Day trips from Avignon
 

I am staying in Avignon for 5 days. Is it unrealistic to think that I can visit the following places: Arles, Gordes, Nimes, Isle Surla Sorgue, St. Remy, Cavaillon, Menerbes, Pont du Gard in this amount of time. If not, which ones should I scratch and are there others I should try. I am using trains, buses. I am hoping that I can visit maybe 2 places in a day. Of course, I want to have enough time to really enjoy Avignon too. Any help appreciated.

Yes, the Lieutard autocars, (really buses)take you on daily trips, such as Orange and Vaison one day. Pont du Gard, Nimes another, several places in the Camargue on yet another day. One day it was Saint Remy, Les Baux, Fontveille. Then the day we went to Gordes, Abbaye de Senaque and Roussilon.
The Lieutard was outside the train station when I was there that year but I think ,Sue? said it moved. I took the train to Orange one day and to the Sunday flea market in Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue.Some will join me in an update.

Thanks for the response. Besides the tour bus, is it easy to get a regular bus to some of the other towns, ie., Menerbes, Cavaillon? Do the Lieutard buses allow you time to spend much time in each place?

Barb, we didn't use the regular buses, but I understand you can get to St. Remy, for example, by bus. We did take trains to Arles and Nimes. We planned to take a bus from Nimes back to Avignon via the Pont du Gard, (info at the bus place in the back of the train station, but it was raining and we opted for the Lieutaud AM tour, They gave us plenty of time there, I thought. You can get a discount with the Avignon Pass available for free at the tourist office.

You can train to Isle-sur-la-Sorgue also.

Here are two info sites for Lieutaud. The second one is their "true" site in French, but the English version hangs up my computer.

http://www.cityguide.travel-guides.c...softheCity.asp
http://www.cars-lieutaud.fr/index2.html

You might be interested in my April/May trip report if you haven't seen it.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34422940

We stayed in Avignon 1 year ago and, truthfully, there isn't a whole lot to see and do there. Besides the Palais du Pape and its famous bridge, you can see the sites in one afternoon. With your other remaining 4 days you could spend a day in Arles (delightful city -- my favorite!) and could take the Lieutard bus out to Vaison-la-Romaine. It is a Medieval and Roman city, divided by a river running through it. They have a wonderful open market during the week with great things to eat, buy, and see.

Also, I would try to get down to Nimes. Nimes is famous for its arena, as well as a huge, wonderfully landscaped public garden and a nice look-out point in the middle to see all around.

Don't miss le Pont du Gard. That was one of the many highlights of my trip. The approach is slightly hidden by bushes and trees, but then out of the blue the imposing edifice is right in front of you. I spent an entire afternoon there soaking up the sun, history, and environs.

Enjoy your time in this most beautiful area of France - Provence!

Great trip report! - thanks, - I'm going to print it out. Glad to hear I can get to some of these towns by public transport. I know a car would be great, but as a solo traveler, it makes more sense to me to not drive.

The Lieutard Autocars Tour company has moved to the west side of Central Station, at the same building of Grand Hotel.

During weekdays, it is possible to visit most places by regular bus/train; however the bus schedules are quite limited,either depart quite early or middle of the day.

Please make sure check the bus timetables at the bus station(next to Central Station). Some of those handed out by Tourist Infomation Centre could be quite outdated.

Thanks, Judy. I meant to tell Barb that the Lieutaud office is now in the Avignon Grand Hotel (outside entrance), a half a block from the station, to the left if you are leaving it, to the right if you are approaching it.

I have never had a car when I travel, I opt to go via train (80% of the time) and then via bus where necessitated. Access to Vaison-la-Romaine, Pont du Gard, St. Remy-de-Provence, etc need a bus. When I was in Nimes, I took a train eastbound to Tarascon (where the traditional Provence cloth is made -- as brought over from India as madras centuries ago), then caught a local bus from the station (infrequent schedule) out to St. Remy-de-Provence for the day. I ended up "splurging" and took a taxi back to the train station. Nimes has a lot of local buses going out to Pont du Gard. They don't drop you too close to the bridge, you have to walk a bit, then you see it. Re: Orange, I took a train down there, it is amazing where the SCNF trains go -- check out their website, you'd be amazed! I print out all the city pairs that I want to see in advance and take the print-outs with me so prepared to buy my ticket when there. It works out great and saves time.