Hello
My husband and I will be arriving in Aix-en-Provence on April 29th, after 5 nights in Nice.

I've never been to Provence before, and I don´t know what to expect about crowds and high traffic on holidays.

We will hire a car in Aix, and on the following day, after a lunch on the Cours, we'd like to head for a place to stay for 4 nights.
After that, we still have 4 days in Provence before getting the TGV to Paris.

After days of researching and reading - including Stu Dudley ( thanks! ) itinerary, I narrowed the options to three:

1) South Liberon - Ansouis Cucuron Lourmarin ( too crowded? )

2) Forcalquier
Moustier Ste Marie (a bit isolated besides no lavender fields yet?)

3) Dentelles de Montmirail


I'm assuming that North Liberon (Gordes, Roussillon) and Les Alpilles will be awfully crowded. We'd like to visit Les Beaux and the villages of Petit Liberon
during the following week. Will these villages be less touristed then?

I also can´t decide between staying these four nights in the countryside or in a village, near restaurants and shops. We are urban people, but I don´t want to risk staying in a ghost town, completely shut down for the holidays (as I figure St Remy will be) or in a heavy touristed village, with tour buses and queues everywhere.

As you see, we need help, and all thoughts and suggestions will be welcome.
Thank you.

I can't imagine those places being 'awfully crowded' or having 'high traffic'. I'd not let that concern be a factor in making your choice. None of these is 'a heavy touristed village, with tour buses and queues everywhere'.

Yes, on market day, there'll be crowds - but that's the point: you'd want to mingle and soak up the atmosphere. Those 'crowds' are mostly locals.

IMO, your best and most central location would be in the area of L'Isle sur la Sorgue or Gordes or Roussillon. (BTW, it's LUBERON not Liberon.) Your 3 listed choices are too far from Les Baux, the Pont du Gard, etc.

On second thought, perhaps Roussillon can be considered 'a heavy touristed village, with tour buses and queues everywhere'.

St-Remy is NEVER a ghost town. It will be about the busiest place on your list. The three places you've listed are much more likely to be devoid of activity.

Agree with Tuck you should base yourself near or in Ile-sur-la-Sorgue.

Ansouis and Cucuron, though nice villages, are very quiet
You can see Cucuron by the pond in the Russell Crowe Film, A good Year
St Remy is larger with loads of restaurants of all budgets.
You can drop the car off in Avignon and take the TGV from there.
Too early for Lavender. But Moustier
is worth visiting the village for its pottery. I loved staying there.
Different from St Remy where We have stayed a few times.

I agree with everything Tuck & StCirq said.

I would stay in the Luberon near Gordes/Roussillon/Bonnieux/Menerbes/etc from the 29th, departing Monday May 4. This will allow you to attend the l'Isle sur la Sorgue market on Sunday morning & a night to recover. Don't worry about crowds - it they get intense, head north into the gorges & mountains to be alone.

For the next nights, either stay in St Remy if you feel like a larger village with lots of cafes, restaurants, shops, etc, or Uzes if you want the same large village feel as St Remy - but less touristy. If you prefer to not stay in an active village, the Dentelles de Montmirail would be a great choice.

No Lavender that soon.

Your selection 1 and especially 2 are too far from the main sites.

Stu Dudley

No need to worry about "ghost town" villages over the May 1st holiday around here. It's a big short-holiday weekend for the Europeans so everything any tourist would be interested in seeing and doing will be open for sure.

The only things closed will be banks, post offices, government buildings.

As for overcrowded, while the usual suspects (Gordes, Les Baux, St. Remy, etc.) will be jammed, it's not as crazy as the summer and completely doable.

-Kevin

I don't think you realize St Remy is popular with rich people who stay there a lot, and it is often crowded with tourists.