5 nights in Provence
 

This is a re-badging of my France no Paris thread --
We arrive in DCG mid April and head by train to Avignon arriving around 2:30 PM.
At 2 PM of our 6th day we leave from Nice airport.

Now the fun and questions begin for this Provence novice - How best to split up those 5 nights. I have duly studied Stu Dudley's suggestions, this forum, clips on youtube and some guidebooks and am left like a person at a gelato bar trying to pick a few flavors when they all look so good.

First thoughts are to pick up rental car at Avignon TGV and head for: St Remy? St. Paul? Arles? (somewhere else?) for 2?, 3? nights. Then on to Aix for the remaining nights save one to be spent close to Nice or Nice proper? Or should we head somewhere else in the direction of Nice, close enough to make our flight comfortably for X remaining nights? What do you think? Should we try some time in Monaco. Frankly what I know of Monaco does not appeal but then I do not know much other than there are a lot of casinos and hotels. We prefer small towns, interesting architecture, history, art and ambiance.

Make our arrival at the non dyslexic CDG

Having just been there in Sept and Oct and heading back in January I would suggest: skip Monaco.

What time of year is the trip?

We stayed in Nice first for 5 nights and then went into the Luberon for 2 weeks. We like staying a bit further east than St. Remy. We stayed in Saint Saturnin les Apt. Easy to get to just about anywhere for day trip.

I would head to Nice early in the morning, spend your last day and then depending what time your flight is either spend the night or fly out that same day.

We were able to drive to many wonderful towns from where we stayed. I have started a trip report [ I know, I know, I need to finish it} but it should give you some ideas. Click my name for find it.

For us, this was a great location to vist in all directions. www.chateaudesalpilles.com Loved the chateau. Had dinner one night on the outside patio. We stayed three nights.

From Avignon you don't want to head to St-Paul (if you mean the one near Nice, that is). Head to St-Rémy or Arles, if you prefer a larger town. Stay 2 nights. Then head to Nice via Aix, spending a few hours in that city. From there you'll have about a two-hour drive to Nice.

Skip Monaco unless you really, really love high rises and concrete. Nice, on the other hand, has the Promenade des Anglais, the old town, and much, much more.

Make the first stop iin St-Rémy or thereabouts. Visit all the wonders of the Bouches-du-Rhône: Glanum, Les Baux, Pont du Gard, Uzès, the Camargue, Arles, Avignon. Then trek to Nice for a couple of days and enjoy the Riviera. Forget Monaco - it's just a big pile of expensive concrete on the sea...ugly, congested, and super expensive.

A first base in St-Remy sounds about right or perhaps Arles which also sounds like a place that would be a good base for 2-3 nights. For our last couple of days I am sort of leaning towards Vence rather tha Aix - it seems like a pleasant place to be and getting to the airport from there should not be difficult. Does 3 nights in St Remy or Arles and 2 in Vence With day trips from both sound about right? Also, a co-worker is pushing Cavaillon as an initial base rather than the St-Remy area. What do you think? So much to see and so little time.

Vence or St Paul-de-Vence?
St Remy is good should you want to visit Arles, the Camargue, the perche villages, Les Baux, Gordes and Avignon.
Vence or St Paul-you can visit Grass, Cannes (Forget Monte-Carlo,), St tropez.
Aix, you can visit Bandol,Cassis,Hyres, Cotignac.

don't miss Les Beaux de Prevence (sp?) - a sweet old ruined medieval city on top of a high flat piece of rock overlooking vast swaths of Provence - it is a few miles from St-Remy and close to Avignon.

Arles too IMO is a must as if the Pont du Gard. I think Uzes is one of the neatest older looking towns in all of France.

Nimes has its pluses - some remarkable Roman ruins and intact ones too - some of the best classical Roman ruins outside of Rome!

The Camargue is interesting - take a horseback ride into this famous wild place and see the famous wild horses there!

Filing all this and making a plan - thanks. This will be our first post retirement trip and the first time since I was a kid in school that I ever was able to take a month long vacation. The south of France is just the beginning but it is time to start contacting hotels and B&Bs.

don't forget Gites - in smaller towns that can be oh so romantic - but if a single traveler maybe not so fun as they tend to be isolated. Gites are largely self-catering so no breakfast so I think some may provide.

http://en.gites-de-france.com/

Chambres d'Hotes is what bed-and-breakfasts are called so Google that term.

http://www.chambres-en-france.com/provence/ just one of several agencies

Thank you Pal - I have already spent several hours perusing your links and it is clear that I have much homework left.

Both Arles & St Remy are nice towns - Arles perhaps having more attractions. But I think St Remy is more centrally located. I'm not a fan of Cavaillon at all. We've driven through it dozens & dozens of times, and it has never appealed to us. After these "dozens" of drive throughs, we finally did a walking tour - and still didn't like it.

I would base in St Remy, and Vence or St Paul. Leave St Remy early in the AM and visit Aix on the way to Vence/St Paul (although not on a Sunday or Monday).

Stu Dudley

St Remy IME is the quintessential Provencal town - plane-tree lined streets - an old town and less hectic IME than say Arles or Avignon which are larger I believe and seemed much more crowded when I was in all of them one August.

Basingstokes,if you do go to Arles, besides visiting Les Arenes-the amphitheater, visit the Musee Arletan, founded
by Mistral, located in a 16th century palace.It's theme is
the Arles life style over the centuries.

If you choose to stay in St. Paul de Vence, I can highly recommend Le Hameau: http://www.le-hameau.com/uk/index.php#index.php It was a short walk to St. Paul de Vence, which we enjoyed very much. If you choose St. Paul de Vence, you might want to visit the chapel designed by Matisse in Vence: http://www.ville-vence.fr/matisse-chapel?lang=fr

In St Paul, I stayed at the Colombe Dór That is were Simone Signoret and yves Montand married. The hotel is filled with famous paintings by artiste in those days to pay their bills.
The head of the swimming pool has a Calder Stabile, even the rooms have the real thing. Upstairs in the P.O. are great photos of the celebrities. You'll see Yves playing boules. the court for playing is almost in front of the hotel.
Should you visit, be sure to go to the Maeght Foundation,
a artist's dream place. All the famous ones are featured inside and on the grounds.

In St Remy do not miss the old asuylum where Van Gogh committed himself after slicing off an ear in Arles - it's neat because he painted many now famous pictures in the environs and they have set up reproductions exactly at the same spot Van Gogh transferred these rustic scenes onto canvas.

Thank you all for your helpful input.
I have booked 3 nights in St Remy, but can change this without penalty. There are two possible schedules.
Plan #1 - 3 nights St Remy, 2 nights Vence
Day 1: Arrive in St Remy early to mid afternoon, check in and spend day in St Remy
Day 2: Arles and connected activities
Day 3: Explore nearby - open
Day 4: Leave early toward Vence, stopping in Aix along the way and whatever else catches our eye (Luberon?) Arrive in Vence for dinner and check in.
Day 5: Vence and St Paul
Day 6: Vence in AM and leave for airport.

Plan #2 - 2 nights St Remy, 3 nights Vence
Days 1&2 same as Plan #1
Day 3: Leave early for Vence, explore along the way, perhaps Aix, arriving Vence early evening
Day 4 St Paul de Vence and Vence
Day 5 Luberon and/or nearby sites
Day 6 AM Vence and leave for airport.

Your thoughts?

I don't think you you realize how big The Luberon is and how many wonderful villages throughout. Best to have some sort of plan of where you'd like to go. Just my 2 €'s. I have a partial TR here that lists the towns we visited during our 2 week stay in Sept.