Rick Steves Provence & the French Riviera

by Rick Steves, Steve Smith

Overview

You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when traveling in Provence and the French Riviera.

In this guide, you’ll find a dazzling mix of enjoyable cities, warm stone villages, Roman ruins, and breathtaking coastline. Experience Roman history with self-guided tours of the Pont du Gard aqueduct, Roman theater in Orange, and Arena in Arles. Explore sun-soaked Riviera beaches and resort towns, from cosmopolitan Nice to colorful Villefranche-sur-Mer. Get inspired by artistic masterpieces by Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, and Chagall. After a day of sightseeing, relax at a café with a view, dive into a bowl of bouillabaisse, and watch fishermen return to the harbor.

Rick’s candid, humorous advice will guide you to good-value hotels and restaurants. You’ll learn which sights are worth your time and money, and how to get around by train, bus, car, or boat. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631211973
Publisher:	Avalon Publishing
Publication date:	11/24/2015
Series:	Rick Steves' Travel Guides Series
Edition description:	11th Edition
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	4.50(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Since 1973, Rick Steves has spent about four months a year exploring Europe. His mission: to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. Rick produces a best-selling guidebook series, a public television series, and a public radio show, and organizes small-group tours that take over 30,000 travelers to Europe annually. He does all of this with the help of more than 100 well-traveled staff members at Rick Steves' Europe in Edmonds, WA (near Seattle). When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. Find out more about Rick at www.ricksteves.com and on Facebook.
Connect with Rick:
facebook.com/RickSteves twitter: @RickSteves instagram: ricksteveseurope

Steve Smith manages tour planning for Rick Steves' Europe tour program and has been researching guidebooks with Rick for two decades. Fluent in French, he's lived in France on several occasions, starting when he was seven. Steve owns a restored farmhouse in rural Burgundy where he hangs his beret in research season. Steve's wife, Karen Lewis Smith (who is an expert on French cuisine and wine) provides invaluable contributions to his books.

Table of Contents

Provence & the French Riviera 5

Top Destinations 11

Planning Your Trip 18

Travel Smart 29

Provence 33

Aries 54

Near Aries 90

Les Baux 91

St-Rémy-de-Provence 99

The Camargue 107

Avignon 112

Near Avignon 142

Nîmes 144

Pont du Gard 158

Uzès 164

The Côtes du Rhône 167

Orange 170

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 176

Vaison-la-Romalne 179

Best of the Côtes du Rhône Villages 191

Côtes du Rhône Wine Road Drive 192

More Côtes du Rhône Drives 203

Hill Towns of the Luberon 208

Isle-sur-la-Sorgue 212

The Heart of the Luberon 220

More Luberon Towns 230

Marseille & Nearby 246

Marseille 246

Cassis 268

Aix-en-Provence 280

The French Riviera 299

Nice 313

East of Nice 370

Villefranche-sur-Mer 371

The Three Corniches 384

Cap Ferrat 386

Villa Kérylos 393

Eze-le-Village 394

Le Trophée des Alpes 398

Quickie Riviera Bus Tour 400

Monaco 403

Menton 417

Antibes & Nearby 419

Antibes 419

Cannes 438

St-Tropez 445

Inland Riviera 451

St-Paul-de-Vence 452

Vence 455

Grasse 460

Inland Riviera Drive 463

Grand Canyon du Verdon Drive 466

Traveling with Children 474

Shopping 481

France: Past & Present 487

Practicalities 498

Appendix 567

Index 579

Map Index 595

Editorial Reviews

"The country's foremost expert in European travel for Americans."—Forbes

"Steves is an absolute master at unlocking the hidden gems of the world's greatest cities, towns, and monuments."—USA Today

“Every country-specific travel guidebook from the Rick Steves publishing empire can be counted upon for clear organization, specificity and timeliness."—Society of American Travel Writers

"Pick the best accommodations and restaurants from Rick Steves…and a traveler searching for good values will seldom go wrong or be blindsided."—NBC News

"His guidebooks are approachable, silly, and even subtly provocative in their insistence that Americans show respect for the people and places they are visiting and not the other way around."—The New Yorker

"Travel, to Steves, is not some frivolous luxury—it is an engine for improving humankind, for connecting people and removing their prejudices, for knocking distant cultures together to make unlikely sparks of joy and insight. Given that millions of people have encountered the work of Steves over the last 40 years, on TV or online or in his guidebooks, and that they have carried those lessons to untold other millions of people, it is fair to say that his life’s work has had a real effect on the collective life of our planet."—The New York Times Magazine

"[Rick Steves] laces his guides with short and vivid histories and a scholar's appreciation for Renaissance art yet knows the best place to start an early tapas crawl in Madrid if you have kids. His clear, hand-drawn maps are Pentagon-worthy; his hints about how to go directly to the best stuff at the Uffizi, avoid the crowds at Versailles and save money everywhere are guilt-free."—TIME Magazine

"Steves is a walking, talking European encyclopedia who yearns to inspire Americans to venture 'beyond Orlando.'"—Forbes

“…he’s become the unofficial guide for entire generations of North American travelers, beloved for his earnest attitude and dad jeans."—Outside Magazine

From the Publisher