Driving from St Saturnin-les-Apts to Nice

My wife and I are planning on spending a week in the Avignon/St Saturnin-les-Apts/Luberon area the end of May, 2007 and then going to Nice for 4 nights. We%26#39;ll have a car during the stay and returning it in Nice. I%26#39;m wondering about the drive to Nice. I%26#39;ve looked at a map and the scenic route rally appeals to us. Any ideas as to how long it would (should) take on the National roads as opposed to the Autoroutes?

|||

Try http://www.viamichelin.com The default will probably give the autoroutes, but if you add a few %26#39;via%26#39;s of towns en route, it should give some indication. If you%26#39;re planning a roundabout route through the mountains, check opening dates of high passes :-)

|||

Thanks Diz! That%26#39;s a great web site. I tried several different routes and on the quickest and Michelin routes it even tells you where the speed cameras are p[lus the speed limit at the time. We were planning on getting some maps of the area but maybe I%26#39;ll just print out where we want to go and use that. Thanks again!

|||

Hi,

We did the same journey at the end May of this year (2006). As we were planning on catching a train in Nice and time wasnt on our side, we decided to take the Motorway route A7 passing by Aix. We left early in the morning on a saturday (we stayed near Apt in the Luberon). The run on the motorway was a good one I have to admit, though our little hatchback struggled to sit on the 150 km p/h that most motorists were doing. (the limit a lot of the way is 130 km p/h). We were warned about possible congestion / roadworks along the way so left with plenty of time to spare. We did not encounter any hold ups however. Via Michelin says 2.44 hours and they were right on the money. I can imagine if the traffic was heavier allowing more time.

The inland route through/around the mountains (thru Valensole)may look more direct, but you have the winding roads to deal with, however maybe more scenic. It will take slighly more time (eg: over 4 hours)

So the choice is yours if you have time to burn. I have to say that the time of the year chosen was perfect. Although the lavender wasnt out yet, the weather and other spring flowers was excellent. Right choice to have a car, and try to take in the little towns in the Luberon.

Take is easy on the narrow roads as some of them can be a little hairy as we found out. Enjoy....

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 7:19 pm, August 19, 2009