How to plan a trip to the south of france
South of France Travel Guide | WATCH BEFORE YOU GO!
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bonjour et bienvenue i'm lexi and after
traveling to every country in the world
we are back in one of my absolute
favorite places the south of france on
the beautiful french riviera when you
think of this area of the world you
probably think of big yachts and fancy
casinos and maybe even topless beaches
and while you can find all of those
things here there is so much more to
explore and in this video you're going
to find out everything you need to know
about traveling through the south of
france right now we are on the castle
hill which gives you an incredible
overview of nice and we are actually
going to go down to the old town right
now to start our adventure so let's go
this video is mainly focusing on the
french riviera but there is a lot more
that the south of france has to offer
the different names in the region can
get confusing since provence alba
cotesure is quite a large region divided
by six sub-regions in southeastern
france the itinerary i outline here
takes place in what is commonly referred
to as provence which contains the south
western part of the region while the
other destinations like nice khan and
saint paul de vance are located along
the cote d'azur aka the french riviera
in the eastern part of the region
when arriving into france you should fly
to nice if you're traveling on a budget
or you're intimidated by the idea of
driving france's skinny roads and
endless blind corners you can travel
most of the region by train i personally
recommend renting a car especially a
convertible for the road trip because it
gives you the freedom to stop anywhere
but the cost of the rental car and any
parking fees can add up quickly don't
forget to increase your budget for gas
and tolls book your accommodation based
on parking availability and be sure to
rent the smallest car you can find
alternatively the train is not only a
very affordable option but it's also
incredibly scenic and you can actually
see many unique views since they built
the tracks right along the coastline the
train connects the vast majority of the
best destinations but it doesn't always
take you exactly where you need to go so
you may have to compensate with buses
taxis or long walks
every great trip to the french riviera
usually starts right here in nice here
you can find an idyllic pebble beach
filled with sunbathers and striped
umbrellas you can also walk the
promenade das anglais which stretches
for about seven miles down the coast
[Music]
we just took a few steps off of the
beach into the center of the old town
because it is so hot outside i'm here in
august when you're planning your trip to
the south of france you should keep the
weather and the peak season in mind july
and august are of course the most
crowded
peak season time to head anywhere in
europe but especially the south of
france i would recommend going anytime
between may and and october to get the
best weather and also june is probably
your best bet to get the summer weather
with a little bit less
crowds and also an amazing part of
traveling here in the summer is there
are so many festivals open-air markets
and fairs that you can go and see
hey france is pretty awesome
nice is by far the best place to use as
a home base while you're traveling
throughout the south of france i would
say that hostels average around 15 to 20
euros per night while mid-range hotels
average between 100 and 300 euros and of
course the sky is the limit with how
much money you can spend traveling in
this area especially in monaco monaco is
famous for being where some of the
richest people in the world live to
avoid income tax you can take a train to
monaco from nice which i did when i was
traveling on a budget to every country
in the world if you're interested it's
also possible to get a passport stamp
from the tourist office in monaco if you
would like a free souvenir from the trip
although monaco is recognized as a
sovereign country and stretches less
than two square kilometers or just one
square mile it is not as easy to
experience unique aspects of local
culture here in comparison to the
surrounding french villages by far the
most famous attraction is the monte
carlo casino and hotels the most popular
event is the monaco grand prix formula
one race which is held annually in late
may or early june if you only have a
short amount of time in the south of
france i wouldn't necessarily prioritize
a visit to monaco if luxury shopping
expensive hotels and gambling in a
famous casino are on your bucket list a
one to two night stay in monaco could do
the trick if you do find yourself in
this area i would highly recommend
traveling through mantan which is a
beautiful coastal city near the italian
border and ize which is a medieval
hilltop village overlooking monaco and
stunning panoramic views of the french
riviera another popular destination only
about a 30 to 45 minute drive from nice
is the beverly hills of france
khan for my fellow americans make sure
to avoid yourself some embarrassment by
pronouncing this city as khan not cans
the most famous yearly attraction here
is the khan film festival unfortunately
the public cannot buy tickets to this
event since it's an invite-only affair
for the stars of the film industry the
film festival is in may if you're
interested in seeing the city filled
with red carpet celebrities but i
recommend avoiding it during that time
since it's very expensive for staying in
nearby hotels the main activity in khan
is window shopping the top luxury stores
and sunbathing along the waterfront
walkways of the promenade de la croiset
if you want to eat on the beach there
are plenty of beach club restaurants but
you can expect a hefty markup on price
for the scenic ambiance on the beach
rather than eating a few blocks inland
also keep in mind there are seasonal
fireworks during the summer months and
they are so beautiful you can check out
the festival pyrotechnics khan website
for specific dates and times so you
don't miss out i am now about to play a
very famous game called bull which is
typical for this area in the south of
france and i also have some very good
news for you our friends at skillshare
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you new skills for free which means that
it's time for me to take on this month's
challenge which is gonna be absolutely
crushing my friends at a cutthroat game
of bull the game is very simple each
player receives three balls and the goal
is to throw the balls as close as
possible to the smaller target ball and
the game is usually played on a long
rectangular
