Muratti

Hi there,

I need help planning my Provence itinerary. I'm taking the TGV from PAris to Avignon on September 13 and I have a flight scheduled out of Nice on the 22nd. I was thinking of renting a car in Avignon and book a hotel in St-Remy so I can visit Arles, chateau neuf du pape, l'isle sur la sorgue. I'd like to spend 3 days perhaps In Luberon area and visit those beautiful towns basing myself in Bonnieux or Gargas and eventually drive down to Aix stay there overnight and head to Nice and stay overnight before catching my plane the other day?

Any suggestions/recommendations regarding accommodation, restauransts would be highly appreciated.

Thank you

ira

Hi M,

This might help
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-europe.cfm

Mimar

You're not spending any time in Nice and on the French Riviera? If not, you would have been better flying out of Marseilles.

Much as I like Aix, I'd suggest skipping it this trip and spending at least a day in Nice. It's a beautiful city, with curvy Belle-Epoque architecture and interesting food. And a great market.

Arles, Chateauneuf du Pape and L'isle-sur-la-Sorgue are at different points of the compass. You could group L'isle in with your Luberon towns.

Muratti

Thanks a bunch. I was planning on staying one night in Nice perhaps I can spend an extra day and visit St.Paul de Vence, etc.

I actually chose Nice due to convenient air access to Rome plus I somehow find it relatively safe? I hope I'm not wrong about that

So if I understand correctly, I'll save C.Neuf and L'isle for another trip. I thought I could have visited those towns since they're each 30-40 mnts from Avignon but I 'll listen to your advice and stay on the course.

Where do you think I should base myself St. remy and Bonnieux before heading out for the riviera?

Christina

I don't understand how you got l'Isle dur la Sorgue combined with Arles when it is right near the Luberon. If you want to visit it, you can easily do it during your 3 days in the Luberon area. IN fact, when visiting that area, I usually stay in a country inn just north of Isle sur la Sorgue and I visit the Luberon villages from there quite easily. There aren't hardly any places to stay in Bonnieux, you know, but there are a couple if you are determined to stay there. You've got 7 days, seems like enough time to me to spend a couple days in St Remy, 3 in the Luberon, Aix if you want and then Nice. But I agree I don't think you can do both Aix and Nice.

jgg

We stayed for a week in St. Remy in March as our base for Provence, and really loved it. It is smaller town, but not so small that there aren't plenty of restaurants to have fabulous dinners in for a week. From there we visited Avignon, Chatauneuf de Pape, Aix, Pont de Gard and several towns in the Luberon. We stayed at Le Mas de Carassins which we enjoyed, and it was an easy walk into town from there.

moderntrobador

Muratti,
This sounds like a whirlwind trip. My recommendations (based on traveling to Provence for years where we have stayed in many different villages and cities, living there for six months, and renting homes to vacationers) would be to choose one place to stay in Provence. I recommend Lourmarin. (I am biased as we do rent properties in this village but long before that venture, I would have said this and it is one of the many reasons we were drawn to this charming Luberon village.) Lourmarin is an ideal location for day trips to the destinations you mentioned: Avignon, Arles, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and Aix. Also to Roussillon, Gordes, Apt, Bonnieux, Menerbes,Cassis, Marseille, and on and on. It lies at the base of the Luberon mountains where you will find wonderful perched villages, many wineries, fabulous restaurants, and a slice of Provencal life that you won't find in your current itinerary. Lourmarin itself is a destination--it is lovely, full of history, music, art, food and wine. The Lourmarin Friday morning is one of the best in the area(and the new Tuesday evening market is also great fun.) That Peter Mayle chose to live in Lourmarin for many years says something....he lives in a neighboring town now.

The only other suggestion I would make would be to skip Chateauneuf-du-Pape in favor of Gigondas and Vacqueyras. Appointments are necessary in the best CNP chateaux. It is certainly an easy day trip, but if you are going to drive that far, go Orange and the Pont du Gard!

By staying in one place, you could easily go to Nice, too, the day before your departure.

My blog, TheModernTrobadors.com, has lots of ideas for things to do and places to go in Provence.

Have fun and safe travels.

Christina

gads, Peter Mayle choosing to live in a place is hardly a recommendation, that would make me run. Sorry, I disagree, I don't think Lourmarin is a good location at all for those plans. It isn't central and there are mountains and hairpin turns that make driving more of a challenge (at least to get to parts of the Luberon), at least at night but I guess that wouldn't matter so much if you stayed there for dinner. It is not at all what I would suggest as a base to take day trips to Avignon and Arles, etc., not to mention Marseille and Cassis, are you kidding. It is flat right around Lourmarin but I still think it is not a convenient or central location and it is over the mountain from Bonnieux.

Alan_CT

We stayed in tiny Vaugines last trip. Was told Peter Mayle had moved there to get away from the "fans" who continued to track him down in Lourmarin.

drkathej

We stayed in St. Remy for a few nights. We went to the Castellet des Alpilles--it is reasonably priced, centrally located and has a nice garden.
We loved the bistrot Decouverte in St. Remy for dinner.