Barcelona to Rome, through Provence, France, along the Mediterranean shores of Europe /
Click timecode for Barcelona 00:19 - Carcassonne 6:10 - Avignon 9:37 - Arles 13:56 - Aix-en-Provence 17:18 - Marseille 22:37 - Saint-Rémy-de-Provence 25:29 - Les Baux-de-Provence 26:58 - Pont du Gard 28:37 - Nice 30:31 - Antibes 37:08 - Cannes 40:37 - Vence 43:35 - Saint-Paul de Vence 45:37 - Monaco 49:00 - Santa Margherita Ligure 54:21 - Portofino 55:48 - Cinque Terre 56:54 - Rome 1:00:09
Barcelona, Spain, is capital of the Catalan region. We walk through its Gothic Quarter historic center and later visit the most famous building, Sagrada Familia, by Gaudi, also Parc Guell. We walk through narrow lanes in the heart of the Old City, a giant pedestrian zone dating to ancient times.
The fortified town of Carcassonne, France, with its medieval castle up on the hill is completely preserved, a walled fortress with castle in the center. We go inside the castle and on walks through the streets. Two main lanes and several side lanes make up the entire plan, so you can easily wander, looking at the shops and going to the museum.
Avignon has many ancient buildings and lots of modern shops in a comfortable pedestrian zone. Palace of the Popes grew into an imposing fortification during the 60-year papal residency and is now a museum and UNESCO World Heritage list. The pedestrian shopping district extends 10 square blocks south, providing a lot of fun streets for us to explore. Avignon’s Old Town is a charming neighborhood of pedestrian shopping lanes, narrow residential streets and little back alleys. At a half-mile wide and long, this historic center can easily be seen on foot in one day.
Arles was founded by the ancient Romans and still has a 2,000 year-old amphitheater that can hold 20,000 people, still in use today. There are a lot of narrow streets in Arles’ small pedestrian zone, with various squares with cafes around them, and many historic sites. Our walk along narrow pedestrian lanes brings us to the Place du Forum and Place de la République with the former cathedral, Église St-Trophime, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Aix-en-Provence is one of the prettiest towns in all of France, so lovely that various French surveys have named it the most desirable city in which to live and retire. The pedestrian zone of Aix is an idyllic urban landscape of pretty, low-rise buildings three and four centuries old, with a number of outdoor squares such as Place des Cardoures or the Place de l’Hotel de Ville, the City Hall square, very classy outdoor spot, with the market and the cafes around it, and street markets.
Marseille: we walk through the downtown to the waterfront marina and into the Old Town for a good overview of this second-largest city in France, a place with much historic character.
St-Remy and Les Baux, and the ancient Roman aqueduct of Pont du Gard make a good day-trip from Avignon. St-Remy is noted for impressive remains of the ancient Romans at Glanum. Les Baux is a stone village carved into the rocky limestone hilltop. Pont Du Gard is an impressive Roman aqueduct, the tallest ancient bridge and the second-highest structure the Romans ever built.
Nice, main city of the French Riviera, the Côte d'Azur, has a wide beach, lovely Old Town, and impressive downtown. Day-trips from our home base in Nice will visit Antibes, Cannes, Vence, St-Paul and Monaco, easily reached by short bus or train rides.
Cannes is one of the most famous towns along the Riviera. We will stroll through its pedestrian zone and past the beaches and marina to the Old Town and main shopping street of Rue d’Antibes.
Antibes has a peaceful pedestrian neighborhood with the typical array of shops, cafes and plazas.
Monaco is the world’s richest country and second-smallest nation. We see the Monte Carlo Casino, the Palace, Old Town and we visit the small waterfront village of Villefranche.
Saint-Paul de Vence is a medieval village of stone structures that date back mostly to the 15th and 16th centuries and retains the original character of a 500-year-old stone village.
VENCE is a small village, roughly circular in shape, just 300 meters across, so we can easily see it in a few hours on foot. It is just 5 minutes by bus from St Paul, very convenient to include in our day-trip from Nice. The Old Town is a pedestrian zone with several main lanes and connecting corss-lanes, so it is delightful to walk through, away from automobile traffic. Nice and peaceful, with numerous shops and cafes to keep thinkgs interesting, and the smallest cathedral in France, built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles.
From the French Riviera we continue to the Italian Riviera, where we visit Portofino and the little villages of the Cinque Terre, and Santa Margherita Ligure.
Rome ends the trip, such amazing history, preserved sites, casual life-style and wonderful foods.