WE only have four days there and will stay our first night in Avignon - then take days trips and stay along the way. Would we be better off with a place to stay and just make day trips and come back. Hard to plan just how far each area is - we want to visit Rousillin, St. Remy de Provence, Baux, and Haute Provence areas. Anyone have any tips?

We stayed in Aix-en-Provence for a week and did all day trips from there, quite easily. You might want to stick with your first night in Avignon, then mover to Aix for the other three. That is if you like staying in towns which I definitely do. On the other hand there are many wonderful little places to stay in the countryside around Aix or around St. Remy that might be nice, if you want to come back at night and just sit and relax. There have been a number of posts on specific suggestions recently if you want to do a search.

Hi Barb. I'd second what Patrick said about moving to Aix-en-Provence after your first night in Avignon; it's a wonderful city to walk around it and well-located for a home base. I also think that staying in one place and making day trips would be a better idea; for one thing, that way you don't have all your stuff in your car during the day in case your car gets broken into (ours did on a trip in 1994, and fortunately all of our stuff was in our hotel.) I have not been to St. Remy, but I have been to both Rousillon & Les Baux and they're excellent choices (go early or late in the day to Les Baux, however, to avoid the crowds.) If you're going to Haute Provence, I'd recommend a drive to the Gorges du Verdon; the Route du Cretes on the north side of the Gorges is quite spectacular.

My wife and I spent a week in both Avignon and Aix en Provence in October and my vote, if your only going to spend 4 days would be for Avignon. You could spend 3 days in Avignon alone and not see everything. Also, Avignon is closer to St. Remy and Les Baux than is Aix. You are also very close to Pont du Gard which is definitely worth a visit. We stayed at the Hotel Cloitre Saint Louise which is right on the edge of the old, walled city of Avignon. The hotel has available parking and it was very easy to get in and out of town from there, making it a good base for day trips. Feel free to email me directly if you have additional questions. <BR> <BR>Ron

I think that a visit to the area must include Gordes, Rousillon and Le Baux. I stayed two nights Avignon, two nights Arles and one night Aix. Aix was my least favorite but of course the day was a wash out because of a terrible rain storm! If I had to do it again, I would stay all nights in one place as it is really easy to travel to the various villages by car. Check out staying in a town called St. Remy de Provence as it is really very central and has a good selections of hotels, restaurants etc. My sightseeing tips are: Gordes (don't miss the Bories village), Rousillon (do this in the afternoon and watch the sunset. The colors are magnificent). Le Baux(go in the later afternoon and stay for dinner), Arles (arrive very early on Saturday morning for the expansive market; it closes by about 12:30). <BR>I did Gordes and Rousillon in one day. <BR>Lastly, Casis is a bit of a haul but it is very worthwhile. Take a cruise through the "calanques". <BR>Ellen

You could definitely stay in one place and see everything you want to see. <BR> <BR>I would second staying in St. Remy; it's a beautiful little town, but still big enough for a choice of restaurants, etc. The market there is great (I think on Wed., but check). <BR> <BR>I really enjoyed Arles (stayed there, too, on another trip). There is much to see there, especially in terms of Roman antiquities. In fact, I like Arles more than Avignon. <BR> <BR>One thing about Avignon; it is a bigger town/city, so you'll spend a little more time than you would in Arles or St. Remy getting in and out of town for your day trips. <BR> <BR>I second the advice about visiting Les Baux early or late in the day, to avoid the crowds. The Pont du Gard is more impressive than you would think it would be. Rousillon is cute, and has lots of good lunch spots. I wasn't that interested in Gordes; it was nicer from a distance than right in the town. <BR> <BR>Bon voyage!