Accomodations in Arles or Avignon
 

My wife and I will be in Provence for 4 nights in the end of May. We are trying to decide whether to stay in Arles or Avignon and are looking for suggestions on places to stay.

<BR>We recently stayed in Avignon at the Cloitre St. Louis. Very nice, very quiet, breakfast room overlooking the courtyard. Great dinners in Avignon at Maitre Kanter (oysters & wonderful grilled leg of lamb), Le Lutrin (in the hotel Palais du Papes), and a fabulous meal at Christian Etienne. Avignon was a great base for exploring other parts of Provence. If you want to see Arles, it's an easy 20 minute train ride from Avignon, and the train station is an easy walk from Cloitre St. Louis. <BR> <BR>Have a great trip! <BR> <BR>Me

Last summer we stayed in Avignon and day-tripped to Arles. I liked Arles much better than Avignon, and wished we had reversed the plan. Just my opinion.

We just returned after a stay in Le Ponte, five minutes outside Avignon. Stayed at Auberge de Cassagne. Beautiful place, BIG, gorgeous rooms and baths, elegant, pricey restaurant, but rooms were less than half-price in Feb. Some construction going on too, but it didn't intrude. Also, some roadwork in Le Ponte, and a bit of suburban feel. We didn't stay in Arles, but visited and liked it. Like a smaller Avignon.

We used Arles as our base and were very pleased. We stayed at the Hotel du Forum. The town is very pedestrian friendly and contains many worthwhile sites. Finding a new resturant each night was lots of fun, and nothing was more than a ten minute walk from the room. We visited Avignon and found it much more metropolitan, lacking the warmth of Arles.

When I stayed in Arles years ago, I stayed at the hotel D'Arlatan, 26 rue du Sauvage, and loved it. It is in the center of town, and there is a parking garage available. The hotel occupies a former private mansion, part of which dates from the 12th century. <BR> <BR>In Avignon I stayed at the hotel d'Europe. At that time I found it to be convenient, very pretty, relatively simple for "one of the best places in town". Pretty terrace to have breakfast or a drink. <BR> <BR>You could spend a day or two in each place as the train is easy. <BR>Avignon is larger, has more <BR>"official" sightseeing like <BR>the Papal Palace, Natural History museum, a train that goes around the city,etc <BR>Grands Bateaux de Provence offers boat trips along the Rhone, ranging from short jaunts, to lunch and dinner cruises, to an excursion to Arles. Phone 33 4 90 85 62 25 <BR>Arles is smaller as has been said,but <BR>has a Roman ampitheatere, ancient cemetery, and lots of places named for Vincent Van Gogh. <BR>

The Hôtel d'Arlatan is an excellent choice - beautiful, historic, and though it's peaceful inside, it's location is central to all the things you'll want to visit.

We used Arles as our base and liked it much better than Avignon. Arles was small and had a great expensive restaurant near the small museum near the ruins of the Roman bath house. We stayed at a tiny, no lift, hotel called the Museum. It was located not far from all the ruins and was easy to walk to the railstation. I think it may have been only two stars but it was priced right and had a neat garden.

I'm so happy to read all these posts, because I've made reservations at the Hotel d'Arlatan for next month. I found it on the web and it sounded great. It's also very reasonable - 865 FF for a junior suite. Many people who've stayed there said how wonderful it was. I'm also glad to know that Arles is such a pedestrian friendly place.