Hi
We will be staying in St Remy for 7 nights in the last week of April. We arrive in St Remy in the early afternoon and will spend the rest of the day exploring the town. The proposed itinerary for the rest of the time is -
Sunday - Morning: Isle Sur La Sorgue (markets), Gordes. Afternoon: Senanque's Abbey, Roussillon, Oppede-le-Vieux
Monday - Morning: Nimes, Pont du Gard. Afternoon: Uzes (if time), Avignon
Tuesday - Morning: Aix en Provence; afternoon:Marseilles
Wednesday - Morning: markets in St Remy, Les Baux. Afternoon: Montmajour Abbey, Arles
Thursday - Morning: Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas; Afternoon: Vaison le Romaine, Brantes (if time)
Friday 1st May - Festival in Arles.

Would appreciate feedback as to whether this is a viable itinerary.

Hi there,

I think yuo have too much packed into your days. Keep in mind the villages shut down for at least 2 hours for lunch, and you also have to drive to each of them, which always seems to take longer than you think. I would plan 1 village/site for each morning, and 1 for the afternoon.

For example - Isle sur la sorgue and gordes on one morning will be near to impossible.

Have a great trip!

>>Sunday - Morning: Isle Sur La Sorgue (markets), Gordes. Afternoon: Senanque's Abbey, Roussillon, Oppede-le-Vieux<<

You might not get to Oppede

>>Monday - Morning: Nimes, Pont du Gard. Afternoon: Uzes (if time), Avignon<<

No way - Avignon (including palais) is a 1/2 to 3/4 day visit, and Nimes & Uzes are half day visits (maybe a tad less) if you go into some sites & museums. Pont is perhaps 1/4 day if you just look at the bridge & wander around, and a little longer if you visit the very fine museum there. Plus, you have some travel time. AND - remember shops in Nimes, Avignon, and Uzes will be close Monday morning - opening up after lunch at 2:30 to 3.

I would visit the Pont in the morning, then lunch & visit Uzes, then see what time is left in the day to visit either Nimes or Avignon. You may be the kind of person who can visit stuff till 7pm.


>>Tuesday - Morning: Aix en Provence; afternoon:Marseilles<<

Again - no way. Aix is a 1/2 to 3/4 day visit if you like to shop - a little less if you don't. Remember, like jamikins said, almost everything closes for lunch. You should too - have lunch on the Cours - it's one of our favorite event in Aix. IMO, lunch on the Cours is a "must see". You won't have time for Marseille, unless you like lots of cities back-to-back & it's OK to tour till 7:30pm.

Skip Marseille & visit Lourmarin on the way back to St Remy.

>>Wednesday - Morning: markets in St Remy, Les Baux. Afternoon: Montmajour Abbey, Arles<,

You should be able to do this

>Thursday - Morning: Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas; Afternoon: Vaison le Romaine, Brantes (if time)<<

Add Seguret - do the full circle around the Dentelles. You might consider skipping Vaison & visit Avignon in this slot if you did not visit it on Monday. You may be disappointed in Chateauneuf du Papes, and Gigondas is very small - a 30 minn visit unless you go into some wineries or the tasting room on the main square. It would be a good spot for lunch.

>>Friday 1st May - Festival in Arles.<<

If the festival gets boring (it might), tour some countryside - around the Alpilles, or back to the Luberon.

I think you will not have visited Avignon or Nimes. IMO, Nimes & Arles are kinda of redundent, so skipping Nimes is fine. I'm a big fan of Uzes, so I would not skip that. Most shops & many sites will be closed on May 1 - so I would not visit Avignon then. I would visit Avignon before I would visit Vaison. The medieval section of Vaison is quite nice, and there are a few interesting shops in the flat section - but the flat section is a tad tacky in places.

Stu Dudley

PS - you'll be in Aix on market day - and the food market is one of my favorites. It will certainly consume 3/4 of a day.

Stu Dudley

Pont du Gard, Arles, uzes, Montmajour abbey are so close together and you should be visiting them but not back and forth between other places if you want to save time and mileage.
Be sure to visit Glanum,
(left side of the road) the ruins of a santuary city that was later a point of commerce during Roman times and Les Antiques=a commemorative arch and a mausoleum, on the right side of the road that lie just outside of St Remy.

Hi h,

Good advice above.

You can't see everything in one week.

Slow down and pick the roses.

I'm unclear as to the Festival in Arles you're planning to see on May 1st. We were fortunate to witness the annual Costume Festival ("le costume d’arlesienne&quot. It was on a Sunday in early July - what a photo op!

I certainly agree with the others that you're rushing things. I'd only add that I was utterly fascinated by the Citadel at Les Baux. It's worth quite a bit of your time IMO - so don't cut it short...

It's a viable itinerary if: you want to say you were "attractions", but aren't interested in seeing why they are "attractions".
I, for example, spent 50 minutes savoring every molecule of a pissaladerie at the outdoor cafe in the Place aux Herbes in the town of Uzes, knowing I might never have such a delight for the rest of my life.
Never saw the Isle sur Sorgue market; it's very well known, tho.
Spent an hour just photographing Gordes, plus another hour walking it.
Aiz took us 2-/12 hours. Rousillon 2+. Nimes 3+. Pont du Gard 2+, assuming you don't walk across it. Marseilles is a big city; just getting to the center would probably be an hour each way. I'm not including lunch or travel time between cities in the above.

thank you everyone for the advise so far. As a result I have redone our itinerary and would appreciate comments as to whether this is more feasible.

