Provence
 

We will be traveling to Provence in May for 8 nights.Would like to spend 4 nights in Aix or Arls and then 4 somewhere along the coast. Thinking of Cassis possibly. We will be renting a car. Which towns would be a good base for exploring the region and can anyone recommend reasonable hotels?
thanks

Depending on when in May you'll be in Provence, you might want to avoid the eastern part around Cannes because of the film festival.

Do you want to be in a city or a small town? Both Aix and Arles are large and bustling.

We would prefer to stay outside the city if possible but seem to be having a problem deciding where would be a good home base. Our departure date is May 22.

Let's narrow it down a bit. What do you want to see? Small villages, museums, major sights like the Pont du Gard, medieval towns, the calanques near Cassis, beaches? That would make a difference in where you'd want to be based.

Sorry
I wasn't very specific. I'm not very interested in seeing museums on this trip . I was in Provence a few years ago on a tour. We stayed in Avignon and Nice. I don't care to stay in as large a city this time. Loved the countryside, the Pont du Gard, and the hilltop villages. Also want to go down to the coast for a few days. Really just want a central locations.

Cassis is absolutely charming. You might like to do 2 nights there, (I think 4 is too much) then 3 nights, say, in/near Bonnieux and the rest of your time in Arles. We stayed near St Remy last year and day-tripped to all those places, but they were all very different and quite beautiful. You could also consider the Gorges du Verdon -- an area we didn't get to, but sounds wonderful.

Arles is a fair-sized city; I think you might enjoy the countryside around St-Rémy/Maussanne-les-Alpilles for 4 nights (lots of good sightseeing, including Arles) and then down near Cassis for 2 nights, finishing up with 2 nights somewhere in the Lubéron. In that way you'll get the best of both worlds: inland and coast.

Thanks for the responses. Can you recommend hotels?

What's your price range for hotels?

We'd like to stay under $150.

One possibility near St-Rémy is the 18th-century Chateau de Rousssan, a place we liked very much. It's quite informal and has pleasant, tree-shaded grounds with a little canal on which ducks and swans float. Ask for the room on the ground floor; it has a modern bath, which all the rooms do no. You could enter St-Rémy into the search enginer above; there have been recent suggestions for B&Bs in the area.

In the Lubéron, just below Gordes, is La Ferme de la Huppe, a restsored and renovated farm house that's not quite a good little hotel with an excellent restaurant. It's well located for zipping around the Lubéron villages: Gordes itself, Ménerbes, Rousillon, Oppède-le-Vieux, Lacoste, and others.

Can't help with Cassis, but try the search engine; there have been suggestions for that town too.

No, no, NOW a good little hotel! Sorry.

My wife and I were in Provence in February and spent a week in Aix and a week in the Luberon. Cassis is great. An easy day trip from Aix and worth an overnight especially if you like hiking - as you can spend 1/2 a day easily hiking through the Calanques (seaside cliffs nearby). We've never stayed overnight there, so I can't help with hotels.

In the Luberon, we stayed at Le Mas Perreal - a really pretty B&B out in the countryside just near St. Saturnin. A nice central location for sightseeing in the area. Another poster mentioned the Gorges du Verdon which we visited on a day trip from St. Saturnin - just spectacular and the nearby village of Moustier alone is worth the drive.

-Jim

Moustiers-Ste-Marie is indeed a wonderful place to visit. If you'd like to stay in the area, about 20 minutes south is the Château d'Esparron, owned by a charming young couple (he is a count and the countess hails from Scotland) who are gradually restoring the ancestral home. We had a lovely large room with a modernized bath, and breakfasts are huge. Both owners are very personable, and it's like staying at a friend's home.

Here's the web site:

http://www.provenceweb.fr/04/ukEsparron.htm