whiting

I had visited Provence and the Riviera 6 years ago with my boyfriend and we rented a car. But it was pretty much touch-and-go and I regretted not having more time for the charming villages. So now I am going back in late Apr for 10 nights on a solo trip. I can't drive and will be taking the public transport. I would like to focus on the villages in Provence rather than the coastal towns although as I am flying in and out of Nice, I will spend a couple of nights there. I am in my 40's and enjoy nature.

I am thinking of 2 or 3 nights in Arles, St Remy, Aix and 2 nights in Nice and taking the bus or trains to nearby villages for day trips. Would those be good bases? Can I get to them easily to and fro Nice? I would also like recommendations of B&Bs (preferred) near bus or train stations in these places. My budget is around 70-80€ for a single room, preferably with a garden or greenery. It does seems like there aren't many B&B choices in central locations so next I will consider hotels with nice surroundings.

Grateful for any recommendation or advice.

whiting

Actually I miscalculated. I have 9 nights. Between Arles, Aix and St Remy, which deserves a 3-night stay? And does it make sense if I travel Nice to Aix to Arles to St Remy and finally back to Nice, considering the public transport available? Perhaps from St Remy, I could go to Avignon for more connection options back to Nice?

Thanks.

Ackislander

We took a public bus from Aix to Arles through Salon, returning via Les Baux, where we got off and toured the village before catching another bus on to Aix. We have been by train from Avignon to Aix through Cavaillon (local trains), but we haven't ourselves linked Arles to Avignon (or even Nimes) though I am quite sure it can be done.

Our son and his wife had their honeymoon in the area and traveled to the towns along the coast by local trains, very successfully.

I do not know whether they will have started in April but the tourist offices in the larger towns organize mini-bus tours to various nearby scenic places for reasonable fees. Some of these are English speaking.

So, no, you don't need a car.

TDudette

Hi whiting, you can do it without a car, however, do note that many of the local busses are more scheduled for commuters and students not tourists. Ackislander gives great advice above. If you use the trains and don't have a credit card with chip technology, you might want to buy return tickets at the same time as departing ones. Hub and I missed a bus opportunity standing in line for a train ticket.

FWIW, i have 2 trip reports relating to bus/train travel from Aix, and from Menton-perhaps they will be of help:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-sandwich.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-london.cfm

Have a super trip!

Christina

Of the places you named, I would not stay 3 days in St Remy (or maybe not at all). It's not convenient for public transportation, so if you go there, you should just stay a while IMO. It doesn't have a train station and the bus schedules are not very convenient from my experience. Plus it is very expensive and attracts wealthy tourists. I don't even know how you'd get there from Nice, to be honest. You can get there by bus from Avignon, but it takes a long time as it is a local bus with lots of stops and doesn't run that often. At least the last time I checked, it's been a while, though.

I'll confess I don't like St Remy very well, so I wouldn't go to a lot of trouble to go there as it isn't very convenient.

ira

Hi w,

My wife and I do like St Remy. However, as Christina said, getting to and from will not be easy.

whiting

Thanks to all your replies and TDudette for the links.

I will probably do Nice to Aix (2 nights), Arles (3), St Remy (2) and Nice (2). I need to end in Nice for an early flight out. Christina, if not St Remy, where would you suggest? I would miss the market day in St Remy anyway.

Given that both Aix and Arles are relatively large towns (but chosen for the ease of train/bus connections), I would prefer a charming small village with lots of greenery. Any suggestions? Is Lourmarin doable with buses?

dreamon

In early Oct 2008 we stayed in St Remy, travelling by bus from Avignon - takes about 40 minutes and schedule is okay except on Sundays where there are only a few buses a day. Timetables are available online.

We found the bus to Les Baux only runs for part of the year and was not running when we were there. We caught a taxi from St Remy to Les Baux (about 20euro) and walked back on the off-road pathway (about 12km).

We liked St Remy but it is not one of the hill towns of Provence, although it doesn't look like that's what you're looking for.

