Hi,

I am flying into Marseille from paris and then spending 5 nights in Provence May 24-29. I am interested in the coastal areas, and countryside and am thinking of spending 3 nights in St Remy and 2 nights in Cassis perhaps. Does this sound like a good plan to cover the area to some extent?

Any recommendations for clean, quiet, not too cramped hotels with comfortable beds and about $100 or less. I know that's asking a lot... I have been getting quotes in St Remy and Les Baux for 150-160 E. Don't like cats - don't want to consider Chateau de Rossan.

topping for travelergal.

ttt ...

I assume you are staying in Cassis first.

There is a nice small, two star hotel in St. Remy, "L'Amandiere". It is a short distance out of town, 15 minute stroll. Rate with breakfast 75e (prox). It has a pool and lovely garden. No a/c but at your time should not be a problem.

This is a simple hotel. The owners Christophe and Claudine are friends of ours-we have stayed there in each of the last 13 years.

St. Remy is a great village and is centrally located to visit Luberon, Arles, Avignon

Good luck.

Anthony

Hi all,

Firstly, what does topping or ttt mean?

Second, actually I was thinking of Cassis 2nd since we are flying out of Marseille on May 29 at 1 pm and I thought that this might work out better. Does this sound good? Any advice on other reasonable and nice hotels?

ttt or toping puts your question to to the top of the page. Why did you chose Casis? Having driven there from Aix for an afternoon and dinner, we saw it all. I would consider spending more time based in St. Remy and exploring the area. 5 nights will give you the opportunity to get a taste of Provence.

I'm spending two nights in Cassis myself right before a 1:00 pm flight out of Marseilles (next month), but I have a lot more time than you in Provence. I think it would be wonderful to be in Cassis for the one night before your flight (having spent just an afternoon there once before and feeling short-changed), but I too think you would do best to spend more time in St. Remy. In Cassis I'm staying at the sometimes-maligned Hotel Mahogany because a friend of mine loved it and it has views of the harbor. Good luck!

If I base myself near St Remy, how far is it to drive to a nice beach area for the day. I would love to see the beautiful coastline. Do you all suggest that we see that first for a day when we arrive in Marseille and then spend 4 days in St Remy area. What about Gordes as a base? How far is that from Marseille airport? I read that St. Remy area is 45 minutes away.
I would like to see the calanques.

I was just thinking of doing the following: 2 nights Gordes, 2 nights St Remy and 1 night Cassis. Then we would fly out next afternoon from Marseille. Does this sound too fragmented? I think this would allow us to see things without necessarily having to drive back and forth too much. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Hi travelgal. We love the area that you will be visiting. We've been to St. Remy for 2 stays of 4 nights each. It's a great base. Gordes is an easy drive from there and part of the Luberon loop of hilltowns that make a nice day trip.
Cassis is also a favorite. We first visited it from Aix and wanted to spend more time there. We found a lovely inn in Gemenos (about 25 minutes away) in order to be able to spend more time in Cassis. (The hotel that we wanted in Cassis was full). We enjoyed our stay so much in Gemenos that we're returning again this summer.
Cassis is not a long drive from Marseilles. It's charming and lovely at night. Enjoy.

It's not very far from Marseilles but I don't know what traffic might be like in the early am, if in fact you have a morning flight.

Was the place you stayed in Gémenos the
Relais de la Magdeleine? We really loved that hotel and its excellent restaurant.

Yes, we just loved it and the meals on the terrace were magical. I can't wait to go back. It is unusual for us to return to a visitied location but this was so memorable. I'm glad others agree.

Since you liked the Relais de la Magdeleine, might I recommend to you Les Hospitaliers in the village-perché of Le Poët-Laval? It's in the Drôme, not far from Montélimar and Dieulefit, and is absolutely enchanting.

Travelergal -
After two nights in northern Provence, we made St Remy our home base for four nights last summer. We then headed to Cassis for two nights before flying out of Marseilles.
I would highly recommend Hotel Villa Glanum in St. Remy! It is a short stroll from the main part of the town and the grounds and pool area are lovely. I felt like I was in heaven breakfasting in the courtyard. The pictures on their website don't do it justice. We had a room with french doors that opened out to the pool area. It is cheaper than many of the other St Remy hotels. I made quick visits to many of them while touring around in town and I was happy we had ended up at Villa Glanum. We loved having a pool (our teenagers were along). The other two "affordable" hotels I liked best in St. Remy were:
Hotel du Soleil - http://www.hotelsoleil.com/ and
Hotel L'Amandiere
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/hotel.amandiere/
Lots of good day trips from St. Remy -- highlights were our quick trip to Les Baux (went in the evening which was perfect for avoiding crowds) and a morning trip on market day to the tiny nearby village of Eygalières (sans the teenagers!). I loved wandering in St. Remy. Visit the tourist office and pick up a list of Market Days for all the nearby towns. A big supermarket and laundromat are adjacent to the tourist office.
We wished we'd skipped Cassis. The town is picturesque, etc. I was sure I wanted to go there. I wanted to trust Rick Steves (I like him and his politics). But, it is VERY crowded - we were there in late June. The drive to the Marseille airport was somewhat stressful - and driving into Cassis was a low point for us. We were staying in a tiny hotel that did not have parking - I would not recommend this in Cassis. Book a hotel with parking. There is no free parking and the pay parking is difficult to secure. We did have a lovely boat trip to the calanques, etc. But still, for us, more days in the heart of Provence would have been better.
Have a great trip!