I am working on a trip to Provence for Aug 31 to Sept 9. We will arrive at CDG and train to Avignon where we will spend 2 nights and then pick up a car for the remainder of our trip. I recently read a glowing review of Le Mas Perreal on the site. I looks and sound like a wonderful place to spend our 5 nights in the area. I am a little concerned about the location though. Doesn't seem as centrally located for day trips as I might want. We stayed in an agriturismo in Tuscany very similar to this and loved it. Before I commit to the accommodation if was wondering if any of you might know of something similar you could suggest. We do not require an pool. But lovely views are a must, near a town with good restaurant choices for dinner. Thanks for your help.

That is near St Saturnin les Apt and so if you haven't been to Provence before, it probably isn't a good location for what you probably want to see. That would be a good choice for someone who'd been there before and wanted something new and knew what they were getting into. I've been to that village, not a lot there, of course, it's small.

It really depends what you want to see. That wouldn't be that bad a location if you mainly wanted to visit some of the Luberon villages, like Gordes. If you really want to visit stuff farther west (like St Remy, Les Baux, etc, let alone Arles), not so much. It's not too far from Apt, which has a good market. It's only about 25 km from Gordes or Bonnieux, for example. So maybe describe what you plan to visit would help.

And then how you plan to leave. If you plan to drive back to Avignon TGV, it's about 70 km. Not impossible, of course, you'd just have to plan for that. If you really wanted to stay there, you could revise your stay in Avignon a bit to do things over there. For example, you can easily visit Arles by train from Avignon for a day trip (or Nimes). Les Baux and St Remy are best to reach by car. If you only visited one of those, you could just do it on the day you drive to St Saturnin les Apt.

Actually, that wouldn't be a terrible plan, you'd see something different. But you may be demanding a lot by the idea of being near a town with good restaurant choices, if you want some foodie place or a big choice of restaurants. That sounds like a bigger place than St Saturnin les Apt, anyway. I'm not that picky about dining and I stay out in the country and the closest towns/villages do not have tons of restaurants, maybe one main one, and it's bigger than that place (St Saturnin les Apt). But that's okay by me. But Saint Saturnin les Apt does not have much, it has a snack bar or take-away and a pizza joint. I think it has a couple restaurants, if that's enough for you. One is L'Estrade. It is very small and simple. Anotehr is a hotel-restaurant
http://www.voyageursenprovence.fr/

There are a couple places in hotels near St Saturnin, though, you may like those, here is one in Domaine des Andeols
https://www.andeols.com/en/restaurants/
it's actually very near Mas Perreal, rather than in the village.

And Apt isn't that far away, that should be enough for a few days. Well, I don't want to talk you into staying there anyway, if you don't want to due to location.

I don't have experience in a place with terrific views that is close to a town with good restaurants. Maybe someone else does. Something around Bonnieux could work, or Gordes (which is much more touristy than St Saturnin). More expensive, of course. Here is the one more modestly priced hotel around Gordes, as far as I know.
http://www.masromarins.com/en/

Le Mas Perreal is wonderful as are the owners, Kevin and Elizabeth! They are friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and great hosts.

Our first trip to Provence, actually The Luberon, we stayed for a week at a wonderful gite, in St. Saturnin les Apts. We did many day trip to all the great places in the area. It is actually very well centered for seeing so much of the area.

Actually, since then we have spent a close to a total of 5 - 6 months in St. Sat and found/find it to be a perfect location. We abhor crowds and would never stay in any of the typical tourist towns.

Here's some specifics on St. Sat

http://www.accommodationinprovence.com/local-area/

And this will show you how well the village is located:

http://www.accommodationinprovence.com/what-to-do/

Would you consider staying a week in The Luberon with day trip to Avignon? If so, I highly recommend the above gite. Again, great hosts who are helpful, and knowledgeable.

And "L'Estrade" is an excellent restaurant with an ever changing menu and friendly owners.

