EReyes

Hi,
I am taking the Eurostar from London and will arrive in Avignon Sunday at 2 p.m. I want to stay in the Provence area until Friday a.m. I am wondering if I should drive or just take train/bus around. Also, I am basing myself in Cassis and Gordes if driving, Cassis and Avignon if taking public transit. Not sure if this is the right way to go. Want to experience small town culture, therefore I prefer not staying in Avignon. However, do these places shut down early at night? We like to have late dinners/drinks.

My driving itinerary is:
Sunday: Pick up car in Avignon, go to Cassis (1.5 hour)
Monday: Cassis, Calanques
Tuesday: Head 1.5 hour to to Gordes (market day) explore Luberon villages (Rousillon)
Wed: Day trip to Isle la Sorgue, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, maybe Orange
Thursday: Day trip (1 hour) to Saint Remy, Les Baux, Arles
Friday: drop car off, explore Avignon-head to Paris on TGV in afternoon

Train/Bus Itinerary:
Sunday-Continue on Eurostar Train to Marseille, bus to Cassis
Mon: Cassis, Calanques
Tuesday: Head to Avignon (explore in afternoon) maybe visit Aix in provence on the way via bus/train.
Weday trip to Saint Remy, Les Baux, Arles
Thurs: Day trip/Minivan tour of Luberon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Orange

With Train/Bus, I will not be able to see Isle La Sorgue. Thanks for any and all feedback!

Treadle

Sounds like a great trip you have organised. If you get the chance, Orange is a lovely little town. The Roman theatre is superb and worth the trip alone if your are into roman ruins and the musee over the road is small but interesting. The centre ville is nearby and compact. A half day would be enough. Beware the traffic - on Sunday it was horrendous. A traffic jam stretching a kilometre or more of mostly tourists trying to get out on the one lane road. It stretched from one side of the town as far out as the Triumphal Arch.

But the trains are all fast and take you just about anywhere of interest. If you want to see Vaison La Romaine there is a bus from Orange Gare that takes about 40 minutes. Weekend traffic there last Saturday was very busy as well. Would hate to be over here in a car in peak times.

I've been travelling with my bike and using the trains to do the bigger leaps around Languedoc and Provence the last 4 weeks.
Its a great system, book your tix online, get a code emailed to you, go to the station and print out your tix at the kiosk. Captaine ( one of many sites available) is in english and even shows which trains have bike carrying capacity and allows payment with card or paypal. Fantastic for my purposes.

Treadle

That should read "Capitainetrain".

Christina

Most people think you enjoy things better with a car in Provence, I tend to agree if you are willing to rent one, are comfortable driving, and have an itinerary heavy on sites not easy to get to by train/bus.

Your first itinerary looks fairly good with a car, except I am baffled about Thursday. You seriously plan to do all that in one hour? And why? what about the rest of the day. I hope you mean just one hour for St Remy, not for it plus something else. The main reason to go there is to see the Van Gogh sites, if that's all you plan to do, it would be fine. That's on the outskirts of town. There is nothing else particularly memorable within St Remy IMO that you can't experience in many other places.

I really would not base myself in Cassis no matter what. YOu say that for your itinerary 1 but then it looks like you aren't basing yourself there at all, you are just visiting one day and then moving to Gordes, which seems like a good idea.

Your second itinerary is impossible without a car for the day where you intend tyo go to Arlees, Les Baux and St Remy. I don't really know how you plan to get to Avignon from Cassis. Of course you can do it by train, with a transfer. If I were you, if you did that itinerary I would base myself in Marseille to begin with and just do a day trip to Cassis from there by train. You are going to Marseille anyway, why go on to stay in Cassis? Marseille is worth seeing, although that means more than one day there.

Your schedule is kind of frenetic, you plan to explore both Avignon and Aix in one day? And the next day, also, Arles and Les Baux and St Remy all in one day?

I think your car itinerary is better, although not seeing Isle sur la Sorgue isn't any great tragedy. I think you plan too much in one day several times, 1st or 2nd itinerary.

cigalechanta

Make sure the rental car is small to make it easier to find a parking space but mainly the village streets are narrow and sometimes curvy. I'm mad about Provence 5 days are not enough for me. I like Cassis a lot. Tasted my first raw sea urchins there.

EReyes

Thanks for the replies! Christina, I was going to base my self in cassis for two nights just to enjoy the beaches, etc. I have heard Marsielle beaches are bad and the city not so worth staying in. Also, plan on spending an entire day visiting Arles, remy, les baux. Are you saying it will be hard to take buses to dothis? which days are too much? Thanks

PalenQ

Are you saying it will be hard to take buses to do this?

IME not hard - but buses from Arles and Avignon - two towns with great rail service - to Les Baux and St-Remy can be spotty so know the schedules and you can do it - there should be a comprehensive regional train/bus schedule somewhere - they used to have printed copies in local train and bus stations.

but as Treadle says if you want to see Les Baux, St Remy and Arles the same day you'll need a car (or a bike!) as bus schedules to the first two are yes spotty - Les Baux is pretty close to St-Remy so a taxi would not be all that expensive.

Also the tourist info offices in say Avignon will have details on mini-bus tours from that city - ditto for Arles - again search online for that.

