kelvinteh

Hi all,

I'm planning to rent a car for a day and drive out of Avignon.

I've heard of Les Baux, St Remy and Cassis and thinking of visiting these places.

Are there any chances of seeing vineyards/olive yards in early April? Where are they found in Provence?

How should my itinerary be for this day? Can someone help me?

Thank you.

rgds,
kelvin

vedette

Too early to have the vineyards look like much. All the places you have named are good, but do yourself a favor: get up, go to Pont du Gard, have lunch in the main square of Uzes, drive to Nimes to see the arena and Maison Carre, then back to Avignon. A full and perfect day.

hopingtotravel

Unless he wants a very small town flavor?

Dave_in_Paris

Sending Uzes. It's a delightful town.

kelvinteh

Where is Uzes?

How should I tour these places (Uzes, St Remy, Les Baux, Cassis)? Where to start?

Dave_in_Paris

Uzes is 53 kilometers west of Avignon. Here's a map that shows both places:

http://www.mas-santolines.com/accesa.html

kevin_widrow

If you got a real early start you could do the Pont du Gard, Uzes, then St. Remy and Les Baux for the later afternoon sunset. It will be an action-packed day, but just about doable. Cassis you will have to leave for another time. It is a good hours plus drive from Avignon and not anywhere near the other places you mention.

-Kevin

elle

I love Uzes, but if you're very interested in wine, you can also spend the day touring the wine villages of Gigondas, Vacqueryas, Beaumes-de-Venise. And Chateauneuf-du-Pape is very convenient to Avignon.

Heading north, Nyons is a great place to visit if you're interested in Olives. Can be combined with a trip to Grignan, an interesting and historic town with chateau. Or Vaison-la-Romaine, which has a nice small-town feel, especially in the Haut Ville.

Another favorite of ours is Roussillon, a colorful spot famous for its natural clay deposits.

Or you could stop in Lirac or Tavel and combine that with a visit to Uzes and the Pont du Gard. Just west of Uzes is a little cooperative, Cave de Bourdic, that makes some very decent everyday wine.

kelvinteh

Is it difficult driving out of Avignon?

One question - Does Hertz/Avis provide free maps when you rent cars from them?
If so, are their maps sufficient?

Sue4

It's not particularly difficult driving out of Avignon. I rented my car from Avis at the TGV station (easy), and there is also a great shuttle from there to Avignon Centre. I was staying in Villeneuve-les-Avignon across the bridge from Avignon, but drove in and out of Avignon several times. I'm sure I got a little "lost" a few times (I am admittedly "navigationally challenged", and was alone), but on French roads it's easy to find your way back again.

However, I would definitely get a Michelin Map, and not depend on what they give you at Avis (or Hertz), which isn't much! I had fun studying my maps at home before the trip, which was for 2 weeks, so I needed to familiarize myself with names of towns, etc. In France, the route numbers aren't as important as the names of towns in the direction you are heading.

travelbunny

..definitely recommend renting from the TGV station. There is a car rental near the "old station" which is in Avignon right near the old walls. IMO it is much more difficult to get "out " of this area than out of the city from the TGV station.

PamSF

St Remy and Les Baux are in the opposite direction from Cassis.
Getting to St Remy from the Avignon TGV should take you less than 30 minutes or so. You will hit St Remy first. Right outside of St Remy is Glanum which is really quite fascinating. A walk around Glanum could take an hour or so. Les Baux is lovely and worth a stop. It's approximately another 15-29 minutes from St Remy. I would also suggest you
consider a drive to the Camargue. It is such a vastly different part of France. There are black bulls, white horses and pink falingoes. A visit to the CHurch of St Maries de Mer is a great stop. I'd make reservations at La Chassagnette for lunch. This will take you about 20 minutes back up the road from St Maries de Mer. You can dine on a set menu at lunch for about 37 euros a person. The food is stellar and the atmosphere lovely. Lunch can take 2-3 hours.


In the complete opposite direction is the Petit Luberon You can visit Gordes,Bonnieux,Rousillon. I have not eaten at Mas des Toureton in Les Imberts just outside Gordes but it gets rave reviews from folks on this board. Here is where you will see vineyards and more rolling hills IMO than on the St Remy side.

We used the Michelin Provence map which was infinitely more helpful than what we got from AutoEurope at the TGV station.

StCirq

kelvinthe:

Since you seem a bit geographically challenged already, I'd go out and get a Michelin map now, not once you get there. It will show you immediately, for example, why you can't include Cassis on a daytrip from Avignon that would also include trips to Les Baux, St-Rémy, etc. If you have only one day to travel around, you might as well study the area in advance so you don't waste time getting lost (though getting lost has its advantages as well). You'll need the map once you get there anyway, so why not get a head start on getting to know the territory?
No, the map the rental agency will give you won't be particularly good.
Are you renting for only one day? You do realize how expensive that will be, right? It can often cost as much as a 3-day rental.

Underhill

i like elle's itinerary; the wine region she describes is fun to visit, and you'll get a taste of the rhône valley counntry along the way. there are good tasting rooms in vacqueras and gigondas. nyons is also wonderful to visit for olive-country flavor; be sure to stop at the cooperative for olive products to take home with you.

AnselmAdorne

StCirq, I had found myself speechless (or wordless, I suppose), so thank you for saying that.

kelvin, in addition to buying a map, you might consider looking at a guidebook for Provence.

Anselm

Christina

I liked Elle's idea, also, because I like that area, but think for someone who hasn't been there, the others are natural things to want to see.

I guess I'm a dolt, also, as I don't see how a map is going to make it obvious to someone that you can't do St Remy/Les Baux and Cassis from Avignon. I also don't understand the comment that Cassis is in the opposite direction from Avignon as St Remy and Les Baux. It's not. I haven't been there, but Les Baux is only a couple miles from St-Remy, so I don't know why that would take 30 minutes. Traffic must be really bad around there.

It would just seem obvious to me that no one can do all of this sightseeing in one day and actually visit or see anything, but that's not related to the direction they are, which is the same. St Remy and Les Baux are right near each other not far outside Avignon, and Cassis is just farther going SE from there down the A8/A7 etc.

I sure wouldn't do it, I take my time and you wouldn't have time to do all that, but I don't think the map is going to make that so clear. Cassis is only about 50 miles from St-Remy.

StCirq

Not to belabor the point, but Les Baux is southwest of Avignon, off a completely different road from the one you'd take to get to Cassis, which is southeast.

It's true it's only a few miles from Les Baux to St-Rémy, but you have to cross les Alpilles on a twisty-turny road that's slow going to begin with and VERY slow going if you encounter a truck or summer crowds.

If you just count up the miles (which is one purpose of a map) to go from Avignon to Les Baux to St-Rémy to Cassis and back to Avignon, it's fairly clear that's not a sensible plan.

cigalechanta

A nice drive out of Avignon is to leave Provence for Languedoc/Roussilon to visit Uzes and the Pont du Gard and Nimes.

kelvinteh

Really thanks a lot!

Very helpful - definitely can't get it from travel guides. Thanks again!

Smudge

It might help in your planning to check out www.mappy.com and www.viamichelin.com. Type in your start/destination points for each leg of your proposed itinerary and it will give you directions/travel time/maps.