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Old 01-25-2008, 02:57 PM   #1
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Default Barcelona to Florence via Southern France etc

Planning spring break!! :D

Looks like one or two friends and I will be doing a crazy ten day hopjumpskip along the Mediterranean coast (mostly) from Barcelona back to Florence. Not a lot of time, so advice on where to go would be appreciated for days 2 through 5! Here's a list of places that we might like to go in France, and advice on how to best fill our time in a little intro to France would be lovely...yes I wish I could spend more than a night in, well, Barcelona and everywhere else, but unfortunately that won't be possible. We're pretty sure we want to try and get to the underground temples near Turin and hit up the Cinque Terra in a slightly more leisurely fashion.

Carcassonne, Montpellier, Nimes, Avignon, Arles, Marseille.

Day 1: Morning flight from Florence to Barcelona
Day 2: Barcelona - ?
Day 3: ?
Day 4: ?
Day 5: ?
Day 6: Nice? - Monaco to Turin
Day 7: Turin - underground temples (Valchiusella) - Cinque Terra (Monterosso)
Day 8: Cinque Terra
Day 9: Cinque Terra
Day 10: Cinque Terra (Riomaggiore) to Florence


Also if anyone knows anything about scuba diving at Barcelona or Cinque Terra or anywhere else I might be going to, that would be great.
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Old 01-25-2008, 03:43 PM   #2
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A couple ramblings:

You HAVE to spend more than a day in Barcelona.
Carcassonne is really cool, but half a day is probably enough since you have so much on the agenda.
Montpellier is a super cool city, cool windy alleyways, cool vibe to the place, probably my favorite city in France besides Paris.
Cinque Terre's really cool, but its more of a relaxed, oceanside sight-seeing thing. With your limited time I'd just do it in a day, and a night, but that's just me. I did all five cities in a day including the train there and back from Pisa, much more rushed than I'd like, but it worked. As for Pisa, take a picture and go, nothing else there.
See the bullfight in Nimes, I really wish I had. That's France's big bullfighting venue.
I found it really easy to get lost in Arles, I dunno . . . something about how all four corners of the old city look the same and that's what I was getting my bearings from . . . drunk . . . Cool city.

Sorry, I don't think I really helped you much.
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Old 01-25-2008, 04:01 PM   #3
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No, that's sweet...ramblings are great, grazie! Just sort of trying to feel out people's fave spots and maybe head to a few of those instead of trying to cram EVERYTHING in. I *fully* intend to return to Spain and see it properly in the future and probably walk across it via the camino santiago someday, which is why I'm cutting it short for now, sob sob...

I think my (highly vegan and animal-loving) travel companion will freak out at any suggestions of bull-fighting though.

I'm thinking we may cut a day from Cinque Terra and give that over to France, although there's no way we're doing it all in one day like you!
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Old 01-25-2008, 06:21 PM   #4
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Nice was great, i think i spent a week there staying on the beach and hanging around town. there was a really great hostel there, i think it was one of the top ten in the world.
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Old 02-01-2008, 09:06 AM   #5
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Agree...you need 3 days in Barcelona at least!!! trust me, you won't want to leave
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Old 02-03-2008, 04:08 AM   #6
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Alright, help me be harsh here! If you could only go to four of the following, what would your top picks be, or why would you eliminate any of them?

Carcassonne, Montpellier, Nimes, Avignon, Arles, Marseille, Nice.
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Old 02-11-2008, 09:07 AM   #7
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I've been to Avignon and Arles, and would LOVE to see Carcassonne. Is there much to see (other than a big city) for Marseille or Nice? What you could do is what I did on a Caribbean cruise. Pick the type of things you want to see/do (i.e., beach, snorkel, hiking, etc.). Then check out your potential itinerary and pick the best one for snorkeling, best for hiking, etc.

You could do the same to narrow it down here. Want to see some castles and medieval stuff? Well, Carcassonne is tops here. Want Roman ruins? Read and see what Arles and Nimes have to offer, and pick one as "best." Then look at your best of list, and it should be a bit easier to narrow down...

Good luck!

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