Base for four nights in Provence
 

As part of a two-week trip, a friend and I are tentatively planning to spend four nights (three full days) in Provence. Provence has been on my "list" for awhile, but more as a vague region rather than specific towns, and I'm wondering where would be the best place to base ourselves. I'm thinking of seeing places like Aix, Avignon, and smaller towns still to be researched.

We'll be flying in from London and flying out to Barcelona, I was thinking to/from Marseille? And then renting a car from there (since it seems like seeing the area via public transport is tough). I've read that you can't drive in the center of Aix, so perhaps not the best choice for a base?

I know three days is not long, but it's what we have. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

If you'll have a car, I suggest not basing in a big town/small city such as Aix, but rather finding somewhere in or near one of the smaller towns or villages, where parking is free and easy and where you don't have to navigate through a city to get to and from your hotel eacch night. Also, while Aix is my favorite small city <i>in the world</i>, it isn't centrally located for most of the areas you will want to see. St-Remy is a good pick, within easy reach of Arles, Avignon, Les Baux, and the Luberon (a gorgeous rural area east of Avignon which should not be missed - it's the Provence of your imaginings), among other places. St-Remy is a worthy place in its own right, too.

Do try to hit up a farmers market one morning. There's one somewhere every day of the week. They are great places to pick up a picnic, as well as being very typical of the area.

St Remy is a good choice if you would like to visit the Camargue and some of the perche villages. A small car is needed. These are in the Alpilles, The Luberon has lovely places like Lourmarin, both areas are the true Provence.
Be sure to try the local wines and cheeses.
We had no trouble driving in Aix but parking is a problem. Lucky for us, our hotel had it's own parking parc as did ours in St Remy

artsnletters, that is so helpful - thank you!! I had forgotten to mention St-Remy in my original post, and you confirmed what I was gathering about Aix. Sounds like it will be best to stay somewhere else and make sure to include it in our wanderings one day!

We'd love to use public transport if it's practical, but from what I've read so far, it seems like that would really limit what we could see, given our short time (and maybe regardless). Am I right on that?

cigalechanta, we were posting at the same time - thank you as well! That is fantastic information. I appreciate it so much!

Also Uzes is a lovely place to visit with a wonderful Saturday market. Stop there for lunch when you visit the Pont du Gard

Using public transportation will restrict you to the larger towns of Provence. Many of the most charming places (the Luberon, for example) can only be toured by car - bus service is <i>very</i> infrequent. The other alternative is to stay in Avignon, from where a number of day bus-tours depart. But I would recommend renting a car.

That's what I was thinking, arts, and I appreciate the confirmation! And cigalechanta, Uzes sounds like a great idea. Time to start looking for lodging and digging into guidebooks, I think!

I agree with the others - get a car & use St Remy or somewhere in the Luberon as a base.

We love Uzes, but I would not go there on market day (Sat & Wed) when all the market stuff hides/interferes with all the wonderful arcades around the Place aux Herbes.

Do you have my 27 page Provence itinerary. I've sent it to over 3,000 people on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

Stu, I just sent you an email. Thank you so much!

Stu, does the market close in the afternoon & then you could see the area around Place aux Herbes?

What is your favorite market in Provence?

Yep - everything gets hosed down and cleaned up by 3 PM.

The Sunday l'Isle sur as Sorgue market is the most popular because it is huge, and has antiques too. Friday's Carpentras market is nice also - as is Apt's Sat market.

Stu Dudley

One more transit question: Marseille looks closest to everything we want to see, but I only see one flight from London (easyJet) that isn't multiple hundreds of dollars, leaving at 8am from Gatwick. There are many more flight options to Nice. Would it be worth the extra drive time for a better flight schedule? Or would you all just suck up the early morning and go to Marseille?

Another consideration would be whether it would cost much extra to pick up the car in Nice and drop it off in Marseille. There's a direct flight from Marseille to Barcelona leaving at noon, so that's no big deal - it's just getting there from London I'm wondering about.

There shouldn't be a drop-off fee if you pick up a car in Nice and return it somewhere else in France. However, I'd be inclined to fly into Nice, get the car, and drive right off on the nearby motorway to the area around Avignon. That's your best choice for a base, possibly in Maussanne-les-Alpilles, St-Remy, or even Paradou. Then return the car in Avignon.

Drop -ff fees

I'm starting to encounter them with Hertz. Contact Kemwel and they'll steer you to Europcar - which doesn't seem to have drop-off fees - yet.

Stu Dudley

Thanks for the confirmation re: rental cars!

I'm back with one more transit question. It just occurred to me that we could take the Eurostar and continue to Avignon from there by train, rather than with flying. It looks like it would be a bit more expensive, but our cheapest flight option is Ryanair and I would love to not deal with that! Would that just be complicating our lives way too much? I know if we took the Eurostar to Paris we'd have to take the RER from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon.