8 Days in Provence
 

Hello, this is my first time posting to this forum. I have read quite a few postings about Provence, and have learned a lot about the main towns. We plan to visit Avignon, Nimes, Arles, Aix, and Montpellier, yet we are yearning for a French countryside experience, and would like to find a nice village (or two) to use as a home base. Instead of excursions to the countryside, we would prefer day trips into the various towns. I have heard the Luberon is lovely, and I am sure there are other lovely areas, but it is all so difficult to plan having never been.

Question: Does anyone have experience staying in the countryside in Provence, with proximity enough to the main tourist sites to make a day trip or overnight trip practical? We are most interested in experience true French culture in a welcoming town not as frequented by the masses, if that is even possible. Many thanks.

We've spent 20 weeks vacationing in Provcence. We always stay in the countyside in Gites (houses). The Luberon is perfect for a first-timer.

Stu Dudley

Agree that The Luberon is a wonderful place to get the feel of countryside Provence.

St Saturnin les Apts is a lovely small village that is not heavily frequented by day trippers, so it retains it's charm, yet is close enough to LOTS of wonderful places to visit all within a short drive time.

http://www.accommodationinprovence.com/what-to-do/

IF you are planning less than a week stay [gites are typically rented minimu, usually Saturday to Saturday] you'll want a Chambre d'hôte/ B&B [see above link for a lovely one]

We stayed in a B and B just outside the walls in Avignon. It was perfect to travel to the different cities ,and gave us a nice relaxing time when we got 'home'... in the countryside. Easy to get too as well..and to get to all of the cities. We went to Aix on the way there. which one day was fine for us,actually I think we were really only there about five hours.

We stayed in St Remy and found it a perfect location for visiting all the destinations mentioned. It's not a tiny village but it's not a city either. Great location, great size.

For my taste, the Luberon is too far away from the major attractions. You have already picked the best spots:

- Nimes has the very best Roman ruins
- Arles comes second
- Avignon has the Papal Palace
- Montpellier is nice, but IMO not a must-see
- Pont du Gard is spectacular
- Aigues-Mortes is a completely walled medieval city

For these destinations, somewhere within or near the triangle Avignon - Nimes - Saulon would make a good base. There are many towns and villages where you can experience authentic life.

The first thing is, you have to decide which kind of accomodation you prefer

- hotel
- gite
- vacation rental
- hostel
- campground

Then use the search engines for the type of accomodation to find spots within this triangle. Look on the map or Google Earth to identify the exact loction.

Hi there - we are using Airbnb for accommodations. We will rent a car. Yes, I have come to the same conclusion that the Luberon is too far away from the attractions. We like the St Remy suggestion, but it is pricier and we are trying to keep expenses down. I am looking at Aix as a base for a few days, but that was not on your list. Any reason why not? Then we head toward Nice for a few days. We have decided to pick two bases so we are not spending half the day finding our new house and checking in. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you.

If you think The Luberon is too far, Aix is even further and it is not the most pleasant ride to get to many of the places, as the road is very twisty and narrow.

As I stated earlier, we've spent 20 weeks vacationing in Provence. And about 3 years elsewhere in France. Almost always, a 5 week trip in June & 4 weeks in Sept (plus a few Christmases in Paris). We love travels in France, so we retired early in life (me 52, wife 50) so we could spend more time traveling. We retired in '99. First year we spent 2 weeks in the Luberon, 2 weeks near St Remy, 2 weeks in St Tropez, and 2 weeks near Vaison. We've returned for 2 more weeks in the Luberon, 2 weeks near Uzes, 8 weeks in Bedoin, and last year 2 weeks in the Luberon. Note that we did not return to the St Remy area - but we did return to the Luberon (several times) and also Bedoin. The Luberon as very close to the countryside areas we enjoy the most in Provence. We drove around & through St Remy last year - and it reminded us why we prefer elsewhere. St Remy is great & centrally located - but don't short-change the Luberon.

Stu Dudley

I agree with Stu but cannot compare to his experience. I am always interested to see others thoughts on what they like to visit. Everyone has their preferences. We have only spent three weeks in Provence, but always choose to stay in the countryside or small town because that is what we like. We did not even consider a visit to Nimes, Arles or Aix en Provence. For us Provence is the lovely small villages and countryside drives.
I guess my thinking is that you need to choose what you like and go with that. We visited St Remy last year and, yes, it is a very nice place. Do we want to stay there? Not really. But for someone else, it is perfect. Whatever you choose, you will have a lovely time.

For our first trip to Provence, we stayed at Villa Vellerson with English speaking owners. Lovely rooms and grounds, great breakfast and very central to all-Luberson, Vaison, St Remy, etc. We stayed for a week and had a wonderful time. They suggested many wonderful trips and dining suggestions. It was early June with the poppies. This time we will base ourselves in the Luberon and see the lavender in July.