Synonymous with champagne-popping, yacht-bobbing, the see-and-be-seen crowd – the South of France is bumper to bumper in summer. The smart move for those who want to experience it without the throngs?

The novelist Joyce Maynard’s four-day road trip in the south of France was guided by pure spontaneity, which is how she ended up in “Le Love Room.” By Joyce Maynard I was finishing up a monthlong book ...

A road trip is one of the most immersive ways to experience places like the Dolomites, the Scottish Highlands, and Switzerland’s tiny villages.