5 days in Provence
 

I have 5 nights in Provence and right now I am planning to stay for all five in Les Baux. This trip is just myself and my 11 year old son, who is a great traveller and loves France. I am considering visiting Cassis and Aix and am thinking that if I do that, I should stay in Aix for a couple days. I'm able to modify my hotel and there are rooms, at hotels I like, available in Aix so that's not a problem. I'm taking the train to and from Paris so that's easy too. Is it worth it to switch hotels? I could also just skip Aix and Cassis as there is certainly plenty to do where we are. Just seems like I might want to break up those 5 days. It also seems like it might be a really long day to go from Les Baux to Cassis and back. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I realize 5 days isn't a lot in Provence, but that's what I have to work with.

I can't answer your question but can tell you my experience last week with my 13 yr old granddaughter re Cassis. We were based in l'isle-sur-Sorgue for a week without a car, and took a day trip by train to Cassis, changing trains in Marseille. It was a long day, but it was worth it! We had lunch at a restaurant that has a "private" beach, and we paid to have beach chairs and an umbrella for the whole day. Overpriced, of course, but worked for us. We also took a boat trip of just 3 Calanques (you can do 3,5, or 7). Beautiful and just the right amount of time, 45 min.
NB: the train station is not in town. There was a bus (the Marcouline) that took us into town (1.50 euro/person). At the end of the day, we went back to the bus stop to return to station to realize that we had just missed the bus that would get us to our train in time so quickly called a taxi, which arrived in 5 min. I should have paid attention to the bus timetable but did not, assuming there'd be one every 15 min. or so--not! Bottom line: I'd recommend Cassis!
Let me know if I can provide any helpful info on this trip.

Re-reading your post, sounds as though you will have a car; sorry for all the transportation details if not needed!

I looked at staying in Les Baux for our trip to Provence last month and am glad we did not as there is little there except for some hotels and the "castle". The location is otherwise good as a base as you can get to a lot of Provence from Les Baux. Avignon, St Remy, Nimes, Orange, Gordes, Rousillion, Cotes du Rhone etc are all easily accessible by car. Aix and Cassis are further away and I suppose you could stay in Les Baux for 3 nights and 2 in Aix but I don't think its necessary. There is plenty to see around an easy commute from Les Baux without going to Aix and Cassis. We stayed in St Remy 5 nights and were glad we did as it is large enough to have many restaurants and even a laundromat while being well placed.

I would never choose Les Baux as a base for les Alpilles. It's a tiny, fairly remote place, though inundated with tourists in high season. It will be incredibly quiet in the evenings. How would you even get there without a car? Or do you have one? Parking is a nightmare during the day in high season.

Stay in St-Rémy or Maussane-les-Alpilles or Aix or Avignon or Arles. Your son would go stir-crazy in Les Baux, no matter how much he loves France.

Why Cassis? It's a long trip for a day. Just to see the ocean?

Agree with St Cirq. Les Baux is for a quiet, romantic night like anniversary or honeymoon, for sure not with an 11 year old alone.

Marseille has a lot to do, sightseeing, brand new modern museum with a great building, boating, etc. small, but international city. Busy

Aix is great for walking and cafes and a feeling of being in an Impressionist painting. Outdoor markets, flower filled Windows, excellent and interesting food - Morroccan influence. Pretty

Arles has intact Roman arena and other antiquities. Sometimes they even have events in the arena. If something interesting was happening during your visit, I would try to do that. A bit gray, but interesting maze of streets and for Roman and Van Gogh connections. Did see kids playing in main squares.

You might want to go swimming at Pont du Gard!

Thanks to all who responded. I had posted again, but it seems that I hadn't. I am still staying in Les baux for 3 days. The hotel is very family friendly and I have a car. We will stay in Aix for 2 nights. Grandmere, can you tell me the name of the restaurant in Cassis where you rented lounge chairs for the day?

cassis-grand-large.com

They had changing "rooms", shower, etc.

We left after lunch to go on the boat ride and then returned to use our chairs and umbrella for there rest of the afternoon. We told them we were doing this, and they had me pay before we left, understandably!

I called from USA in advance to reserve our spot; I don't know if this was necessary or not, but with only 1 day there, I wanted to make sure all was in place. It appeared that all the chaises were taken but perhaps people just rent them on the spot. If you're going in high season, I would reserve in advance.

Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks so much grandmere. I appreciate it. If you think of anything your Grandaughter particularly loved, please let me know. I have my days planned, but very flexible. There are places I know we want to go, but I like to be able to be relaxed and change our mind if we discover things along the way that we hadn't planned.

Dw65, my granddaughter says that the day in Cassis, especially the boat tour of the 3 calanques and the day French friends drove us to the Luberon, where we visited Gordes and Roussillon, were her two favorite days. Two years ago when our whole family went to France, I think the kids' favorite place was the Pont du Gard. I bet your son would love seeing the Roman aqueduct and swimming in the shallow water beneath the bridge. That should be a bit less than an hour from Les Baux by car, northwest, into the Languedoc region. I would call it a "must see"!

Thanks so much grandmere. Everything you mentioned is on our schedule! We just arrived today! I am very happy with my choice'

Have a wonderful vacation!