wannago

Our flight is booked for Sept. 12th and now I need to decide where to stay in Provence. We have 13 nights. We were there about 6 years ago & stayed at the Mas de Retrouvailles just outside Avignon for a few nights. We enjoyed it however it is not within walking distance of a town/village and we're thinking this time it might be nice to be closer to one. We'd like to be central to all the "must see's" Any suggestions? Would you recommend a different area such as closer to Gordes or Rousellin? Would you pick one b&b or 2 different ones in different areas. Also, I feel like we missed so much on our first trip there so I'm open to suggestions. We like touring the countryside, old villages/towns, wineries, relaxing for hours at cafes & restaurants.....I'd also like to spend a couple days biking and perhaps a day horseback riding so if anyone has done this & can provide a contact name that would be great!

Underhill

Since Provence is so huge, the first thing to do is get the Michelin Green Guide to Provence (and perhaps the accompanying one for the Côte d'Azur) and decide what you want to see. Then you can decide where would be the best placeS to stay--With 13 nights you could easily stay in 2 or 3 areas and make easy day trips from each.

One town that many people like to stay in or near is St-Rémy, which makes for easy trips to Arles, the Camargue, the Pont du Gard, Beaucaire/Tarascon, and Les Baux.

Then you could base for several days around Gordes or Roussillon, from which you could visit Aix and points south.

Finally, spend some time in either the Côte d'Azur or up in northern Provence around Vaison-la-Romaine.

Having 13 days is pure luxury!

goddesstogo

I'm not sure of the borders of Provence but here's where we stayed in various places after we left Paris (sigh).

Auxerre -- Hotel Le Parc des Marechaux (loved it, it was gorgous, we stayed in the red room on the website)

Dijon -- Coco's flat myhomeindijon (loved it, as do most of the people here who've stayed there; it really will feel like your home)

Aix-en-Provence -- I can't remember the name of the hotel but it was right on Rue Mirabeau about mid-way down the street. Maybe someone else will remember the name. The hotel itself was nothing special although there was certainly nothing wrong with it and the location was great. We'd made an unexpected stop in Aix and booked last minute so we felt lucky to get a place.

St.Remy -- Les Mas des Carassins (charming small hotel, beautiful grounds/pool; about 10 minute walk to centre of town)

luvparee

My friends and I stayed at a fabulous B&B/guesthouse just outside of Pernes les Fontaines. Very central to what we wanted to see. However, it is not within walking distance of the town. Just in case you want to look: www.lelavandinprovence.com.

The towns/villages we visited were:

Bonnieux, Menerbes, Lumieres, Roussillon, Gordes, Venasque, St. Didier, L'Isle sur la Sorgue (Sunday morning market is fabulous!), Vaison la Romaine, Le Crestet, Seguret, Gigondas, St. Remy, Cassis, and saw Pont du Gard.

We did not have the time to visit Lourmarin or Ansouis, but next trip!

If I had to choose a place to stay, I would probably do Lourmarin (just from pictures I've seen), Bonnieux, or St. Remy (in no particular order).

However, as long as you've got 13 nights, you could base yourself more south of the Luberon and then move up north of the Luberon.

Wish I had your problem!!!

Enjoy!

luvparee/joy

caroltis

We stayed in a house in Menerbes last year and it was absolutely wonderful!  The ONLY downside was that it had one restaurant open at night and one bakery open in the mornings. We would spend our day exploring surrounding villages and come "home" to such peace...it is a slice of heaven. We didn't mind not having cafes or restaurants as we would gather food at the markets and cook when we returned to the La Forteresse and those are some of our finest memories of the trip. Go to www.theluberon.com and it is the second property listed.  This fall we are going to base in Roussillon at a house within short walking distance to the center of the village.  It's at www.villaquatresaisons.com.  Anything near Menerbes and Roussillon works as a good base for exploring most of Provence. We leisurely explored Vaison La Romaine, Isle Sur La Sorgue, Bonnieux, Gordes, St. Remy, Aix, La Coste, Les Baux (a must), Apt (our fav market day), Roussillon, Abbaye de Sananque, Joucas...all in one week so the fact that you have 13 days is awesome!