Sunday - morning: Isle Sur La
Sorgue (markets) afternoon: Gordes,
Rouissillon (have taken out Senanque's Abbey and Oppede-le-Vieux)

Monday - morning Uzes (would do Pont du Gard first but they are closed Monday mornings). Afternoon: Pont du Gard, Nimes (if time)
(have taken out Avignon)

Tuesday: Aix en Provence, Marseilles (Two of our group of six are keen to go to Marseilles - otherwise I would look to omit this)

Wednesday:morning: St Remy market, Les Baux. Afternoon: Abbaye de Montmajour, Arles.

Thursday: Chateauneuf-du-Pape,Gigondas, Seguret
(have taken out Vaison le Romaine and Brantes)

Friday: Fete des Gardians (annual MayDay festival in Arles)

Shopping is not a priority so may look to do the Palace of the Popes, Avignon, late afternoon on Friday.

We are coming from New Zealand so looking to make the most of our time. We are three couples. My husband and I visited Avignon, Aix, Nimes and Arles 30 years ago but the other four have not been to the south of France before.

Would also be interested to hear from people who have visited Abbaye de Montmajour as to whether this was worthwhile.
Many thanks

If ypoy like visiting an abby, this is worthwhile and it's on the D17 just before Arles. It's considered one of the most important of medieval provence. There is not much to see, it's empty and austere but gives you an idea of the state
of Provencal archtecture that was in transition from Romanesque to Gothic, there are areas that were never explained like in the lower church. Behind the church are a number of tombs cut out of the rock
these are a mystery too because the historians think they predate the abbey.

>>Thursday: Chateauneuf-du-Pape,Gigondas, Seguret
(have taken out Vaison le Romaine and Brantes)<,

Actually, this day may be a little light, unless you have a few winery tours scheduled (in advance). Hit AIGNON IF YOU FINISH EARLY

Stu Dudley

Okay - itinerary has been tweaked again. Now:

Sunday: as before

Monday: Private guided Wine Tour of wine villages

Tuesday: Morning - Nimes Afternoon: Uzes. Late afternoon (on way back to St Remy) Pont du Gard

Wednesday: as before

Thursday: Marseilles or Aix en Provence (not both) mid afternoon - Avignon

Friday (1st May): as before

Palace of the Popes in Avignon is open until 7.00 p.m. so it seemed to make more sense to include Avignon after Marseilles or Aix.

Would appreciate if anyone could give their preference (any why) as to whether we do Marseilles or Aix.

Thanks so much to the responses we have had to date.

>>Would appreciate if anyone could give their preference (any why) as to whether we do Marseilles or Aix.<<

Aix - far more interesting. Great market (actually, there is a daily and a Tu, Th, Sat one) beautiful fountains, cute shops, great lunch on the Cours, etc. Obviously, we've visited both cities or I would not make a judgement. Like I stated earlier, I would visit Aix & then hit Lourmarin (castle to visit), on the way back to St Remy. I would perhaps leave Lourmarin over the Combe de Lourmarin to Bonnieux and drive through the Luberon to return to St Remy. There are nice views of Bonnieux on this route - and good view of Lacoste too.

Actually, I think you're visiting too many larger sized cities, and not enough countryside & small villages. You're going to see a lot of the same type of stuff if you visit Arles twice, Nimes, Avignon, Aix, & Uzes. I would go back to the Luberon & follow the Luberon drive in my itinerary (did you e-mail me for it??) and admire the countryside while visiting Senanque, Bonnieux, Menerbes, Oppede, Saignon, Goult, etc.

I would eliminate Nimes from your city visits - it is similar to Arles in look & feel.

What are you doing on your guided wine tour?? You can make a reservation at Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape & get an excellent English guided tour of vineyards, cellar, & a tasting in the cellar.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu

Yes, I have your itinerary - thank you. The reason for visiting Arles twice was that on the Friday the festival will be on but I am assuming there will be nothing else open, hence the visit to Arles on the Wednesday. But maybe we could just go to Arles on the Friday, in which case we could visit Avignon on the Wednesday instead.

If we did this, and on the Thursday went to Aix rather than Marseilles we would certainly return to St Remy via Lourmarin, Bonnieux etc.

The wine tour booked includes visits to three vineyards and cellars in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Seguret and Gigondas as well as lunch with matching wines, and commentary by the chef at the vineyard in Seguret. We will also spend time in each of these villages. Not having to drive ourselves just means that we can all enjoy the day without worrying about drink/drive rules.

We are going to be in St Remy at the same time. What wine tour group are you going with as we want to do a day of wine tasting. Where are you staying at in St. Remy?

Hi Pohl
We are doing a private wine tour with www.wine-uncovered.com. Staying at a hotel in St Remy - can't recall the name of it as one of the other couples has booked this.

So looking forward to it.

Bookmarking

Question for Stu Dudley please - Stu, you appear to be relatively less impressed with Vaison - is the 'tad tacky' part to which you refer along the road that bisects the Roman site (of some 15 hectares I understand) on the north bank of the river? If so, does it tend to spoil the 'aesthetics'/ 'experience' of a visit to the site and would it be better to stay in or near the medieval town on the south bank?
Thanks, Farrermog

The main road that bisects the two areas is actually quite scenic, and has no commerce on it till you leave the area around the bridge, which links the two sections. If you cross the bridge (on foot) and get a block or two into the "newer" section that has the Roman Ruins, many of the cafes are a little touristy & many of the shops are a tad touristy too - but it does not spoil the total feeling of Vaison - and many people, I suspect, really like this area.

To the north of this road splitting the two area, the very nice medieval section is up a VERY steep hill - and I mean VERY. There is a hotel up there, but driving up to it would not be something I would want to do regularily. I have never stayed at the hotel, but have had dinner there once (only OK). I think there may be parking down below the hotel.

We stay in Gites, so I really can't recommend a hotel first-hand.

Stu Dudley

Many thanks Stu (maintaining your distinguished record of service here). Farrermog