Driving in the South of France

Not really, unless you are in a town. I didn't find the roads around south of France narrow. Nothing like what I drove on in Ireland. Just pay attention to the speed camera warning signs. They are everywhere. Small cars definably make parking easier.

They’re easy. Generally there are three roads on the coast, one on the water, one running through town, then one further off the coast and an interstate. Just have to pick your day. Definitely drive to Eze.

Hopefully Avignon is on the itinerary…place is amazing.

Yeah man, I book another trip when I get back. Helps with the post trip depression.

Drove Bordeaux, Dordogne, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Marseille, etc. in rented compact car. Road width only got uncomfortably narrow near and in hilly towns. Interstate toll booths were backed up by French on vacation in August... maybe better now with Péage Flux Libre.

I actually went to Nice with my family back in Dec for Christmas. We didn't rent a car and opted to use rideshare services and public transit during our stay. A small car is definitely the way to go, particularly is your are planning on visiting some of the smaller villages off the coast. You will need to pack accordingly because depending on how many suitcases you bring, space could be limited in that vehicle. Especially if you are traveling with a bunch of women .

Like other users have said, being able to follow the road signs and be mindful of your speed will be the biggest challenge you face. The tours that we went on picked us up in some 9 seater vans and they were able to navigate these medieval roads just fine so you should be able to as well.

As an aside, make sure to hit Eze which is between Nice and Monaco right on the coast. Quaint and beautiful village that my family and I loved. Also make sure you do get off the coast and go up into the mountains, if you get high enough you can see the bend of Italy on your lefthand side and Corsica in the distance, its something else. We really enjoyed Antibes which is between Nice and Cannes too.

You will totally enjoy your trip. We have taken three separate trips to France and I have driven each time for the three weeks we were there. You will not have any issues but two thoughts of caution:

1. Stay out of Paris and you will since you are in the south. I picked up a car at CDG and set up the navigation system heading to Giverny. About 5 minutes outside the airport, my wife said it is warm and went to turn on the AC and instead turned off the navigation system when I was in the middle of rush hour traffic. Of course you cannot reset the system unless you parked. We laugh about it now, but not at the time.

2. When driving through the small towns, villages, communes they all have roundabouts. We were driving through a small commune looking for a church and all of a sudden the car was bouncing up and down. I had run over the town's plants and flowers in the middle of their roundabout. Needless to say we stopped looking for the church and headed out the commune as quickly as possible.