Provence for 5 days - how's this?
 

Hi,

I am planning a trip to Provence and my itinerary is as follows:


Day 1: Gordes, Rousillon & Les Baux (if time allows)

Day 2: St Remy & Chateauneuf-du-pape

Day 3: Uzes & Avignon

Day 4: Carpentras, Sault, Sisteron, Folcalquir

Day 5: Bonnieux, Lacoste, Menerbes

Any comments/ or advice on whether this itinerary works? I am thinking of taking a TGV from Paris to Provence and back again. How much is a return ticket?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Where are you basing yourself for this? Or does the last-named place each day indicate where you'll spend the night? If not, there are some unusual groupings. For example it is surprising to ee St Remy and Les Baux appear on different days, unless you were overnighting at one and visiting the other first thing next morning. Is that what you intended?
A good itinerary otherwise, and if you can fit in Venasque (between Gordes & Carpentras), Goult (between Gordes & Rousillon) and Simian-la-Rotonde (between Folcalquir & Bonnieux), so much the better.
Hope it goes enjoyably for you.

Gordes on Day 1 and Bonnieux etc (10 miles away) on Day 5... ditto re St Remy and Les Baux, as noted above.

I am unclear on your strategy, if you want to maximize what you can see.

Is this post on the level?

You must like driving back & forth a lot. The day 2 & 3 route is not along scenic roads, and the drive from Roussillon to Les Baux is not that scenic for about 1/2 the distance.

Also, I try not to visit large cities like Avignon & Uzes on the same day - although Uzes is not that large.

How about:
Day 1 Gordes, Lacoste, Menerbes, Bonnieux, Roussillon, and Goult - in that order. Only Gordes, Bonnieux, and Roussillon require a 45 to 60 min visit - othere much less.

Day 2: St Remy & Les Baux, & Arles in the afternoon when stores open at 3.

Day 3 Pont du Gard, Uzes, Chateauneuf.

Day 4 Carpentras, Sault, Simeon la Rotunde, Sisteron (not one of my favorites), Forcalquier (only OK)

Day 5 Avignon, anything new that pops up, or anything missed on previous days.

Stu Dudley

Stu's itinerary is about the best, although I would not include Chateauneuf on the same day as you visit Pont du Gard and Uzes.
On day 5, I'd say visit Avignon in the morning and then head to Chateauneuf, via Villeneuve lez Avignon and Roquemaure (where you cross the river).

PB

..just to add a comment- you might like to go to a morning market. It would be nice to see one and try to bend your schedule a bit so that you can do this. M. Dudley's suggestion re grouping infinitely better than you scattered itinerary.

Thanks, guys! Stu, your itinerary sounds good to me. Sorry, but didn't mention this earlier -> The reason why the itinerary is so scattered is because I'm going with another friend and we're sharing a car. He's skipping Gordes,Rousillon and Les Baux because he's been there recently. So, on Day one, he's going Avignon when I'm using the car and on Day 3, he's using the car and I'll be taking the public transport to Uzes from Avignon. But after Dudley's suggestion, I may just do Avignon and skip Uzes. Should I give Sisteron, Sault and Folcalquir a miss? Maybe visit Aix-en-Provence after Carpentras? Thought of visiting Lourmarin too.

From what I've read here the last two years Gordes and Les Beaux aren't to be skipped. Is your friend with the car asking you to do this? Or are you just being nice to him/her? While it is hard to travel with someone who has already seen the highlights, you may either want to plan that you will return, or renegotiate where you go with your friend.

>> I may just do Avignon and skip Uzes.<<

I would try real hard to see Uzes. My guess is that you will like it as much as St Remy, Avignon, & Arles. You never mentioned the Pont du Gard. They have a new museum there that is quite fascinating - it tells the how & why of building the Pont. The Pont & Uzes would be a good 3/4 day visit. You could even tack on something else on that day.

>>Should I give Sisteron, Sault and Folcalquir a miss?<<<

I certainly prefer the Pont & Uzes to Sisteron & Folcalquir. The landscape around Sault is the real draw to a visit there.

>> Maybe visit Aix-en-Provence after Carpentras? Thought of visiting Lourmarin too.<<

I have visited Carpentras about 5 times - all on market day. I don't know how interesting it is by itself. Aix is quite nice, but if you visit Avignon, Arles, Nimes, and Uzes or just two of these larger towns, Aix might not be that different. If you do visit Aix, get there early so you can nail down a parking place. On your return, visit Lourmarin.

Maybe I'm reading too much into your itinerary, but you seem to name a lot of towns as destinations. The reason I keep going back to Provence is for the countryside - not just the towns. Try to get the car & just drive around. If you hit the Luberon villages, you will see a lot of pretty countryside, and if you take my Lavender Route (Sault area) it will take you through some pretty terrain.

Stu Dudley

Hi

just adding to the excellent advice above :

Uzes, Pont du Gard and Nimes makes a good day trip. And there is a link since Pont du Gard is an aqueduct built to transport water from near Uzes to Nimes 2000 years ago. Uzes - Nimes is about 45 km.

Peter
www.the-languedoc-page.com