My husband and I are planning a trip in May. Our itinerary so far consists of seven nights in Paris, train to Avignon where we will pick up rental car,five nights in Provence, then drive to Nice for last four nights before flying home.

I am having trouble picking a central spot to base the five nites in Provence.I am also looking for suggestions for hotels, 3 or 4star.I am interested in exploring luberon, Avignon,Aiz-en-provence etc...the ususal spots for first time visitors.

Does anyone have suggestions for base town, hotels and daily itineraries? I am having lots of difficulty figuring out this part of our trip! I would so appreciate any help.

We are spending a week in Provence in April and are basing ourselves in Menerbes. The place is called La Forteresse and is found at website: www.theluberon.com/forteresse.htm

I think the two most popular spots to base in are the Luberon (where Menerbes is located), and St Remy. The latter is a large village with many cafe's restaurants, shops, etc - and also lots of tourists. The Luberon is more "out in the country" with small perched villages, lavender fields (late June/July), vineyards, rugged mountains to the north, rolling countryside, etc.

If you want some solitude, then I think the Luberon would be the better choise. If you're looking to spend time in a village with cafes, people watching, etc then choose St Remy. Both have good access to the main sites in Provence. If someone is spending 6 days or more in Provence, I recommend splitting the time in these 2 areas to get some diversity.

Stu Dudley

Hint: Be careful about picking up a rental car in Avignon. We rented one in June through Europecar. We asked for a compact car, but were upgraded to an SUV. Didn't seem like a bad idea at the time, but we quickly discovered that it was very difficult to drive in our tiny Provencal village that had very narrow streets. So narrow that we had to fold in the sideview mirrors just to get down the street! When we asked if we could trade the car in for a smaller model, the agent said that they never actually rented small cars to people. I would highly recommend a smaller car for negotiating Provencal villages. Insist that the rental agency provide one for you.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Yes, I would like some cafes etc. nearby, which is why I had thought Avignon, but I know a lot of people stay in ST.Remy instead. I wonder why?

La Forteresse looks beautiful, probably more space than the two of us need, and I think I would prefer a hotel. Anyone have any more advice, or suggestions about which town to be based in and specific hotels? I realy need some guidance here. Thanks everyone.

If you want cafes, stay in St Remy !!!!

Key in "St Remy" in the search box, and you will get dozens of threads about places to stay there.

Stu Dudley

People stay in St-Rémy instead of Avignon because St-Rémy is a large village/town and Avignon is a city, and the difference in driving into each and trying to find parking is commensurate with the size (though that said, St-Rémy seems to be more congested every time I visit there).

Have a look at the Hotel Le Mas des Romarins in Gordes. It's a wonderful small hotel just outside the village but the best bit is the view of Gordes across the valley. We booked it through Venere.com, a great website, I use it all the time. Gordes is a good base for a few days,