(I often wonder how much knowledge is recent and first hand vs googling on posts like this - mine is absolutely first hand and recent.)

I feel it is a perfect location to explore the Luberon region. Plenty in the nearby area to fill your 5 days!

We stayed at Le Mas Perreal a few years ago and can't say enough good things about it. The owners were wonderful and the accommodations were great. We found plenty to do in the area and also found some good restaurants in nearby little towns. If you have a car and don't mind driving this is the place to be. We do not like to travel where all the tourists go so it was perfect for us.

We were there when the lavender was in bloom and we had a wonderful time finding and exploring all the fields.

We loved that area and can't wait to go back. Have fun planning.

Thanks to you all! I very much appreciate your opinions. We stayed at a similar type accommodation outside Pienza in Tuscany and found it to be great. I don't mind driving short distances for dinner each night. The days should still be long the first week of September. Not a fan of driving in the dark on strange roads. I'll think through all your remarks as I our plan takes shape.

Driving in that area is very easy. The roads are good and well marked and there is no traffic. We actually walked from La Mas Perreal up to the nearby town one night for dinner (we were given flashlights when we left). The dinner was actually pretty funny as it is one of the places that no one spoke English. The owner was pretty insistent that a dish we asked about was fish (when with my very limited French I knew if was duck). My husband ordered the "fish duck" and we laugh about it every time we think about it.

Well I would have liked to find something a little closer to St Remy. Still looking. But Le Mas Perreal looks so nice we may not be able to pass it up..

My two cents for a "central" location:

A. If you want to stay in a small town/village with many shops, restaurants, and lots of other tourists speaking English - stay in St Remy.

B. If you want to stay in the countryside surrounded by lavender & vineyards, lots of "cute little villages" (Luberon) - but still have the "buzz" from many other tourists around - stay in or near Gordes, Menerbes, Roussillon or Bonnieux.

C. If you want the same "ambience" as "B" but fewer tourists around - stay in/near Goult or St Saturnin.

According to Viamichelin, Mas Perreal is 1 hr 5 mins from Avignon. Gordes is 54 mins from Avignon.

I'm not a big fan of the area around St Remy. It is too arid for my tastes - I prefer an area with more green & purple.

Uzes in nice - but not as centrally located as above, IMO.

Stu Dudley

Goult is more central but there aren't a ton of restaurants there, either, but a couple as I recall.

I understand not wanting to drive a lot at night in an unfamiliar area, I don't either. But I go in summer, so it stays light pretty late and thus it isn't a super big issue for me, as I tend to be back at the hotel by about 9. Otherwise, the place I usually stay outside Pernes-les-Fontaines is on a main road and I know the area fairly well, so coming back after dinner is mainly going up a main road, or a short distance. Unfortunately, he nights aren't that long in September in that area, the sun sets around 8 pm in early September. you'd have to eat very very early (not possible in some restaurants to eat at 6 pm) to be back by then. In mid-July when I have gone, the sun sets around 9:15.

I agree with Stu's categories. I do not understand the attraction of St Remy myself, but there are so many people that that obviously a lot of people like it. it will have plenty of restaurants.

>>Goult is more central but there aren't a ton of restaurants there, either, but a couple as I recall.<<

There are two that are quite nice and are recommended in the Michelin Red Guide (we've dined at both - and one of them several times). And two others that look nice - but we have not dined at either. On Sunday lunch, there is a cafe that kinda takes over most of the main street in town - and is very popular (we've dined there also).

Stu Dudley

Thanks Stu and Christina! I'm doing some research and I'm sure to have more questions.

We spent five nights at Le Mas Perreal last year, early June. It was our first trip to Provence. We loved it, cannot say nice enough things about about the property and the hosts, all covered above. The cherries were ripe on the trees, and lucky for us, lavendar was in bloom. We had some ambitious plans for touring but after the first day gave ourselves over to ennui and mainly explored the smaller towns not that far away. Would go back in a heartbeat.