Marseille or Avignon
 

I will be in Paris for 2 weeks this summer and want to head down to either Marseille or Avignon for 4 days - any recommendations on which city would be better - I've been to Paris lots, but never to Provence (want to do it all by train, so I need to stick to major points).<BR>Thanks.

I started a reply then realized that you want to do it all by train; to my knowledge, it would be difficult/impossible to see the beautiful little villages of Provence and much of the charm of the area w/o a car.

It is possible to visit small towns and villages in Provence by buses. With Avignon as a base, there are good bus network .I have done it twice, each times 10 days, but there are still many places I haven't visited.

Marseille - - once the scorned "Cleveland" of Europe - - is allegedly undergoing a bit of a renaissance as a new destination to discover. It got a restaurant write-up at www.nytimes.com just this fall - - http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/travel/14TAB.html - - in case you want to consider it.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Definately Avignon. I don't drive and outside the train station are these day tour buses where for the first time I visited les Baux, Gordes, Fontveille,and the Camargue. I also took the train to Orange and a few other places. There are also boats to take trips.

Avignon for sure if you want more of a Provence experience. There is plenty you can see without a car, especially since you are only going for 4 days and haven't been there before. Avignon has good public transportation connections (bus and train) to lots of places and is an interesting city in itself. I have only been through Marseille and it may be the new in-place for avant-garde something (music) but it's a different atmosphere and culture -- really a port city with good seafood and a colorful history, lots of transients and immigrants for a variety of reasons due to its position and economy. It's not as near things you probably will want to see as part of a Provence visit.