Hi everyone,
I was hoping I could get some advice since you all have helped me out so much in the past. I will be in Provence May 24-29 ( 5 days). What do you think of this potential itinerary? I will be staying 4 nights St Remy and daytripping the 1st 4 days and 1 night Cassis.
Day 1 (Tues): fly into Marseille and pick up car by 12 noon; visit Arles, Les Baux, and St Remy
Day 2(wed): Nimes, Pont du Gard, and Chateauneuf du Pape, Orange,
Day 3(thur): Cotes de Rhone 1 day wine driving tour as recommended in Rick Steves near Vaison La Romaine: Domaine des Girasols, Le Crestet, La Col de la Chaine, Suzette, Domaine de Coyeux, Domaine de Durban, Gigondas, Seguret
Day 4 (fri)Luberon villages: Isla sur la Sorgue (can I squeeze into Wed for the market) , Roussillon, Gordes, Lacoste Any other places
Day 5 (sat): Aix-en Provence; Cassis, calanques (What time to see and what boat tour?)
Day 6: return car, fly out Marseille 12:30 pm

I am a little worried about driving around and getting lost. Are road signs good and maps good? Also are there a lot of toll roads?

I think you'd find that trying to do Arles, Les Baux, and St-Rémy in a half day will be a bit much. Arles alone can take an entire day, and Les Baux requires about three hours.

From Nîmes to Orange is a hefty drive if you're planning a round trip--or will you be staying over in Orange?

The one-day wine tour sounds good, but don't leave out Beaume de Venises and Vacqueras.

As long as you have the Michelin map of Provence you should be fine with driving. Roads are well posted; just remember that the signs aren't always where you expect them to be and that arrows don't necessarily mean turn at the next chance.

The toll roads are the autoroutes, and they make easy work of long trips when you just want to get from here to there. You can use a credit card to pay at the toll booths.

Day 2
Drop Nimes and visit Uzes instead. It's much more charing, IMHO, and will consume less time getting in/out.

Why are you going to Chateauneuf du Pape ??? not that interesting of a town, compared to other towns & sites in Provence. A winery tour at Beaucastel would be interesting, however.

Friday. Visit the excellent market in Carpentras in the morning (get there by 9), and then visit the villages in the Luberon - Gordes, Oppede-les-Vieux, Menerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux, Roussillon, Goult, in that order. Perhaps visit Saignon if you have the time.

Do a search on "Stu Lavender route" and try to find the route I posted a while back

Stu Dudley

Yes, I know that my schedule is tight. At Arles I only wanted to see the arena and the van Gogh sights (easels around town that match with some of his paintings). In St Remy, since we are staying near there, I figure that in the evenings we can check out some of the sites or if we get back early.
Is there a better way to arrange these sites so that the driving is not so hectic. Can we visit Chateauneuf du Pape on the same day as the wine tour day or Orange on that day. Should we skip any of these places? This is the first time that we will be visiting, and although we would like to see many things, we also do not want a rushed or stressful vacation. Any tips and the sooner the better since we are leaving on Saturday. Thank you!

Do you know you are missing many key market days by just one or two days?

St-Remy (Wed) catch the market before leaving town for Nimes?
Arle (Wed) your plan is Tue.
Orange (Thr) your plan is Wed
Vaison-la-Romaine (Tue) your plan is Thr.
L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Thr) your plan is Fri.