Hi All - Finalizing the last leg of my trip in Provence and could use some help...I am starting the first 5 nights in French Riviera and then headed to Provence. Thinking of this:

Thursday - drive from St. Tropez to Aix - visit AIX market - o/n AIX @ Le Pigonnet Hotel
Friday - drive to Lourmarin, Bonnieux, Roussillon, Gordes - o/n in GORDES @ La Gastide de Gordes
Saturday - visit Remy and Les Baux - o/n ST. REMY @ Le Sous Figuers
Sunday - isle sur La Sorge market - afternoon Pont du Garde?? Arles?? - o/n ST. REMY
Monday - drop off rental car in Avignon, visit Avignon in AM + afternoon 2:30PM - 7:30PM wine tour leaving from Avignon to visit Chateaunuef du Pape, Gigondas and Vacquayres - o/n in AVIGNON @ Clarion Hotel St. Louie
Tuesday - Avignon in AM and then train back to Nice - o/n NICE @ Hotel Windsor
Wed - flight leaves at 10:30AM back to NY

Questions -

Is it too much to visit Lourmarin, Bonnieux, Roussillon and Gordes in 1 day?

I know I have 5 nights and am staying in 4 hotels, so I am bouncing around quite a bit, but trying to avoid backtracking and driving...I don't think this will present too much of an issue since we will be touring throughout the day and will probably arrive at each place close or after check in time anyway...We just won't unpack anywhere!

An alternative would be 1 night AIX, 2 nights Gordes, 2 nights St. Remy - then my final morning in Avignon before departing back to Nice, BUT, I would rather take a wine tour vs driving that on our own, and this might would be a bit more difficult driving in and out of Avignon multiple times without an overnight there - all of these wine tours leave from Avignon...

Any last minute advice would be appreciated! Also, how is the drive from AIX to Lourmarin (windy, steep??)

As always, thanks all!!!

Get an early start on Friday-just in case you fall madly in love with Loumarin then run out of time for the others!

You could stay 2 nights in Aix and still not be terribly far from the Friday places. Actually, you could add one of the Friday towns to Thursday.

DH and I loved Arles so I'd vote for that.

Seems a bit hectic to me, but some of that depends on your style of travel. Two points that stand out. The drive from St. Tropez to Aix is going to be 1-1/2 to 2 hours, so you'll need an early start to enjoy the market (they usually wind down by early afternoon). That seems pretty tight. Could you cut a day off St. Tropez and arrive Aix Wednesday pm? That would allow you more time to enjoy the town. As for your Sunday plans, the drive to the Pont du Gard is around 2 hours if you don't run into complications; drive to Arles is less,but again it seems tight. And don't forget the 30 km or so from St. Remy to Isle-sur-Sorgue to start the day. You might want to sit down with Mappy and sketch out the driving for each day, keeping in mind that Mappy tends to underestimate times, especially when you are on D roads and not the autoroute.

We just spent 3 weeks in Provence on our 4th visit to the area. Your itinerary is similar to our first madcap attempt to see and do everything. You will enjoy yourselves but be extremely rushed to touch all your points of interest. One concern I have is that on virtually every day you will be loading all your luggage and traveling and parking with it--not recommended. That being said, I have never had any problem with theft but have always been cautious.

Rerive from Aix to Lourmarin--not a problem with difficult roads but Lourmarin Friday market is special and you will want to linger-its one of the best, 8 am to 1 pm. The drive to Bonnieux however is thru a narrow gorge with all the tight driving trimmings and its virtually the only way. You will be hard pressed to make it to Roussillon and Gordes (and Abbeye Senanque) in the same day without it being a parking and hiking scramble exercise.

Re: Sunday. ISLS is an important market but it is not close to the Pont du Gard or Arles. Check your map--it is much closer to Gordes or Roussillon and the Luberon. (Or even Avignon)

I would suggest you try to stay in St Remy the last night. It isn't far from Avignon (which isn't my favorite) and will allow you to refrain from changing hotels. I understand your priority with the wine tour-you will enjoy it and be able to relax w/o driving. BTW-the train station is on the outskirts of Avignon but get good directions and scout it out. Have fun-Paul

Shops will be closed on Sunday in Arles. Shops will be closed Monday morning in Avignon. Sunday & Monday morning would be good periods for visiting the Luberon (shops open in Gordes & Roussillon, but closed on Bonnieux), Pont du Gard, or les Baux.

You don't really need to "visit" Gordes - you're staying in the middle of Gordes so you'll see it as you come & go.

Stu Dudley

Since leaving one hotel and checking into another is a minimum of one hour, not including the time to find the new place and park, we make it a policy that we stay in the same spot if the new place is an hour drive away or less. One trip where we did a lot of that area (Les Baux, St. Remy, the nearby Roman ruins, Orange, Avignon, Pont de Gard) all based out of Les Baux. It saved a lot of wasted hotel desk and packing unpacking time. The drives in the area are very scenic, also.

Hi

A few thoughts:

Changing hotels every single night doesn’t sound very relaxing, but, it sounds like you are trying to fit as much in as you can – I wouldn’t do it, but to each his own.

You can visit all four places in one day – you just won’t see a heck of a lot. I can say this with experience because one day on our trip we visited the Gordes market in the morning and had lunch… then “visited” the other three you mention. This was mainly because my chief goal that day was to take evening lavender photos and our B&B was roughly an hour from the good lavender area. It seemed silly to drive all the way back to the B&B after lunch to sit poolside before heading out again for an hour drive to the lavender region. We also had the problem of a VERY hot day, so the places we visited didn’t have many people out and about in the middle of the day (and frankly we didn’t want to be outside either… which may be why we spent more time driving than being out in the heat that day). Were I to do it again I’d either go back to the pool regardless (choice number one) and visit the other towns on a completely different day, or, skip at least one and spend a little more time on the others. (It hit 35C that day).

