Itinerary help! 2 Days..Grasse? Nice?

Hi I am doing a DIY tour with my partner, around Western Europe in September/October, travelling by rail. I have about 5 or 6 day in France. I would like to spend 3 in Paris and then I have another 2 or 3 days to see %26quot;somewhere%26quot; in southern France before heading to Venice. I was thinking of Nice, but we’re seeing a lot of coast’s on our trip: amalfi coast/greek islands so I was hoping for something more… rural? (We are visiting lots of cities too.) I was looking at Grasse and I would really like to visit the perfumeries there, but many reviews have said the town isn’t their first choice, not the flower encrusted rolling hills you would expect. Any suggestions??

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we are spending 2 nights in Mougins (just outside Cannes) in july, and plan to visit Grasse and Nice and for lunch, so will let you know what the town is like when we get back. We have a friend who lives in Cannes but works as a salesperson for one of the perfumeries and she reckons Grasse is lovely but overrun with tourists in july (as is the all of the cotes d%26#39;azur in the summer), but anyway you are going at the end of the season and it will be much quieter. No flowers in september or october as the lavender will already have been harvested, but Im sure it will still be very pretty.

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I spent 12 days in early spring last year with my wife and college-age daughters working our way from Nice to Paris. We loved Avignon and the hill towns of Provence such as Gordes (if you are looking for more rural). We also enjoyed exploring the area around Nice, including towns such as Eze and St. Paul-de-Vence. We just returned from Greece, and as spectacular as Athens, Santorini, and the Greek Islands are, we look back at our time in France as setting the benchmark for great vacations.

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thanks for your advice!!

i like the look of gordes but i%26#39;m just concerned about it%26#39;s location being a little far out of the way to then travel to venice. i wish i had more time in france!!

i am actually heading to santorini as well!

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filou, i hope you enjoy your trip! let me know how it goes!

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Thanks for that! We are also visiting Arles and Avignon en route, and having visited them before, can tell you are fabulous places to visit, Arles for the roman ampitheatre, and Avignon for the palace des papes.