Early summer weather in south France

Any one can tell me about June weather in southern France. Willard

Can only tell you about late July 2014... expected hot (80-90), it was actually only warm (mid-70's) and they had had LOTS of rain in early July so rivers were verrry high. Afraid there is no predicting!!

Could be like a nice Florida winter day, could be much warmer.

Average June temperatures

High Low

78 59 Ajaccio, Corsica

78 61 Bastia, Corsica

74 51 Bourg-Saint-Maurice

78 59 Carcassonne

75 54 Grenoble

76 57 Lyon

81 62 Marseille

79 58 Montelimar

80 61 Montpellier

76 64 Nice

79 62 Perpignan

80 63 Toulon

Been concerned about rainfall not the temps.

Average Rainfall (inches)

Lyon

Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

2.0 2.4 3.0 3.1 2.6 3.1 3.0 3.4 2.7 2.0

Vienne

Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

2.0 2.4 3.0 2.6 2.6 3.1 3.0 3.4 2.7 2.0

Chalon-sur-Soane

Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

1.9 2.0 2.3 2.7 2.5 2.5 2.1 2.9 2.8 2.3

Many thanks to all. Now I have to decide on either June 2 or June 12.

npphotog, We decided on a June 14 departure for one week on French County Waterways Ltd. Check them out. Very limited stuff to help us on CC but they use a very small barge, instead of the 100 or more people on a larger boat/ship. Based on their web site and a few comments we have heard, we are taking the gamble. I see it as a significantly smaller impact on the places you stop and that should result in better local personal contacts.

Hi Bob - We are looking on a June 2 or June 12 trip with Vantage - French Waterways. July toooo busy and August many shops are closed due to their vacation time. No 2 for 1 air costs after August. I had looked at the barge trips in France, very small groups of 8 to 20 persons. That's fine is all are good folks but if not, no were to get away if you fine one couple complain all the time. Pretty expensive also. Willard

Willard, we thoroughly enjoyed our Vantage French Waterways cruise this July. No place was crowded (except Paris!). It was cooler than we expected ( a nice surprise) and the only worry was the water level when we approached Lyon. (We made it but other ships were side-lined).

Still working on my long review and haven't sorted all my photos yet!!

Hi Bob - We are looking on a June 2 or June 12 trip with Vantage - French Waterways. July toooo busy and August many shops are closed due to their vacation time. No 2 for 1 air costs after August. I had looked at the barge trips in France, very small groups of 8 to 20 persons. That's fine is all are good folks but if not, no were to get away if you fine one couple complain all the time. Pretty expensive also. Willard

Willard - I agree totally with the "if there is one couple". My wife talked me into our "First" bus trip. Baltimore to Martha's Vineyard. There was one team on the bus I would have loved to.... and there is no way to get away from them on a bus for 8 hours.

However, the thought of small county tours, dinner in local restaurants for a small group, etc. (maximum of 12) captured me. Yes, small or barge touring is costly at about 20% higher than Viking or similar. But, I feel it's worth the extra, we will likely not do it again. My wife and daughter come back Friday from a one week Grandeur of the Seas to the Caribbean. That averaged $740 a day for two, allowing for suite accommodations, spa, etc. Our 2015 plans are arrive in Paris on Friday. Sunday (June 14) board the barge. Off the barge on the next Saturday (20 June) and then spend four more days in Paris, departing for Baltimore on Thursday. I estimate my total bill will be around $1600 a day for 14 days high season in Paris. That would cover everything plus purchases. So--it is double the cost of a trip on Royal Caribbean out of Baltimore with no air fare. I could certainly hunt and find cheaper accommodations etc. That's not what I want to do. So, there's that much less to leave to our kids.......

Hey Bob-in-Balto,

I have been intrigued by French Country Waterways, but I'm not a gambler -- so I'm very interested to hear how your gamble turns out!

Which of their cruises are you taking?

Please be sure to post here on the Cruise Critic River Cruising forum. [i don't think there's any place in the Reviews section, so start a thread here.] Thanks!

Host Jazz.....email sent to you. Please do not post it. For information only.

Bob-in-Balto

Hi Bob - We are looking on a June 2 or June 12 trip with Vantage - French Waterways. July toooo busy and August many shops are closed due to their vacation time. Willard

Hi Willard -

We did south of France with Avalon (left home June 26th) this year. We went into Nice a few days early then caught the tour in Monaco.

Weather was quite warm in the south. We did have some rain, but for the most part (except in Paris) it didn't rain too long.

One thing we did like about the Avalon package was that they took us by train from Chalon-sur-Saone to Paris. Most companies use a bus - and I think that would be brutal.

Fran

Willard, I was on the Tauck French Waterways trip 6/12-6/21/14 which started in Paris and cruised the Rhone in the south of France. The weather was FANTASTIC - sunny and in the 70's almost the entire time It poured rain one evening which was unfortunate, as it was our dinner evening at the Pont du Gard. Fortunately the weather cleared by the time we finished dinner and we were able to go out on the bridge.

Other than that one time, we could not have asked for better weather. I had heard it had been in the 90's a few weeks earlier, so we really lucked out.