Ackislander

I would go to Avignon for two nights instead of St Remy, for the reasons above. It is no village, but it is beautiful inside the walls, has tons of history, good places to eat, great places to shop, and excellent railroad connections, either regular railroad from the station just outside the walls or the TGV station to which you take a shuttle.

Or, for something completely different, Cassis, right on the coast west of Nice?

Christina

I just don't think it would be easy to stay in any place in Provence that didn't have a train station, without a car. So I can't really recommend a village as I don't know of any one where that would be easy. I haven't done it, though, the only time I stayed there without a car I stayed in Avignon or Aix, bigger places with train stations. Small villages don't have train stations, of course.

I think Lourmarin is worse than others, there isn't much around it, it is even more inconvenient IMO due to the moutains and its location.

The smallest place I can think of with a train station is Isle sur la Sorgue.

I think there is a bus connecting Cavaillon and Roussillon and Gordes but probably not very convenient schedules. I think staying in either Roussillon or Gordes would be okay, they are smaller than St Remy. here are the bus schedules http://www.vaucluse.fr/1119-recherche-de-lignes.htm

This is that exact line http://www.vaucluse.fr/uploads/Exter...1314805062.pdf

You can get between Gordes and Roussillon in an hour at fairly decent times.

TDudette

Roussillon is sweet.

whiting

Roussillon and Gordes look lovely but there is no direct connection from Arles. There are however, 3 buses to St Remy a day.

I had been a few hours in Avignon and it didn't leave a deep impression for me to want to go back and stay there.

Cassis is very pretty too but I prefer to stay inland this time.

You are right, dreamon, I am not looking to stay in a hill town. I will do day trips to one or a few.

Looks like Lourmarin is out...

MmePerdu

Last spring I stayed a couple of nights in Avignon then took the local bus that passes by the Pont du Gard to Uzes where I stayed for a week in an apartment. I loved the experience. If I recall, there were 2 markets that week in the central square and other days I walked and shopped in a number of excellent food shops and boutiques, visited an herb garden and just generally had a relaxing time. Market days there were lots of visitors but the rest of the week it was lovely & quiet.

http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/tourism/uzes-france/

whiting

Uzes seems nice but smaller than St Remy?

Now this is tough. After 3 nights in Arles, should I do 2 nights in St Remy or Uzes? I believe I can get to Uzes via Nimes by bus...

MmePerdu

I haven't been to St. Remy so I'm sorry, I can't tell which is smaller. I can only say I enjoyed Uzes very much. You might let ease of getting there be the deciding point.

StCirq

St-Rémy and Uzès are similar in size. St-Rémy has about 1,000 more population. St-Rémy has become a wildly popular tourist destination; Uzès, not so much.

cigalechanta

Years ago, I stayed over two weeks in Avignon and villeneuve-lez-Avignon.The Bus statin is by the Train station which allowed me to travelto many places and also by boat.at that time, there were excursion buses by the statin that took you to three places, drop you off for lunch and head for anotherr destination,but I don't know if they still exist.

whiting

Uzes it is! I found a lovely B&B there too. I am going from Arles to Uzes on 1 May, a bank holiday. According to the bus schedule, they have a bus on Sundays, which I presume would be the public holiday schedule as well. However the B&B told me there is no bus. Can anyone tell me if there would be a bus? How reliable is the bus time table and is it right to use Sunday schedule for public holidays?

whiting

I clarify, bus from Arles to Nimes to Uzes.

MmePerdu

I just had a look at the Edgard bus schedule I used from Avignon to Uzes. It was on a Saturday but the schedule seems to give weekend hours as Saturday/Sunday together. The bus is the A15, Avignon to Ales with stops in Uzes. So if you're not able to find a bus from Arles you can, I believe, take a train from Arles to Avignon Ville (not the TGV station) and the gare routiere (bus station) is a short walk from the train station. Take the A15 from there.
https://www.edgard-transport.fr

I looked for email addresses on the websites for both Arles and Uzes tourist offices but only saw phone numbers. As a last resort you might try calling. Uzes might be more productive. They have quite a nice office in the town with English speaking personnel.