Hotel sous les Figuiers – you will love this hotel. Pretty setting, short stroll into town, large room and huge bathroom, good breakfast. I’d stay there again in a heartbeat. If you want to also visit Pont du Gard and Arles, I’d consider St Remy for two nights.

You can drive the wine route yourself, but the advantage of being on a wine tour that evening is that you don’t need to worry about enjoying the wine.

This was my third trip to Provence, and this trip was 7 nights in Provence before heading to Paris and I felt there were so many things left undone – we just barely skimmed the surface. I can understand wanting to see it all, but slowing down helps you enjoy seeing less, more.

Final thought: Stu is the expert on the region, if you have his wonderful report, you are all set.

This is what I would do:

Thursday. Get an early start & head to Aix. Visit the market, have lunch & people watch at Deux Garcon. Explore Aix.
Stay iin Aix.

Friday. Visit Lourmarin, St Remy, & Les Baux.
Stay in St Remy

Saturday. Visit Arles & the Pont du Gard. Sat is market day in Uzes - but this may be too many markets for you.
Stay in Gordes.

Sunday. Get to the market in l'Isle sur la Sorge early (8am). Watch the vendors set-up. Coffee/croissants by the church. "Do" the market. Roussillon in the afternoon & perhaps Oppede le Vieux if you have time. Gordes in late afternoon.
Stay in Gordes

Monday - Bonnieux, explore the Luberon some more. Relax. Head to Avignon in the afternoon to turn in the car & take your wine tour.
Stay in Avignon

Tuesday. Visit Avignon in the AM. Take train to Nice.

Consider: Keep the car while in Avignon. Tuesday, drive to St Paul & stay there overnight. Obviously, no need to visit it while going from Nice to St Tropez - this will give you more time in Nice. You could also take the train from Avignon to Nice & taxi to St Paul & taxi to the airport in the morning to catch your flight home.

Stu Dudley

Dear allday --

Would be interested in the details of your wine tour - with whom did you book this?

Thanks.

I just did a road trip where I changed hotels every day or two for a week, and it didn't bother me at all. YOu just can't unpack your suitcase, that's all, and either travel light to begin with or have a smaller bag that you make take into the hotel with you while you leave some stuff in the trunk (like extra shoes or whatever). It definitely did not take me one hour to check out and in to those hotels. It took maybe 5-10 minutes on each end (check-in and out).

I don't think Friday is too bad as there isn't exactly a lot to see in Bonnieux or Gordes. YOu are staying in Gordes, so will see it that way. I assume you mean you are staying in the Bastide de Gordes. I don't know what it's parking situation is like as it's on this narrow street going up to the town and most cars aren't allowed in Gordes. I just wonder how convenient that parking is. I wouldn't stay in Gordes two nights.

The Bastide de Gordes has parking directly across from the hotel.

Stu Dudley

Thanks everyone! Lots to consider! I guess the bottom line is that there are a number of different routes and itineraries that could work and I need to digest all of the great feedback you have each provided and see what makes sense...

Someone else on this board posted in a trip report - "when in doubt, follow Stu Dudley's advice!!" I think I may do that...

Stu, quick question for you - I had assumed Lourmarin to Bonnieux to Roussillon and then Gordes would be the most direct route in this area as I look at a map. Is there a reason you suggest going from Lourmarin on to St. Remy and Les Baux in the same day??

Also, is the Saturday Arles and Pont du Gard a lot of driving that day (for someone who hates the thought of driving and had actually considered doing all of this as a tour just to avoid the drive - if so, I would consider cutting one, to keep things simple - I want to see both of these places time permitting, but if it's too crazy, I can cut them...

Sun, Mon, Tues make sense to me - and I will definitely consider keeping the car. Any idea how much a taxi would be from Nice to St. Paul de Vence and then to the airport the next day if I went this route?? I think St. Paul is 25-30 min from Nice, so my guess is that might be expensive, but who knows...

So many questions, so little time!

Hi adt,

Gordes is 46 min from St Remy. Are you short you want to change hotels?

>>Stu, quick question for you - I had assumed Lourmarin to Bonnieux to Roussillon and then Gordes would be the most direct route in this area as I look at a map. Is there a reason you suggest going from Lourmarin on to St. Remy and Les Baux in the same day?<<

The drive from Lourmarin to Bonnieux is on a winding road - which I think you are trying to avoid. The main reason I suggested visiting St Remy first was to avoid the visit to Arles on Sunday when everything is closed, and also get you closer to l'Isle sur la Sorgue for the Sunday market and into the Luberon where both Gordes & Roussillon have shops open on Sunday.. I've driven from St Remy to the market on a Sunday, and it's about an hour drive. It's about 15 mins from Gordes

>>Also, is the Saturday Arles and Pont du Gard a lot of driving that day (for someone who hates the thought of driving and had actually considered doing all of this as a tour just to avoid the drive - if so, I would consider cutting one, to keep things simple - I want to see both of these places time permitting, but if it's too crazy, I can cut them...<<

No - it's not too much of a drive, IMO.

>>Sun, Mon, Tues make sense to me - and I will definitely consider keeping the car. Any idea how much a taxi would be from Nice to St. Paul de Vence and then to the airport the next day if I went this route?? I think St. Paul is 25-30 min from Nice, so my guess is that might be expensive, but who knows<<

Don't know.

Stu Dudley

No need to take a taxi from Nice to St. Paul. You could stay in Nice and go up to St. Paul by bus....only 1 euro each way and spend the day. The bus is a great deal you can to any of the nearby towns for 1 euro.