Question: Lyon and Provence

My wife and I have had the wonderful opportunities to sail on three Christmas Cruises; the Rhine (where we had a memorable New Year's Night in Amsterdam with AMA), the Danube with Viking, and recently the Amsterdam to Basel trip, again with Viking. (We count our blessings!)

Next year we have scheduled the Viking Lyon and Provence trip in early November.

While we feel we "get" the Rhine/Danube itineraries, we don't know much of France outside of Paris.

This trip is Avignon to Lyon and we were wondering if anyone has any comments, tips, suggestions, etc on such an itinerary.

In advance, much thanks for your thoughts.

My wife and I have had the wonderful opportunities to sail on three Christmas Cruises; the Rhine (where we had a memorable New Year's Night in Amsterdam with AMA), the Danube with Viking, and recently the Amsterdam to Basel trip, again with Viking. (We count our blessings!)

Next year we have scheduled the Viking Lyon and Provence trip in early November.

While we feel we "get" the Rhine/Danube itineraries, we don't know much of France outside of Paris.

This trip is Avignon to Lyon and we were wondering if anyone has any comments, tips, suggestions, etc on such an itinerary.

In advance, much thanks for your thoughts.

Ahh. the Burgundy region..lovely. Avignon is a wonderful place and Lyon is the food capital of France. Great wines, food, and architecture. You will enjoy this trip, I promise :)

It's a really great itinerary, with interesting history and amazing sights. The food and wine aren't shabby either!

We did this trip in March on Uniworld and loved it. I did a full review with pictures. The link is in my signature.

There were a few of us discussing this trip on a general roll call for all 2015 Uniworld sailings. On that thread, I posted a link to another poster's pictures from the same itinerary. Those two spots should give you a good start.

Happy planning!

We enjoyed our cruise thoroughly on Vantage. The cruise was so popular they put a larger ship to run this itinerary. Our trip story is at http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/burgundy2012.pdf

We are always happy to answer questions

Most of the Rhone cruises start in Arles. If your itinerary doesn't go there you are missing a great port with both Van Gogh and Roman sites. Also if there is an optional excursion to Pont du Gard -- it is worth whatever it costs!

I too have been fortunate, I have sailed Lyon to Arles twice, and am booked again for April 2016. (Uniworld, APT/AMA and next is Croisi)

If you have not done this area before, I would go with your favourite line, I have chosen 3 lines as each has a different Itinerary, and some of the stops are quite small, so wanted to experience new things. I stay in Lyon for a while before I board (the last and next cruise) and it extends things nicely. I also stay in Arles at the end, I love Arles too, and go to Les Beaux if offered, in fact any day / afternoon trips to medieval places such as Uzes, Les Beaux, Pont du Gard etc - all worth doing. For me the the Uniworld Olives afternoon is an utter waste of time, but if you haven't seen this before, perhaps something you will be interested in. AMA/APT's olive farm was much more interesting, and they had a truffle farm too which was fun and interesting.

It is different to the German rivers, but I prefer it, enjoy it!

The Rhone is our favorite itinerary so far and I have detailed reviews posted here on CC. Lots of info there and I am happy to answer any specific

We have done this route twice, once with AMA and then with Uniworld. We started in Lyon once and in Avignon once and the best experience overall was with AMA.

We stayed in Lyon prior to embarkation with Uniworld and in Paris prior to our AMA cruise.

We love the red wines of France and totally enjoyed the wine cruise with AMA on the Rhone, with all of the extras that included.

Next year we are strongly considering Bordeaux as we want to explore more of this part of France.

My wife and I have had the wonderful opportunities to sail on three Christmas Cruises; the Rhine (where we had a memorable New Year's Night in Amsterdam with AMA), the Danube with Viking, and recently the Amsterdam to Basel trip, again with Viking. (We count our blessings!)

Next year we have scheduled the Viking Lyon and Provence trip in early November.

While we feel we "get" the Rhine/Danube itineraries, we don't know much of France outside of Paris.

This trip is Avignon to Lyon and we were wondering if anyone has any comments, tips, suggestions, etc on such an itinerary.

In advance, much thanks for your thoughts.

We did a wonderful AMA Rhone/Saone river cruise from Lyon to Arles. Loved all the history and vineyards. We did it in May, which was a good time of the year. My only concern would be taking it in November. Personally, I don't like chilly weather and would prefer to cruise between May and September.

Provence is filled with ancient as well as modern history. Also, loaded with trips to vineyards. If you like wine, you would love this cruise.

We just did this cruise, well, the itinerary has changed slightly for 2016, with Viking in Nov/15. We were on the Hermod. Our itinerary was the reverse of yours; we started in Chalon sur Soane and sailed to Avignon. The Viking cruises do stop in Tarascon which is close to Arles, so you will be able to see the Van Gogh sites. It may be that your ship will be able to dock in Arles, the pier is being expanded in Arles to accommodate the longships but I don't know when that will be ready.

A few things we wished we would have known beforehand are:

- the included tour in Avignon (while a very good tour) only allowed a 15 minute stay in the market at the end of the tour. Of course, we could have left the tour and made our own way back to the ship. Some people found that they stood in line to make a purchase and when it was their turn, the time was up.

- the walking tour in Viviers was totally in the dark (started at 9 pm) which made it interesting but, well, dark. It is a steady climb up the hill to the lookout. Not particularly steep but still awkward for those using canes. My DM found coming down to be the worst part because she was leaning heavily on her cane. We wished we would have known about the climb so she could have used her trekking poles instead which would have made the excursion much easier for her.

Because the 2016 cruises start or end in Lyon, Viking is no longer providing tours to Beaune. If you have the chance, post cruise, to see Beaune, go see it. It is very unique. We saw the Hotel Dieu, did a wine tasting, and had some free time. The Hotel Dieu is very interesting! and has a wonderful, traditional, colourful roof.

