4 days in Provence in early June
 

We will be in Provence Wed - Sunday at the first of June.. Having never been to this region I cannot figure out what town to stay in. I have researched St Remy, L Isle de Sorgue, Arles and Avignon.

We will rent a car and land in Avignon via the TGV and then move on to Barcelona. We are interested in driving around to see a few historical sites, shop, eat and drink wine (of course).

So I cant figure out the best place for a home base. Also whether we should go with an apartment, house or small hotel?

I did find a few houses outside of LʼIsle-sur-la-Sorgue but they seem way off the beaten path...
I also saw Hotel Les Nevons right on the river there but it looks kind of like a motel type of acomodation.

I think it would be nice to have a base that is close to good restaurants and a great place to stroll at night in case we want to eat close to our home base after a long day away.

Avignon seems like a large city, LʼIsle-sur-la-Sorgue seems quiet, although I like the water idea for canoeing and St Remy seems nice. Arles looks good as well but maybe off the center of travels and tours of the region?

Does anyone have any advice for this indecisive traveller?

St. Rémy - nice smallish town, full of charm despite being a major attraction. And you want to go there anyway to visit the Asylum where Van Gogh stayed not long before his demise - you can visit his former room and see the views he painted etc. Very impressive.

Less than 40 minutes from Arles, and from Avignon, with many many other worthwhile targets in reach.

If you're in the region over a weekend, try to attend a Course Camarguaise for unforgettable photos and videos to bring home. It's the local version of bull "fights" = no blood, no killing, a family affair in small towns.

The bull always wins! They affix a rosetta between the horns and some intrepid and agile (!) lads try to snatch it away for a prize - the bull chases them and they leap over the enclosures, a sight to behold!

Whether or not they succeed, the bull struts in and struts out to huge applause, like the macho winner he is.

It's more fun in small towns where the arenas are small and it all is like a family outing, rather than the huge arenas like those in Arles for example.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone canoeing in l'Isle sur la Sorgue. I would not stay in Avignon because of the ugly urban sprawl you'll have to drive through for your day trips (except west). Arles is nice - but St Remy is a little better located and St Remy has enough restaurants, cafes, and shops to satisfy your needs.

My favorite region is the Luberon Valley. We've stayed in a gite near Gordes for 4 weeks, and another in Goult for 2 weeks. However, the hill towns in the Luberon might not fit your preference for strolling at night after dinner - although we've done in dozens of times because we prefer small villages.

You had better hurry & secure a place to stay. We've rented about a dozen gites in Provence & we reserve at least 1 year in advance. This June we're staying in Bedoin & we reserve this gite last June.

Stu Dudley

I will be staying in the Luberon Region in September, location very close to the Gordes center. We made this decision after reading Stu's post and itinerary as well as doing lots of research, it's a great location.

Not likely to find a gite for less than a week :(

Try -

a B&B room here:
www.accommodationinprovence.com

or here:

http://www.masperreal.com/

We have spent more than 6 months in this part of The Luberon and love it here.

Saint Saturnin-Lès-Apt is a small village with a perfect location to see the other favorite nearby villages.

We stayed in St Remy last May for 6 nights and found it just the right size for us. Also spent 4 nights in Rousillion and 2 nights in Avignon.

I am so grateful for all of your input.
It looks like St Remy or l'Isle sur la Sorgue areas are best

Does anyone have feedback about these areas / accommodations?

Hotel Les Nevons in L'Isle

Souleia in Oppède

Hôtel Le Mas Des Amandiers in Graveson

I'm confused as to what you want. Two of the places you name are out in the middle of nowhere, so you can't stroll to restaurants (Souleia and Hotel le Mas des Amandiers). They aren't really in the villages you name, although I imagine that is their postal code. But those villages don't even have hardly any restaurants to begin with, they are very small. But if you are not at all picky about what kind of place you eat, you can find places to eat in Graveson for a couple days, sure. I don't know about Oppede, it's very small, even smaller than Graveson. I don't think you can even drive into it, but not sure. So if you stay in those places, you'll be driving to restaurants, anyway and you won't be strolling around your hotel at night.

Isle sur la Sorgue does have enough restaurants for a few days and that hotel is within walking distance of the center (about 500 km). I agree it's just a budget motel-type place. If you have a car, it should be fairly easy compared to a place in the dead center of the town. I think St Remy is more like what you want, but even then, you'd have to find a place to stay that really was easy walking distance to the center.

Now I stayed in Roussillon several days and it isn't as happening as St Remy but there are several restaurants and some things of interest and you could stroll around there at night. It would make more sense than nearby to Graveson or Oppede, in that regard. It's small, but you can drive through it, I stayed in a budget hotel that was easy to drive to after sightseeing and had a public car park across the road I could use, but was only a few hundred meters into the center of the town where I could go to eat at night.

I've only stayed in the country around that area, north of Isle sur la Sorgue, except for the time I stayed in Roussillon, and I drove for dinner, but there were plenty of restaurants within about 10 miles so it wasn't a problem. I stayed outside Pernes les Fontaines, which is even bigger than a couple of those places you named. You could stroll around it at night, it had a nice park and some sightseeing, but I didn't, I went back to my inn and enjoyed the countryside from my terrace.

There aren't that many apts in rural areas, that is also a little confusing as to what you want. I did see Souleia called its accommodations apartments, though, they looked nice enough but were in the countryside.

From what you say you want, strolling around your hotel, I think you should throw out your last two listings.

Your comments are so helpful. I really appreciate your time and knowledge. It was easy to book Paris and Barcelona but I seem to have troubles with Provence.

I now realize that I will have to drive to dinner as places in the towns aren't in budget, unless I stay in the L'Isle motel type of place.

It seems like I get more for my money to drive to eat 10-15 minutes and then drive back to accommodation.

Thanks so much for your help!