We will be in Provence for four days in early Oct. Our focus there will be to drive through the area and enjoy the small villages and scenery. We are thinking of spending one day in either Cassis touring the callanques or in the city of Aix which is much closer to our base in St Remy. However, after Provence we will be heading to Nice. So does it make sense to drive to Nice via Cassis? I'm never sure of the time and distance when planning a trip. Thanking you in advance for your opinions.

In October, I'd make the decision last minute based on weather and wind predictions. I'm assuming you mean a boat tour of the callanques, which would be much more comfortable in milder, calmer weather.

If you see Cassis from St Remy, see Aix on the way to Nice. If weather forecast looks OK for seeing Cassis on the way to Nice, Aix can be a day trip from St. Remy.

<<I'm never sure of the time and distance when planning a trip.>>

That's what maps are for, as long as you understand scale. You can also use sites like viamichelin.com and mappy.com.

Agree with Judy - decide based on the weather.

Try using the website www.viamichelin.com to determine driving distances and times. You can plug in your start point and destination and get a good gauge on practicality of your driving ideas.

With only four days (have you visited Provence previously?), I would not try to drive to Cassis from St Remy--its a fairly long day of driving. There are plenty of options in all directions from St Remy--a very good base.

Cassis is a small town on the Med. Pretty much the only thing to do there is the boat trip to the calanques. Aix is a small city with a university, so there's plenty of activity out of the tourist season. Both are best seen in sunny warm weather. But Aix has a number of museums including Cezanne's studio and a cathedral so it would offer more if the weather doesn't cooperate.

Hubs and I based in Aix and took a day-tour from our hotel to Cassis. It included a boat trip to see the calanques. At the time, we found Cassis to be a really sweet town. We were there on a market day and that added to the flavor. Agree with Mimar above.

If you are interested in Cezanne, do go to Aix-his atelier is very interesting and the area around city hall has many eateries; If you want a lovely seaside town, Cassis.

Appreciate your input and good advise. Thank you