We did our cruise as part of France's Finest which included the cruise to Paris/Normandy cruise. On that cruise, between November and April, instead of going to the Monet Foundation (because it's closed during those months), we went to Auvers sur Oise. I was somewhat concerned about that tour because it's all about Vincent Van Gogh. I was most impressed with the tour in the end. We had a wonderful guide who was quite passionate about Van Gogh. And, Auvers has set up signs with pictures of Van Gogh's paintings in front of the subject being painted. It was a great tour! I enjoyed it so much that I opted for the optional tour in Tarascon to see the sanitarium where Van Gogh stayed for a year. They had a similar set up with pictures of his paintings but, for example, one had to use their imagination a little more to see irises in bloom in November!

We did three optional tours on this cruise: Perouges, Les Baux/St Remy, and Pont du Gard. All three were very good tours. We did have OBC which was used for the tours so we weren't very concerned about the extra charge.

If you have any other questions, just let me know and I'll answer them. I still have the Viking Dailies from our cruise.

We did a wonderful AMA Rhone/Saone river cruise from Lyon to Arles. Loved all the history and vineyards. We did it in May, which was a good time of the year. My only concern would be taking it in November. Personally, I don't like chilly weather and would prefer to cruise between May and September.

 

Provence is filled with ancient as well as modern history. Also, loaded with trips to vineyards. If you like wine, you would love this cruise.

We did the Rhone with AMA in November and with Uniworld in July. July was miserable and crowded. It reminded us why we avoid Europe during the summer months. Never again.

The weather in November was mild and pleasant, no rain. Ports were much more enjoyable sans the mobs of tourists and sweltering temps.

It is a very individual choice as to when to visit but spring and fall - and winter- are our preference.

We did a day trip to Beaune while on Uniworld and that was a highlight and has us considering Bordeaux for 2016.

I will be following this thread with great interest as I just finished booking this very trip for November 2017. to OP, since you are going in early November 2016, and we are going early November 2017, please come back after your cruise and share your experience.

We enjoyed our cruise thoroughly on Vantage. The cruise was so popular they put a larger ship to run this itinerary. Our trip story is at http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/burgundy2012.pdf

We are always happy to answer questions

Loved reading your trip report and looking at your photos. I just signed us up for a Lyon & Provence river cruise, and this will help with my planning. Thanks for sharing!

We did three optional tours on this cruise: Les Baux/St Remy, and Pont du Gard. All three were very good tours. We did have OBC which was used for the tours so we weren't very concerned about the extra charge.

 

.

For those comparing lines, AMA included those and more at no additional charge. Uniworld charged for several that we had included with AMA, including Pont du Gard and a visit to the truffle farm and Chateauneuf du Pape.

...for everyone's kind, thoughtful, and helpful suggestions. This is exactly what I was hoping for and I sincerely appreciate the consideration.

Took the Chalon to Avignon cruise in Sept of 2015. Very enjoyable. If I could give one tip that many people miss that would be that Lyon is the food capital of the world, your ship isn't. Most all of the lines overnight in Lyon. Get off the boat, make a reservation in one of the great Lyon restaurants, and enjoy an incredible experience.

There is so much to see in Provence, we actually extended our trip to take in all the sights the boat tours couldn't suppy.

Took the Chalon to Avignon cruise in Sept of 2015. Very enjoyable. If I could give one tip that many people miss that would be that Lyon is the food capital of the world, your ship isn't. Most all of the lines overnight in Lyon. Get off the boat, make a reservation in one of the great Lyon restaurants, and enjoy an incredible experience.

 

There is so much to see in Provence, we actually extended our trip to take in all the sights the boat tours couldn't suppy.

Prior our 2nd Rhone cruise we spent two days pre cruise in Lyon, as we enjoyed it so much the prior trip. We enjoyed it more than Paris.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk19eoqm

We went on a similar cruise with Viking November 2013, it was called Portraits of Southern France. We had issues with the river, the water level was too high and passengers were no allowed to be on the boat traveling through several locks, the bus traveling was very short and Viking compensated us by giving us the optional Chateauneuf du Pape tour free of charge.

Arles was one our favorite stops, Van Gogh did several paintings in town and there is a nice museum of history and a large Roman coliseum.

The food and wine were very good, Viking poured many local wines and served regional food.

I enclosed pictures of our trip, we started in Avignon, cruised to Arles, then headed north to Lyon.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk19eoqm

 

We went on a similar cruise with Viking November 2013, it was called Portraits of Southern France. We had issues with the river, the water level was too high and passengers were no allowed to be on the boat traveling through several locks, the bus traveling was very short and Viking compensated us by giving us the optional Chateauneuf du Pape tour free of charge.

Arles was one our favorite stops, Van Gogh did several paintings in town and there is a nice museum of history and a large Roman coliseum.

The food and wine were very good, Viking poured many local wines and served regional food.

I enclosed pictures of our trip, we started in Avignon, cruised to Arles, then headed north to Lyon.

Wonderful photos. Getting excited for our 2016 AMA cruise

Happy new Year

Carole

Wonderful photos. Getting excited for our 2016 AMA cruise

Happy new Year

Carole

You will love it! Sign up for the (free) Limited Edition tour to the Boulangerie -- it was a hoot! [The other evening option that day, the Viviers Ghost Walk, also gets good reviews.]

I also recommend extending your trip to see the beautiful Luberon area. You can rent a car and see this area very easily. We stayed 3 nights outside Gordes at La Ferme la Huppa, a lovely accommodation. Their evening meal was outstanding.

We then moved to the Cote du Rhone area and loved touring that area also.