One night in Aix: stay in town or outside?
 

My husband and I will be driving from St. Remy to Nice in early April and plan to spend 1 night and day in Aix. We've got reservations at both the Hotel Cezanne in the city and also at Le Mas d'Entremont just outside the city, and need to decide which would be preferable.

We are 58/61, like sightseeing, art, history, shopping (me), eating simply but well. Don't care about nightlife other than an evening stroll. Advice, please!

I stayed at the Mas d'Entremont and just loved it, one of my favorite places in France. They have a very good restaurant, also, lots of folks in the neighborhood come there for dinner. Haven't stayed in the Cezanne but know where it is, but can't comment on the hotel itself.

Without a comparison for the hotel, I really think you just have to decide if you want to be in the city or not. If you really plan to spend all your time in Aix and stroll around in the evening, I'd stay at the Cezanne (assuming you have the parking situation in hand there).

I stayed at the Mas d'Entremont because it was a base for several days in the area when I wanted to be driving around a lot, although I visited Aix proper for one day. But I mainly wanted a place outside the city for driving ease. I actually got lost driving from MRS to the Mas d'Entremont even though I had a map because it was hard to figure out how to get from one side of Aix to the other, some streets were one way or I coldn't find the right exit to the main highway or something. I did find it eventually but with a lot of help. You may not have that problem, of course. Once I figured it out, I could figure out how to get in and out of the city most easily.

It is easy to find coming from the west, though, it's right off that N7, I think, and has signs that are clearly marked.

Stay in Aix. For only 1 night, you're not going to see much of the hotel anyway.

Stu Dudley

Agree with Stu.

Stu and danon, what is the parking situation in town? It is made to sound very gnarly- but my husband is an intrepid driver so I can't imagine it's TOO horrible...yes? no? My thought in staying outside of town was primarily due to the parking scenario painted by some.

We've driven into Aix perhaps a dozen times - often just for the morning market. We've never found it difficult to park. There are lots of parking lots throughout the city. When we stayed there overnight last June, our hotel had a nice garage. We stayed at the St Christopher, and if you have a Michelin Red Guide, the garage is accessed via the small one-way street just behind the main street-side entrance to the hotel. The Hotel Cezanne is just down the street from this small one-way street, and very close to the train station - which has a large parking lot.

Stu Dudley

I think we stayed at Cezanne ( it was 5 years ago) but parked in a public garage not far from the hotel.
Aix is very walkable. We were there for 24 hours .

I am also in the process of planning for a trip in Provence and really the look of Pavillon de Torse, just outside Aix but walking distance so they say. Beautiful property with lovely views so it might be the best of both worlds. Have a look.

>>walking distance so they say<<

Who says??? the proprietor???

Aix has some ugly urban sprawl - find out how far a walk it is to the Cours Mirabeau.

Stu Dudley

Pavillon de Torse is about a 15 minute easy walk to the Cours Mirabeau. I really enjoyed my stay there and highly recommend it. Plenty of free parking, too.

Good to know More Please that my research was correct. It is always good to get a personal recommendation, isnt it?

Aix is a decent-sized city, so you can't easily just park on the street that much (at least not in the central area), so you have to find a parking garage). They seem to have enough, but it would be useful for you to have a map with them marked on them (or some information before you go). I have had trouble finding spots in Aix, absolutely, it can get very busy at times, and the main ones get full (such as the one on Victor Hugo, I think, near place de la Liberation). If I were staying at a hotel with a car, I'd find out from the hotel itself what they suggest or what they provide. I wouldn't just drive into Aix with no idea what I was going to do and not know if the hotel provided parking. I had to park in one near the gare routiere once as the one on Victor Hugo was full, so that was a bit farther of a walk to most things (not more than a half mile), but I knew where it was and where to look for lots.

Lots of hotels claim they are walking distance to town, you have to find out what that means. Obviously, 10 miles could be walking distance. Don't accept how far a walk it is, find out the exact distance in km.