My friends and I will be based in either Arles of Nimes for 4 or 5 days in early June. We will be traveling by train through Europe for most of our trip. How easy is it to get from Arles/Nimes to the sights in Provence. i.e. Pont de Gard, Abbaye de Senanque, Gordes, St. Remy, Orange, and Cassis? Are there trains that go to all of these sites? and if so, are they included in a Eurail pass? Any info would be much appreciated!!! THANKS!

I think most people here will tell you to rent a car (for a week, since weekly rates are much cheaper than daily). Even if you could take trains around all these villages in Provence (which I think is impossible), you'd save lots of time and money sharing a car. And driving isn't hard with a good map!

The closest train station to the Luberon is either Carpentras or l'Isle sur la Sorgue. Not many trains per day, however. You need to take some other transportation to get to Senanque, Gordes, Bonnieux, etc from the station. Not sure there is any public transportation to Senanque (except a "tour bus&quot

There is no train station in Uzes, so you need some other means to get to Pont du Gard. I think there is a station in Orange, but Orange would not be on my itinerary for a 4 day trip.

There is no station in St Remy, but probably a bus from Arles.

I have never taken a bus in this area, so I don't know how inconvenient they are. I've looked at a schedule, and the service is limited enough, IMO, to really have an effect on what you can see in a day. That area, is best seen by car. The reason we return most years (will be there 2 weeks in June), is the beautiful countryside - especially in the Luberon valley, around Sault, Mt Ventoux region, and the Dentelles area. These places are best seen by car.

Stu Dudley

What is the best company to rent a car from in Arles or Avignon? Any idea on price for 5 days?

Contact AutoEurope - they are a broker in the US. Do a search on "AutoEurope" and you will find dozens of threads about their services.

www.AutoEurope.com

Use their site to select a car & get a ballpark idea of price, but call them to reserve a car.

Stu Dudley

It is much more inexpensive when you book your car rental from the states.
Diesel is also less expensive as is a shift car(better for conrol on steep roads. A small car is best for going into villages.
We made our first mistake years ago thinking gazole was gasoline. It's Diesel.

I always use Europe by Car (not to be confused with Europe Car) at www.europebycar.com. Always had good experiences with them.

Rent a car. It's so beautiful driving through the wonderful towns. The best time of our trip was when we thought we were lost. We saw so many things we would not have otherwise seen we decided that the navigator just took a break!

If you can rent a car, that would obviously be best, as some of these places are difficult to get to by bus, even when possible. St Remy, for example, doesn't have a very convenient bus schedule from my experience (I went from Avignon by bus to St Remy).

YOu can go by train to Orange, Cassis, Arles and Nimes, of course. A Eurail pass would cover the French railroad, if you had one. I would never buy one just for these short trips, however.

There are buses to Pont du Gard and Gordes (I don't know about the Abbaye). There are lots of excursions and buses from Avignon, that's a big center, although Nimes or Arles may have better schedules for some things. I imagine Nimes might be the best spot for a bus to Pont du Gard -- I know they have buses to Uzes, and Uzes to Pont du Gard, maybe the other way. If not, Avignon would be my next choice.