My friend and I may be travelling to Provence in April. I understand we will need a car to get around this region. I don't drive at all, and she would rather not, so we were thinking of hiring a driver for the trip (which will be about 4 or 5 days). Does anyone have any experience with this? I've hired drivers for shopping trips in nyc (where i live..with all the bags it's easiest for me to get around and to staten island where i live with a hired car).

We would pretty much want an all day, on call driver (not 24 hours, of course. just daytime hours). What would you suggest? yes, we know this will cost a fortune, but neither of us are really on a budget.

Most of the major car-rental agencies offer cars with drivers; so start there.

driving in Provence is sooooooo easy, are you sure you won't reconsider?

We just returned from Provence, and although the toll roads are very nice, driving in these little villages were indeed a challenge! They mostly have tiny streets and just trying to navigate them was interesting...if I had the money, I would opt for the driver!

I'll try to talk my friend into it--I don't really have an option at all, seeing as I don't even have a drivers license! (spoiled new york here..)

Personally, I think if we get a little lost it'd be a little fun, so it really doesn't matter to me either way! We both have a horrid sense of direction, but, well..even Patsy and Edina on AbFab drove through Provence! I just told her I'd try to find out about pricing.

Hmmm...my own reaction to driving in Provence is just the opposite of dmkujat's - I loathe the autoroutes, love the D roads! It's pretty hard to get lost - everything is signed so well, and if worse comes to worst, you just follow the Centre Ville signs and start over again.

It depends where you want to go, but I agree that driving there can be a problem and not enjoyable. Getting truly lost is not fun at all, as it's happened to me (driving in cities), and not because I can't read a map. I think it isn't helpful for people to tell someone it is SO easy to drive in Provence, and try to force people to do it who don't want to and aren't comfortable with it.

If you just stay in small villages and go between them, it is easy, it's the cities that can be difficult -- not only to find your way around, but for parking (ie, Orange, Aix, Avignon, etc.). If you can afford it (and the parking, car rental, gas, etc would add up, anyway) and find someone, I think it's a fine idea. It may not even cost a fortune, exactly, I imagine some local private drivers would be happy to do that kind of thing.

Driving in Provence is certainly not easy, in my opinion, and if a driver is an option, definitely hire one.

Good luck!

My husband is our designated driver, and I think he would absolutely love to be driven around for a change so that he could enjoy the scenery instead of worrying about the driving.

I posted that too soon -- I was going to say that I don't know of any, but think the best idea is to ask the staff at your hotel about this. I think if you are staying at a good 3 or 4* hotel, they should be able to know of someone reliable or whom they have experience with, or is local. I found a few names in the Yellow Pages, but wouldn't know if they'd be reliable or not. There weren't as many as I thought, only a couple in Avignon and a couple in Aix.

Here is one company advertised, AT Tour Azur www.tourazur.com

Now they are pretty expensive, around 500 euro a day for car and driver if you stay in their region. They also seem to offer individual tours from some places, like Aix, at reasonable rates. I'm not sure what that is, as it looks like a standard itinerary and maybe a van (some itineraries look good), so many you do get your own driver and van but they have a standard route? You could check that out, as I think an alternative for you could be to use the train or some of those type van day trips for many places, and then only use a driver for a day or two when you just wanted the countryside.

The car rental thing sounds good if they do that, but I do think your hotel might be best reference on this.

thanks for all the replies! i actually had no idea that most major car rentel agencies offer cars with drivers..i will look into that and price it against local private drivers (which i have a hunch might be more negotiable, but we shall see!)

I'm excited. I've been to France twice, both times to Paris, and would love to see more of this country. Im semi-fluent in French, but just started studying the language again and should be well prepared by the time April rolls (roles?) around. can't wait..I'm going to pick up a guidebook on my way home tonight.

maybe it's just me (and St. Cirq) but I think driving in France is at least as easy as in the US - and in some cases easier - it's certainly extremely well signed!

either way you will have a great time.