In March my husband and I are visiting my daughter who's living in Marseille. From Marseille we will rent a car and drive to the Luberon region and are looking for a place to stay. We are considering L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Bonnieux, Gordes, or Les Baux de Provence. I was hoping to rent an apartment in one of these towns (or similar town), but just for 4 nights, rather than the usual week, making it harder to find an apartment. We like to be in town so we can walk to shops and cafés, and apartments usually save us money compared to staying in a B&B. We are also open to staying in a B&B, but with our adult daughter we usually need 2 rooms.

We are looking forward to seeing charming towns and markets, but also like hiking and impressive scenery. We could also save the outdoorsy activities for when we go back to Marseille for 5 days and make day trips from there.

Any suggestions for lodging and town?

Le Baux is not in the Luberon.

Also consider Goult, Menerbes, Roussillon, and St Saturnin les Apt in the Luberon.

We stay in Gites (7 night minimum) so I can't help you with specific accommodations - except you had better hurry if your trip is this year.

Stu Dudley

In high season most places make you rent for a week but in March at east some places should be flexible on your length of stay.

There are many websites where you can search for self-catering accommodation in France. The three that I always use are:

www.gites-de-france.com
www.abritel.fr
http://www.homelidays.co.uk/

Here are links to several more:

http://www.gite.com/holiday-homes/index.php
http://www.fleursdesoleil.fr/
http://gitelink.com/
http://www.french-country-cottages.co.uk/
www.clevacances.com
www.holiday-rentals.co.uk
www.frenchconnections.co.uk
www.papvacances.com
www.cheznous.com
www.vacationinfrance.com
www.francelodge.com
www.vrbo.com
www.ownersdirect.co.uk
www.sawdays.co.uk
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/
www.cottages4you.co.uk
http://www.french-guesthouse.com/
http://www.logishotels.com/en.html

We are staying outside of Gordes in May at this B&B
http://www.lesterrassesdesoubeyran.c...tos-et-videos/

Pascal is very helpful and communicates very well in English

Mary

Have a look at Le Mas Perréal, a good B&B owned by one of the most helpful contributors on this site.

Les Baux is mainly a tourist attraction, up on a hill, I don't know why you would want to stay there. Yes, there are a few people who live up there and run the shops, etc., but I think it's a bad choice.

Bonnieux is very small, a crook in the road, mainly, but if you find some place to rent, it most likely will be in the general area, not in the middle of the village, and you'll have to drive to go there to eat. A lot of vacation rentals are out in the country. Parking isn't great in BOnnieux, either, as you can't really park along the main road, as I recall, you have to park in lots on the edges. But it's a better idea than Les Baux. A lot of these places are really not going to be cheap, you've picked some expensive areas (eg, Gordes and Bonnieux), so if the goal was to save money over a B&B, that may be a challenge.

I found one, a place in center of Bonnieux that will take only 4 nights http://www.vrbo.com/255731

That isn't bad, actually.

We stayed in a room at Le Mas Perreal that had a small room attached with a double bed in it. It was a wonderful B&B in a great location. Highly recommend as it is easy driving to all the towns nearby.

Thank you for all the suggestions! We finally decided on an apartment In L'Isle Sur la Sorgue that would let us rent for 4 nights. It looks charming and it's right in town. I also found an apartment in Marseille through Homelidays that is just what we're looking for.

I'm having a little more trouble finding a place in Porquerolles, in case anyone has suggestions!