We have decided to stay four nights in one of these towns on the way to Aix from Paris. We don't really want to travel around from here as we plan to do that during our two weeks in Aix. Therefore, we'd like to be in the city, and able to explore the city by foot for four days. Do you think we should stay in Avignon or St. Remy- and does anyone have any good hotel recommendations? I've tried St. Louis, which looks great, but they don't have any availablity. Thanks!

Catherine Gaston

What is your budget? When are you going?

St-Rémy vs. Avignon is apples and oranges. Do you mean you just want to stay put in one of these places for four days and walk around? You could pretty well cover St-Rémy on foot in less than a day, so unless you're happy with retracing your steps for three more days, I'd say you're better off in Avignon.

But I guess I don't understand why you wouldn't want to stay in St-Rémy and explore from there. For one thing, it's closer from there than from Aix to most of the things one would logically assume you'd be visiting - the Pont du Gard, Glanum, Arles, the Camargue, Les Baux, etc.

What you seem to be saying is that you want to park yourself for four days in either St-Rémy or Avignon and not use that time to explore, but then you want to go to Aix and travel back to the St-Rémy/vignon area to see all the sights?

Please help explain your logic.

A lot of Fodorites recommend St.Remy (you can do a search) which is why I picked that town as my base in May. I've stayed in Avignon as a base a couple of years ago and it was really convenient to see by foot (although we did have a rental car just to explore the Provence region). I wouldn't want to drive in the city itself (narrow roads, parking can be a pain, etc...). In Avignon, we stayed at a B&B called La Banasterie (http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/bb/banasterie/gb/). It was really charming, the hosts were really nice and the location was really convenient. For my upcoming trip this May, we're staying at the Mas des Carassin in St. Remy (http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/h.../gb/index.html). This got a lot of rave reviews on Fodors and tripadvisor.com.
Avignon and St. Remy are only 30 minutes apart so I don't think you can go wrong with either location.

I spent a week in St.Remy last summer and made daytrips each day from there to Avignon, Uzes, the Camargue, Gordes, Rousillon, Sault, the Gorge de Verdon (fantastically beautiful) etc. This was an o.k. base from which to make these daytrips but I was pretty well ready to leave after a week.

As St.Cirq said, you can do St. Remy in less than a day. (much less than a day). The Wednesday market is very nice and a day exploring the town about does it. I would never stay there for 4 days without daytripping from there.

Larry J

We have stayed in St. Remy for many years. We do just what other posters like St. Cirq and Cigalechanta recommended: we take day trips to Lourmarin, Sault, Aix, Marseilles, etc.

We are past the time of frenzied travel with minute-by-minute agendas, however, and can enjoy days just having a nice salad under the chestnut trees at "Louis Planet"; shopping and dining at either the Gousse d'Ail or La Source.

We are in our 60's, have made many friends and acquaintances in St. Remy. We march in their little Bastille Day parade when we are in town; we enjoy when they run the bulls through the streets; the Wednesday market; driving under the cathedral of plane trees that goes on for five or more miles at places.

More than once tears came to our eyes as we had to leave inimitable St. Remy.

Anthony

I want to ask the same question that St Cirq is asking. Since '99, we've spent 11 weeks in "central" Provence (Avignon & surrounds) and an another 4 weeks just outside of Aix (in the Var - considered the Cote d'Azur).

It seems that you have your touring plans backwards. St Remy/Avignon is much more centrally located to the "big stuff" in Provence than Aix is. I would do my touring from St Remy, and my 4 days in 1 place in Aix, although Aix is really only a 1 day visit (been there many, many, many times). I'm not much of a fan of the area immediatly around Aix (30 mins in any direction) - compared to other regions in Provence. We're going back to the "central" Provence area for 2 more weeks in June, because after 11 weeks, we still haven't seen it all.

The Gite we stay in (4 weeks) near Aix is about 40 mins east of Aix. When we tour this area, we go east (Cotignac, Tourtour, Lorgues) or south (Cassis) - away from Aix for the prettiest sites/villages/scenic drives.

I'm assuming that you are already locked in to two weeks in Aix. I would just recommend that you use the 4 days in St Remy to tour the St Remy/Uzes/Vaison areas at that point. Use Aix as you "down time" and then tour the Luberon/Sault/Var/Cassis area from there.

On St Remy vs Avignon. Since your last stop was Paris, and your next stop is Aix, I would stay in St Remy because it's time to "throw in" a small village. Avignon is too much like Aix - you will welcome a change.

I have a 20+ page Provence itinerary that describes the Avignon & Aix areas quite thoroughly. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected].

Stu Dudley
San Mateo (San Francisco), Ca

I'm sorry that I didn't give all of the necessary information to allow all of you to help me. The reason we want to stay put for these four days is because we are traveling with our two little boys, ages 1 and 3, and we are really planning to do a very slow pace for them (which has been hard to come to terms with...). Our budget for this hotel is $100-200/night, I suppose. I think at this point, because we do want to stay put, we will stay in Avignon and just explore. Then on the way down to Aix, we'll stop into St. Remy and then hopefully revisit while we are in Aix. So, any hotel suggestions in Avignon would be greatly appreciated! I have checked out Mercure Palais des Papes, which seems kid-friendly, but also nothing too special... I tried Hotel Cloitre St-Louis, which seems lovely, but they have no availability. I'd like somewhere within the walls. Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your help! Catherine

Oh, I just read Stu's message. I wish I had known all of that earlier, because, yes, I am locked into Aix. But the good news is we are staying in a gite in Eguilles, so we are outside of Aix, and plan to spend plenty of time both staying at our gite, which has a pool and cute village, and also exploring the areas you mentioned.

I would suggest you check out the Hotel Bristol on the main street leading from the train station -- Jean Jaures. It's a nice 3* hotel and across the street from a small park, which would be nice. It's a good location in-between the main square and palace and the train station. Rooms are quite reasonable, around 100 euro or so, and it has AC and modern amenities. I don't know how child friendly, but it has an elevator and cribs/cots.

You can see it on www.venere.com for one place, but some others. I think they have their own website but I can't find it now.