flat gravel surface the winner is the
first person who reaches 15 points now
let's get started
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this video with someone else who might
be interested that one's definitely the
closest yeah
oh man
sucks ah those guys definitely won that
round but i'll have to get them back
next time and as you can see playing a
game of pool with friends during sunset
with a glass of wine is definitely one
of the most fun things you can do in the
south of france but we still have so
much more to explore
[Music]
we are now in a small village called
saint paul de vance we're about 30
minutes away from nice right now and
this place is amazing i highly recommend
this village in particular for any kind
of shopping there is so much art here
there's actually a restaurant that is
famous for having artists like pablo
picasso come back in the day and trade
their artwork for meals at the
restaurant so there's a lot to see in
these different villages it can be a bit
crowded
like it is now during the season in
august and july but it's definitely
worth a bit worth a visit if you rent a
car and explore all of these charming
villages in the countryside
[Music]
in provence you'll be able to see a lot
of roman influence in the tourist sites
in this region you can cross the famous
2 000 year old ponte gard aqueduct
bridge and travel from village to
village on family run wine tasting tours
if possible you should schedule your
trip around market days the open air
markets of the villages in provence are
some of the best in the world
you can find everything from clothing to
antiques to amazing foods and produce at
the different flea markets that are open
one to three days per week i recommend
traveling to oxon provence on a thursday
when the town has three markets on the
same day if you're visiting during july
you absolutely need to see the famous
lavender fields but be respectful to the
landowners don't venture onto private
property and avoid touching or trampling
on any of the lavender itself by only
walking in the pathways it's about a two
hour drive from nice so i recommend
staying in the region's capital exxon
provence for a few days from x it's only
about a 45 minute drive or one hour by
train away from marseille which is
another coastal city that acts as a
gateway to even more scenic adventures
like
national park
so we've just sat down for this amazing
meal we have some beef duck we started
the meal off with fragwa and actually
there is a tapanad which is a free
starter that they place on the table
when you sit down and one really
important tip for saving money when
you're eating at different restaurants
in france is to order the tap water you
can say uh un caravdo play and that's
just getting the water from the tap
rather than the bottles when you sit
down for a meal like this and they have
a lot of the glass bottles
that price can add up really quickly but
this is
looking
amazing
[Music]
there are also many art museums like the
picasso and matisse museums and many
beautiful churches throughout the region
and i won't bombard you with all the
details about them now but i highly
recommend checking them out to get a
closer glimpse of the more artistic side
of french culture another really
important part to remember about
exploring some of these different
villages all around europe actually is
that there are clean water
faucets spread throughout a lot of these
older cities where you can fill up your
reusable water bottles wash your hands
even just take a drink out of it it's
totally clean and safe to drink from and
it'll help save some of that plastic
waste when you're traveling if you're
interested in seeing nature i highly
recommend visiting gorge du verdon last
summer i had the opportunity to explore
the gorge with its cascading cliffs and
turquoise water okay now i understand
why we've been driving for three
[Music]
hop hours
i'm getting warm first
warm first we've been on this thing for
like 30 minutes
well i'll see you tomorrow i'll get home
and
another place that has attracted
tourists celebrities billionaires and
artists for years is centro pay this
place can be very busy and overpriced so
i would definitely avoid traveling here
if you are on a strict budget since it
is easy to have similar experiences at
lower prices elsewhere in the region if
you do decide to travel to central pay
you can find a quaint marketplace luxury
clubs and plenty of opportunities to go
to the beach and explore the coast by
both for a realistic mid-range budget i
would plan on spending somewhere between
150 to 200
dollars per day here it's definitely not
the cheapest destination in the world
but of course if you stay in hostels
keep in mind you can get a baguette for
one euro and you can also buy cheap
fresh produce from the markets to bring
back and cook for yourself but one of
the most amazing parts of traveling in
france is being able to try all of the
delicious foods so if i were you i would
definitely work that into your budget as
well you can try to save some money by
avoiding getting a rental car and using
public transportation instead they're
really efficient train systems here and
you can also try to travel during the
more
shoulder seasons rather than the peak
season overall i recommend traveling in
the south of france for a minimum of two
weeks if you want to see a little bit of
everything if you have less than two
weeks in this region i would recommend
focusing on either the cote d'azur or
provence rather than trying to spread
the amount of time you have here way too
thin
we have now arrived at the last
destination of our tour we are here on
cape ferrara and no trip to the south of
france would be complete without
visiting the famous villa erusi de
rothschild this place was constructed in
1912 which is surprising because it
looks much older but it is surrounded by
nine gardens and has an incredible
interior architecture
[Music]
now it is time to wrap up this
incredible tour with an epic picnic and
it was impossible to include every
single destination in this video because
there are so many crazy places in the
south of france so when you travel here
for yourself you should have a general
itinerary of everything that you want to
see
but don't be afraid to wander around the
different mountain villages and along
the coast because there is so much
ambiance and charm around
every corner thank you guys so much for
watching this video it has been so fun
to make and it's hopefully the first of
many travel guides from around europe so
let me know in the comments where you
would like me to dive into next and
until next time
keep pushing your limits
Related queries:
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