My husband and I are traveling to France in September to celebrate our one year anniversary. We will be traveling from Barcelona to Marseille by train and hopefully renting a car in Marseille. Does anyone know how long this train ride will take and what train to take from Barcelona to Marseille? I am having trouble locating this information?
Also, once in Marseille we planned to drive to Provence and stay in Provence for a week. Can anyone recommend a reasonable apartment to rent in Provence? We would like to shop at the local markets and attempt to make this trip as authentic as possible. In essence, live like a local; rather than a tourist. From Provence, we would like to head out on day excursions to visit local villages to explore the countryside; either by car or rent a bicycle for the day. Can anyone recommend any of the local nearby villages to visit; both for beautiful foliage, and the structural wonders. Such as the ancient Roman ruins, etc... churches, buildings , etc. Can you also include guestimates in regard to distance and travel times from Provence to these small villages. Thank you, everyone for all of your help.

I am not an expert, but I stayed at the smaller of these 2 apartments in Lourmarin for 2 weeks and felt it was terrific-

http://www.rentourhomeinprovence.com/


I thought Lourmarin was a wonderful base for exploring. In fact, I highly recommend the Provence Byways guide, which contains lots of day trips based from Lourmarin. All of the maps and directions are well done and it also has some great suggestions for places to eat and wine info. I believe it was just recently updated.

http://www.provencebyways.com/

Yes I think Lourmarin would be a good base, we stayed in Buoux a tiny village and in a farmhouse, we wanted to have the rural aspect. We also looked at Roussillon and Bonnieux, Liked those areas too.

Lots of beautiful roads and laneways around the Luberon for driving or biking

We also used the Provence byways book which had some great drives. If you click on my name you can read my trip report in which I detailed a lot of our Provence touring. I absolutely loved the area.

We did longer day trips to Pont du Gard and Arles as well.

We too went Sept/Oct and had fantastic weather. I wish I was going back!

We flew into Marseilles in May, picked up our car at the airport and drove to Lourmarin. It's a beautiful village an hour away from the airport and this was our third visit. The village has everything one might want ... several good restaurants, small shops, art galleries, a chateau etc. It's also well located for visiting many of the other villages and sights in the Luberon.

We stayed in a lovely apartment about 5 minutes walk from the centre of the village. There are actually five apartments in a large (new) mas, all individually decorated and all quite comfortable and private. The website is: www.lesolivettes.com

Good luck with your plans and have a wonderful holiday. You'll love the Luberon I'm sure.

Dr. -

In reading your post, I get the impression that when you say "Provence", perhaps you are referring to the city of Aix-en-Provence ? Otherwise, your post doesn't make any sense. When you arrive in Marseille, you will already be in the region of Provence. Then you say you want to drive from "Provence" to the little villages. But the little villages are all located in the region of Provence.

So, if what you meant was that you wanted to stay in the city of Aix-en-Provence (which would be a fine choice for a week and a perfect place to live like a local, whatever that means), then go for it and perhaps repost your question asking for apartment rentals in Aix - I'm sure that will get you some good responses.

-Kevin

P.s> - I believe Spanair (low-cost Spanish airline) now flies direct from Barcelona to Marseille. This would be a much better option than the drive, which is long and possibly just as expensive.

-Kevin

The trains are slow because the fast TGV tracks are not yet complete between Barcelona-Perpignan and Perpignan-Montpellier and Montpellier-Nimes and Nimes-Marseille. Expect to take 7 to 9 hrs for the journey with several changes. Best advice : http://www.seat61.com

It is much faster by car, but international drop off fees make renting expensive.

Spanair are fast and cheaper : http://www.spanair.com/web/en-gb/Off...28_home_bcnmrs

Peter

Hi DrTaji,

Just a couple of tips to get you started. The website viamichelin.com will give you all the info you need on estimating driving distances and times as well as gas and toll costs and suggested routes. Get Michelin maps of the area (scale 1/150,000 or 1/200,000). They are loaded with info. They have icons for all kinds of touristic/historic sites (chateaux, churches, abbeys, ruins, scenic views etc.). They also highlight designated scenic roads in green.

The most famous villages in the Luberon near Lourmarin are Bonnieux, Gordes, Roussillom, Oppede and a few others. All are lovely.

Nimes and Arles have great Roman ruins (amphitheaters etc.) and also see the Pont du Gard (Roman aquaduct). Near the Pont du Gard is a lovely village called Uzes. Further north from the Luberon is Vaison la Romaine, which has great Roman ruins and a lovely old town with ancient buildings and such.

Also near the Luberon are L'Isle sur la Sorgue (famous market), the Abbey of Senanque and Fontaine de Vaucluse. You should also see Les Baux de Provence, an ancient hilltop village with a castle ruin and offering spectacular views set in a lovely natural environment.

The places I mentioned are among the most well known attractions in the area near Lourmarin, although there are certainly many others.

Something else I like to do on vacation is get lost. Look at your map and maybe pick a designated scenic road or even just some of the small white roads. Pick roads that go through lots of small villages and maybe pass by some chateaux or other attractions and see where the road takes you. Maybe try and avoid any places you've ever heard mentioned in a guidebook. Or, pick 1 or 2 known sites and mix that up with unknown places. Surprise yourself.

To find self catering accomodation I always use 2 websites: www.homelidays.com and www.abritel.fr. They always work for me. Buy a couple of guidebooks for the region too to get acquainted with the area.

You're going in September which is a great time to go since the crush of tourist season is over. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

We just returned from a trip (see our trip report May 30-Jun 17 Provence) and stayed at a wonderful place in Roussillon called Villa Quatre Saisons. You can find it on the web and at the VRBO site. Centrally located, not far to almost any of the perched villages. Plus it's a three minute walk into town. Agree that Marseille is in Provence even if Southerly, but since most visitors want to visit the small towns in the Luberon you might want to stay more northerly. I agree with FrenchMystiqueTours' comments.

Hi DT.

>how long this train ride will take and what train to take from Barcelona to Marseille?<

www.bahn.de is a very good website for train schedules all over Europe.

I just read winnick's report and saw their photos and you should give it a look too. Sounds like they did the kind of trip you are seeking.

When we do this, we take the train to Perpignan, then rent a car, since we want one to explore Provence. Renting a car in Spain and leaving it in France will incur a big drop-off fee.

Personally, I think Roussillon is worth a visit but it's a little too Disneyfied to stay in. Lourmarin is a great village, Aix is more citylike. Another option that is close to some of the best Roman sites is St. Remy.