop in Toulon along the way, which has a charming port and old town; Antibes for great food, a covered market, wonderful museums; Nice has excellent museums as well; there's a huge market in Ventimiglia (called Vintimille in French).
To book the train to Italy, you have to do it twice: once for tickets from Toulouse to Vintimille (Ventimiglia), which is where French trains stop and Italian trains start. Then tickets from Ventimiglia to wherever you want to go in Italy. That said, TGVs often have their end-of-line in Nice. Look at train times, see if there's a TER (Train Express Régional) that gets you to Vintimille faster than a TGV + TER would, but often, even with a stop in Nice to change trains, the TGV + TER to Italy will be faster. And our train station in Nice is quite central, so you could put bags in lockers for a few hours and visit city center on foot. It's literally a 5-minute walk to main street (Rue Masséna) shops and some decent (not great, but decent) restaurants, as well as cheap panini (grilled sandwich) and kebab places.
posted by fraula at 1:24 AM on September 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
The reason I suggest training from Toulouse to Italy is road safety. And it is not Italian drivers who pose that big of a problem, they at least are predictable (fast and nimble). Southeastern French drivers are the worst, worse even than Parisian drivers. There are deadly accidents two or three times a month on the autoroute that goes to Italy (there's only one), and severe-but-not-deadly accidents twice a week.
The train line is gorgeous, it goes through parts of the area that you can't see from the autoroute, such as the red rocks in the Estérel. It's also cheaper than car, even for two people, when you account for gas prices and tolls, which are numerous. If you have a wee bit of time, you could stop in Toulon along the way, which has a charming port and old town; Antibes for great food, a covered market, wonderful museums; Nice has excellent museums as well; there's a huge market in Ventimiglia (called Vintimille in French).
To book the train to Italy, you have to do it twice: once for tickets from Toulouse to Vintimille (Ventimiglia), which is where French trains stop and Italian trains start. Then tickets from Ventimiglia to wherever you want to go in Italy. That said, TGVs often have their end-of-line in Nice. Look at train times, see if there's a TER (Train Express Régional) that gets you to Vintimille faster than a TGV + TER would, but often, even with a stop in Nice to change trains, the TGV + TER to Italy will be faster. And our train station in Nice is quite central, so you could put bags in lockers for a few hours and visit city center on foot. It's literally a 5-minute walk to main street (Rue Masséna) shops and some decent (not great, but decent) restaurants, as well as cheap panini (grilled sandwich) and kebab places.
posted by fraula at 1:24 AM on September 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ditto on the train from Toulouse to Italy - the Esterel part is gorgeous. The train trip along Liguria is kinda long since it's an old line which stops in pretty much in every town but there are beautiful, beautiful views (and lots of potential stops, such as Camogli, Levanto or countless others) along the line. If you're staying in Cinque Terre or Genoa, then the fastest way to get to Rome afterwards is via Pisa -> Florence and then an high-speed train to Rome.
posted by _dario at 6:42 AM on September 29, 2013
posted by _dario at 6:42 AM on September 29, 2013
If you really want to go quickly to Italy, there's a convenient flight to Milan from Toulouse airport (Blagnac).
posted by nicolin at 1:17 PM on September 29, 2013
posted by nicolin at 1:17 PM on September 29, 2013
I was in the Loire Valley a couple of weeks ago. We stayed at the Hotel de Anne Bretagne in Blois (we were on a cycling tour - most of the people at breakfast were wearing lycra, but it was a great hotel) - really lovely town, castle and river and some nice restaurants. Also a nice pedestrian shopping area. Amboise is incredibly touristy. The wine around it was very good though, but we just drank it with meals, as we never really figured out how the cellar doors worked.
We did many of the castles in that area. Chenonceau was probably our least favourite, mostly because it was overrun with tour groups and was way too busy. But if your going later in the season (and not on a weekend), it might not be so bad, and a lot of people we met raved about it. Chaumont was our favourite, as it had the usual reconstructed Kings bedroom, but also some history from the 20's, and there was an art exhibition in the unfinished attics and top rooms, which was fascinating to wander around. Cheverny only if you liked dogs or Tintin, and Chambord you can see the best bits from the outside (The staircase is mostly a staircase). Villandry is lovely, if the weather's nice.
There are also a couple of chateaux in the area that you can stay in, though I have no personal experience with them. One was called de la Bourdaisiere, but I'm sure there are more.
Anyway, I was also in Paris last week. Memail me if you want more details.
posted by kjs4 at 2:59 PM on September 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
We did many of the castles in that area. Chenonceau was probably our least favourite, mostly because it was overrun with tour groups and was way too busy. But if your going later in the season (and not on a weekend), it might not be so bad, and a lot of people we met raved about it. Chaumont was our favourite, as it had the usual reconstructed Kings bedroom, but also some history from the 20's, and there was an art exhibition in the unfinished attics and top rooms, which was fascinating to wander around. Cheverny only if you liked dogs or Tintin, and Chambord you can see the best bits from the outside (The staircase is mostly a staircase). Villandry is lovely, if the weather's nice.
There are also a couple of chateaux in the area that you can stay in, though I have no personal experience with them. One was called de la Bourdaisiere, but I'm sure there are more.
Anyway, I was also in Paris last week. Memail me if you want more details.
posted by kjs4 at 2:59 PM on September 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
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In addition, the views on the train in Northern Italy along the coast near Genoa are breathtaking; I'd recommend letting the train do the work for you! This would also allow you to stop in some great coastal places like Cannes and Monaco, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
To book, I'm not sure - perhaps your hotel could help. You could also ask the trip advisor forum folks; they are quite helpful. Perhaps you have to book the train in segments and that is why you can't book straight through to Genoa or Rome?
posted by juliagulia at 5:27 PM on September 28, 2013