Royal

We were in Provence in Sept 2006 and stayed for 1 week at Mas des Romarins in Gordes.

Really liked Gordes and the Mas but felt 1 week was too long and wished we had split our time between Gordes and St Remy. Gordes didn't offer a lot of good cafes/restaurants and the town folded up very early.

My sister & husband just returned a week ago and spent 4 days in St Remy at Mas des Carassins and had very positive things to say about the hotel and the town of St Remy.

From their description I would say St Remy has much more to offer in the way of shops and restaurants and seemed much livelier.

If I had to do the trip again I would definitely split my time into 2 different locations.

We also visited Nice for 2 days but can't say I was overwhelmed think another time I would choose Antibes.

The 2 highlights of our trip were the visit to Les Baux and the Sunday market at Isle sur la Sorgue - don't miss either one.

kevin_widrow

Wannago -

I'd say 4 odd days in Les Alpilles (around St. Remy and Arles). 4 odd days in the Luberon and 4 days maybe down on the Cote d'Azur. this will keep your jumping around to a minimum and leave you with lots of things to see and do within easy driving distances of each base.

Consider the Camargue for horseback riding or if not, there is a place not far from us in the Luberon where guests have done a day's riding and raved about it. Here's the web site http://tinyurl.com/5lgnx3

As for bike-riding, the Luberon Parc has put together some excellent bike trails. Here's a page from the Apt tourist office site with info on the trails http://tinyurl.com/6p7gjr

Hope that helps.

-Kevin

goddesstogo

PS St Remy has a wonderful market. I think it's on Wednesdays.

wannago

Help! I posted another question but for some reason it doesn't show up when you type in "France". I wanted to know if you had to choose between Gordes or Rousselin which would you pick & why. We've booked a B&B just outside St. Remy for 7 nights & now must choose between the other two villages. Btw - the St.Remy b&b is Mas Shamrock. Anyone stayed there? What about La Bastide des Ocres & Mas de la Regalade? Thanks for all your help!

cigalechanta

There was a thread on the Mas Shamrock that had the most negative and the most wonderful review by a few posters but this was over a year ago.
Peter Mayle's book, PROVENCE A-ZZ
has lots of suggestions. One thing I missed to see was the Bamboo forest.

StuDudley

Gordes & Roussillon (note spelling) are very close together. I don't know if one is any better than the other (visited them many, many times). Perhaps there's more good restaurants around (but not in) Gordes - but since they're close to each other, you're only talking about a 10-15 min drive. Those are the two most "touristy" villages in the Luberon, IMO.

Stu Dudley

Cathinjoetown

In sept. we are staying at the Auberge de Tavel in Tavel, probably too close to Avignon, 15 minutes. I'm excited, it's noted for its excellent rose and we're at the Auberge to Tavel right in the village. I second recommendations to go over to the Cote, easy drive. The hill towns and small museums are wonderful and it's easy to go to one or two a day and still have time for long lunches. We stayed just outside St. Paul de Vence at Les Orangers, access to the village by a not too long footpath. Can't say enough about the museums, some not strictly museums such as Picasso's War and Peace murual in a chapel in Vallauris, Matisse's chapel in Vence, Renior's house near Antibes (I believe), the perfume houses in Grasse which I thought would be hokey but were wondeful, and on and on. I want to hear all about your trip!

cigalechanta

Just outside of Gordes is Les Imberts, The Mas de Touteron has a lovely garden to dine in.

NorCal

We've been twice to this area, and enjoyed two different rentals. First time was in Tallardes, outside of Cavaillon---nice, but not near a quaint village. Second time we stayed in the village of Eygilieres, about 10 km east of St. Remy. It was a picture-perfect, central location and not over-run with tourists. Three good restaurants, two great bakeries, scenic for walking, plus a couple wineries just outside the village. If you don't stay there, be certain to drive through the village and see what I mean; it's not far (two miles) off the main road to St. Remy. It was all that we had dreaned if and hoped for when with booked a mas for a week there...!