My husband and I are renting a car from Nice and will be spending two nights in Provence before heading to a wedding in Cannes. We will be spending 3 nights in Cannes.

We have a time constraint due to the wedding but would like to make most of our 2 night stay in Provence. We enjoy long countryside drives.

We would like to see rolling hills, cliffside towns and the lavender beauty of the region. We are not too interested in museums, etc. this time around, and would rather take in the outside beauty, markets, etc., we have heard so much about.

1) Without too much investigation, we are enticed by Gordes and the Luberon region. Is this central enough? L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue? where do you suggest we stay for the two nights?

2) what are the top 10 things to be sure we do not miss while in Provence?

Hi S,

Provence is a lovely place to visit.

It's about 3 hr to Gordes from Nice or Cannes.

We stayed in a lovely place in Graveson, but you might like St. Remy en Provence better.

My trip report might be useful to you:
Ira Returns From 22 Loverly Days in Europe - Sep, 2009
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-in-europe.cfm

Enjoy your visit.

We've vacationed for 16 weeks in Provence. I think if you want to take long drives & experience pretty countryside, the Luberon (Gordes) and also around Mt Ventoux & north would be good choices of places to stay. I'm not a big fan of the countryside around St Remy - the Alpillies are interesting, but I think there is more pritty countryside (canyons, Lavender fields, gorges, hill villages) in the Luberon & Mt Ventoux regions.

I have a 27 page itinerary on the Cote d'Azur & Provence that I've sent to about 1,000 people on Fodors & aol. There are many scenic drives described. If you want a copy, e-mail me at [email protected].

Stu Dudley

Check out the lovely village of Cotignac! Many wonderful villages in the vicinity too - with rolling hills and lavender. It will be closer to Nice by an hour (as compared to the Luberon) and feels like more of a secret discovery (Provence verte) though it isn't of course. We stayed in a great and elegant hotel in the middle of town, Maison Gonzagues.

Cotignac is indeed a lovely village (as is Tourtour, Lourges, & others in the area) and the region is very scenic - but it's about a 1 hr drive to get to the closest lavender fields in the Valensole plain. If you decide on this area instead of the Luberon, you could visit the Gorges du Verdun and Moustiers in conjunction with the Valensole lavender fields. This would be a good option if you want to shorten your "getting there" drive by around 1 1/2 hours each way.

There are many cute perched villages arount Cannes too. No lavender fields & not many rolling hills (more like mountains, cliffs, canyons).

Stu Dudley