As for trains check these superb sites IMO for lots of good info on French trains: www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves. Most of those trains are regional trains where there is no reason to buy any ticket in advance - a flat fare pretty much but yes on TGV trains you can save by booking way in advance but then those tickets are non-changeable non-refundable so you lose any flexibility and even full-fare TGV tickets for the short distances you are covering would not break the bank - flexibility may be worth the few extra euros.

TC

Provence was our absolute favorite European trip. Do take a car, the drives are beautiful. We took a car and drove from point to point, staying in several amazing B&Bs. My favorites were:

<u>Le Eveche in Vaison la Romaine.</u> The photos don't do justice to this spectacular place or the hosts. We had the room with a staircase leading up to a rooftop terrace. Magical at night or sundown. Breakfast in their inner courtyard is delicious. Vaison is home to Patricia Wells and therefore loaded with amazing food options.

http://eveche.free.fr/uk_maison-hotels-rooms.htm


In Gordes this small B&B outside the city walls is amazing. The view is spectacular and the hostess is a wealth of knowledge.
http://www.labeaume.com/page1anglais.html

Highly recommend seeing Notre-Dame de Senanque Abbbey (near Gordes) especially if the lavender fields are blooming.

Don't short sell Avignon. The market is amazing. The Palais des Papes is wonderful. Many museums. Great dining in small places. We loved La Fourchette.
http://www.la-fourchette.net/

Market day at St. Remy de Provence is not to be missed.

Whereever you rent your car, take all the offered insurance. Not worth the worry without it.

Treadle

And if you get the chance to do Marseille get down there. I'm here at the moment and finding it a beautiful city full of good muses, cafes and sights. Got a 3 day city pass for 39euros and get free entry into the muses and free public transport . The underground metro is quick and easy to use. The trams are a delightful way to see the city. I took the 83 bus from Vieux Ports along the coast to Ave Prado, had a wander around and then caught the Metro back to town. Given the traffic its a great way to enjoy the city. Did I mention the food?

Treadle

And the Marseille_St.Charles Gare must have the most stunning view from its front door of any train station in the world!

PalenQ

Marseille - much maligned by folks who have never been there or else they would not malign one of Europe's most inriguing and overall uniquely beautiful cities!

Christina

I meant with the bus schedules, I didn't think it was even possible to do all that in one day. I visited St Remy from Avignon by bus and that took all day. There were just not very convenient scheduling, and the return bus back took forever as it wandered around rural roads (lots of kids going home from school on it). And that was just one location. So if you stay in Avignon, I think you can do one place a day by bus (say, Les Baux or St Remy), but you can't go between them. Unless you have actually seen bus schedules and my info is outdates.

The Cassis beach isn't very good, anyway, IMO, I wouldn't stay there two days because of that beach. But I'm not a big beach bum, anyway. IF I want beach, I go to Mexico or Florida. I just wasn't impressed by it. Probalby better than Marseille, though, if that's why you want to go there, okay.

I like cities, I thought Marseille was interesting and lots to see and do. One beautiful park, several interesting museums, etc. IN Cassis, you see the calanques and that's it.

EReyes

Thanks Treadle and TC! I would love to go to St. Remy market, but is it tough to find parking there? I will only be in Provence really from Mon to Thurs. so need to find some good markets those days easy to get to, park at.

Christine, you make good points, thanks. Thinking I want to drive and figured Cassis is easier to get in and out of than Marseille we will be coming from London so i wanted to take a few days to just veg on the water somewhere! So do you think I should set up shop (stay the night) in St. remy since it will be tough to do Arles, Les Baux, and St. remy in one day even with a car?

PeterHorrocks

Hi EReyes

If you are arriving this Sunday then I would go for the car option as its so much better to have some flexibility especially when the weather is less certain as there are many micro-climates in the area within 2 hours drive. Everywhere is better when there is sunshine.

Best

Peter Horrocks

PalenQ

So do you think I should set up shop (stay the night) in St. remy since it will be tough to do Arles, Les Baux, and St. remy in one day even with a car?>

Many folks say they have loved St-Remy - a smaller more old-worlish town than large cities like Avignon and Arles and yes it easy usually to find parking here - unlike Avignon - even during the market I would think.

Mimar

Definitely a car for inland Provence. And St. Remy is popular as a base for visiting this area. A much better choice than Cassis, which did not impress me. We did do a day trip from St. Remy to Cassis.

If you stay in St. Remy, you won't need parking for the market.

EReyes

Okay, so last shot at an itinerary.

Sunick up car from Avignon, go to cassis, spend night in Cassis.

Mon: Calanques, beach, spend night in Cassis.

Tues: leave Cassis, drive to Chateau de pape visit winery for lunch, tour Orange, drive to St. Remy to spend night

Wed: market day St.Remy in a.m., visit van gogh assylum, then spend afternoon go to les Baux ( drive to Arles for visit if time). Stay the night St. Remy.

Thurs: drive to Luberon region : Isle la Sorgue, Gordes,
Rousillion. Head back to Saint Remy for the night.

Fri: drop car off in Avignon, spend a.m. At the popes palace, take TGV to Paris at 2 p.m.

Appreciate feedback! Thanks

PalenQ

Looks like a swseete sweet tight itinerary - bravo as the French would say!

caroltis

I cannot imagine exploring Provence without a car. It's heavenly and ever so easy! I also think you are trying to see too much in a short time. Make sure you time your visits to villages on market days.

EReyes

Please, by all means, tell me where I should cut back also, if Saint Remy does, does not make sense as a Base for three nights,thanks!