Hi All,
We will be meeting/ travelling with our 30 yr old daughter starting Friday 5th July and returning to Barcelona on 18 th for her flight back to Sydney
My husband and I will be sailing from around Marseilles up to Genoa this summer, having sailed from Portugal to Barcelona over the last 2 years

My daughter’s flight gets in at around 7 am so we figure we will see her around 8:30 and head to Figueres for lunch and a look around and then drive to Narbonne, France to spend the night and have a little wander around the next morning and then head off again.

I have booked the Hotel C in Narbonne and an apartment in Nice for 7 nights, ( near the Old Town), but I need advice as to where might be a good spot to spend another night in between so we aren’t rushing to Nice from Narbonne
(Also, any good long term parking in case we don’t use the vehicle every day)

The halfway point from Narbonne to Nice Is Marseille, but we aren’t keen on that, being a big port city, and would prefer something like Aix
Once in Nice, we will drive or use public transport and visit places like Monaco and Menton… just play the coastal places by ear, but if anyone has suggestions for pretty coastal places, please chime in! 😊We will also try yo fit in inland places like Vence and other villages

After spending 7 nights in Nice, we will start our journey back to Barcelona on the 14th and I’m looking for another 3-4 day base so we can see Avignon etc
I’m considering Avignon or Arles or Nimes and I’ve read suggestions for St Remy and L’isle …
Anyone worked out a good spot to stay and do day trips?
An apartment would be good

We don’t usually visit museums or galleries
We done drink so we don’t visit wineries and, whilst we like good food, we are not foodies
We have travelled extensively and gravitate towards simple things like walking the Old Town and promenades and browsing ( markets and small boutiques), preferring smaller towns to stay in (but not villages) with good access to main roads so we can get out easily for day trips

Don’t really want to climb a million stairs to hilltop accommodation, either ( that wasn’t fun when we stayed at Peniscola, Spain last year with our baggage&#128553 and parking would be great, but we are also adept at finding parking and walking

We have seen a lot of the Med on past trips so we are keen to see things off the beaten track, as well

On the way back, I’d like to be in Barcelona at an airport hotel by the night of yhe 18th
We stayed in Barcelona last year so we won’t be going into the city
Im hoping we can visit / stay in Carcassonne on the night of the 17th and spend the 18th taking our time to get down to Barcelona
My husband and I did see some of the Costa Brava last year and my daughter and I did a day trip to Girona, as well, but it might be nice to head down the coast to Barcelona, as long as there are no wildfires like last year and we had to go back and start the inland route back to Barcelona

I’d be very grateful for any suggestions as to the duration of stay in Nice and around Avignon, any apartments or family room hotels ( mid-price range of around 200 euros a night) and any way to organise the day trips from any of these bases
Also, if there’s a better place to stay near Carcassonne or just try to get accommodation right in town
I know it’s popular!
Thanking you in advance!

En route from Narbonne to Nice, hop off the A9 just after Montpellier and head for Aigues-Mortes, the mini-Carcassonne. Overnight in Grau du Roi maybe.

Aix is lovely and you do have time to get into town (I think Hotel Cardinal has parking) and stroll around. Or if cost is no object, stay at Château Lacoste and enjoy the sculpture garden. Lavender might still be around, you never know.

Coming back, perhaps Pernes-les-Fontaines for easy car access as a base, putting the Luberon, Vaison-la-Romaine and Avignon in reach. Or further west Uzčs with access to Nîmes, Pont du Gard and Avignon.

I am sorry you will just miss the grand medieval festival in Cordes - sur-Ciel on your way back. It's always around Bastille Day and is good fun.

Not far from Carcassonne is Mirepoix, with photogenic squares surrounded by half-timbered houses, and many decent options for lodging and meals.

Thank you for your fulsome reply!
Will check out these places mentioned on YouTube
I’m hoping to see lavender … missed it in Croatia long time ago
I wonder if you do have to do a tour, though
Never really keen on tours …

Looking at lavender from your car is free. It should be possible to inform yourselves when you arrive in Aix (or thereabouts) on what’s blooming where, and choose your route towards Nice accordingly. I think it’s a safer bet earlier in July than later, but climate change makes prediction a mug’s game.

https://routes-lavande.com/en/the-fl...-the-lavender/

https://routes-lavande.com/en/the-ro...83374,44.53567

May e you are interested in the prehistoric paintings of Grotte de Chauvet
https://en.grottechauvet2ardeche.com/
or in the castle of Salses, south of Narbonne.

We spent a night in Arles a few years ago and wished we could have stayed longer

I don't care for Nice much. If you prefer smaller town to cities, then I don't understand staying 7 days in Nice.

I adore Aix.

thank you!
I was hoping there’d be lots of lavender spreading uncoralled!

I too love Aix, would never miss a chance to visit! It is like stepping inside an Impressionist painting. Great food too.

We stayed several days in Arles and did day trips to Les Baux and Avignon. Both were easy and short travel times, but wish we had gone to Uzes instead or visited Avignon and Les Baux the same day so we had a day for Uzes.

We enjoyed Arles because we had a little house and found nice bakeries, markets, etc.

That being said, our favorite place besides Aix is Aigues Mortes. It is actually one of our favorite places we have ever stayed. In the day, it is filled with tourists, but at night it becomes gloriously quiet and mysterious. Having dinner in St Louis Square in darkness is magical: a musician, a huge fountain, plants, interesting food, We stayed inside the walls. The history of the place is super interesting. Read about it, amazing. The whole Camargue is lovely. I dream of returning. The only heads up would be mosquitoes in Summer. We were lucky and never saw a one in Fall, but have read they can be bad at times.

We have also been to Carcassonne, but not at night. It has kind of a movie set quality to me. It does have a great setting too. The nearby place, Mirepoix, sounds like a more authentic experience.

Funny
we were just looking at the paintings on YouTube
Are they the replica ones?
I heard the originals were being damaged so they copied them exactly in another cave ?

So many opinions the Arles!
What appealed to you?
I think it’s ideally located
We have been looking at booking a place in Isle sur la Sorgne…

The old town of Nice looks appealing but, yes, I find big towns overwhelming if we are staying for only a short period
I think the appeal of Nice is the proximity to the other coastal places of interest
Given that my husband will be sailing that coast by ourselves, I thought it might be nice for our daughter to see it by road ( too slow by sea) so she feels part of our trip, too, and we have those memories in common
Because we’ve all seen a lot of the Spanish eastern coast, I suspect it may be similar
Might be more upmarket ?
Anyway, we can wing that itinerary if we base in Nice

Aix looks lovely and we will spend time there on the way through to our inland base -Isle sur la Sorgne?

Lavendar fields end to be inland, which will lengthen travel time to Nice.

Here's geotagged one:

Instead of Ile-s-Sorgue, check out Fontaine de Vaucluse. Many great features; I could spend a couple of days there:

https://www.provenceweb.fr/e/vauclus...e/fontaine.htm

That website, BTW, has thorough yet concise descriptions of every village in Provence. It's a great resource.

We stopped in Arles to overnight on our way back to Italy by car from Spain, so just a few hours. On my blog I wrote "After a rest we go for a stroll around Arlés which grows on us little by little, the pale beige houses with big wooden shutters the colour of lavender leaves or pale olive, the occasional touch of old rose, the wide river and the plane trees now with autumn colours. Arlés also has 2 ancient stone theatres, one next to the other. The main church is unexpectedly free to visit, Gothic in style and with a curiously uneven floor." It remember thinking it was a really pleasant place (and we'd spent a couple of months seeing fantastic places) and I made a mental note to return for longer, but what with family problems and Covid, we haven't made it back yet.....