Below is a list of day trips I am contemplating for the family trip to Provence in early June of 2006. Please provide your thoughts. Please assume I am completely ignorant of Provence and be unsparing in your criticism.

In particular - I am interested in
a) what trips don't make any sense – should be abandoned
b) what trips need to be trimmed
c) what trips need to be supplemented with additional destinations
d) what trips should map to what particular days in the week (e.g. market days)
As always – I am grateful for input.

Note -
a) All trips start and end each day in Aix (not negotiable).
b) I will be traveling with my wife and two small kids.


Trip 1 -
Gordes
Roussillion
Apt
Bonnieux
Loumarin

Trip 2 -
St Remey
Les Baux
Arles

Trip 3 -
Avignon
Pont du Gard
Orange

Trip 4 -
Riez
Canyon du Verdon
Castellane (optional - may not make it this far)
Moustiers

Trip 5 -
Cassis
Les Calanques

Trip 6 -
Nimes
Aigues Mortes

RHOLT,
"a) All trips start and end each day in Aix (not negotiable).
b) I will be traveling with my wife and two small kids.


Trip 1 -
Gordes Visit the Abbey Senanque. It is possible lavender will be up.
Roussillion
Apt
Bonnieux
Loumarin Lovely town for lunch.

Trip 2 -
St Remey
Les Baux
Arles

Trip 3 -
Avignon
Pont du Gard
Orange

Trip 4 -
Riez
Canyon du Verdon
Castellane (optional - may not make it this far)
Moustiers

Trip 5 -
Cassis
Les Calanques

Trip 6 -
Nimes
Aigues Mortes

Take out Orange; it's way north from what you'll be doing the rest of the day, and you'll need all the time to see the other two places on your list. By the autoroute it's about an hour up to Orange from the Aix area.

Note -
a) All trips start and end each day in Aix (not negotiable).
b) I will be traveling with my wife and two small kids.


Trip 1 -
Gordes- STOP AT ABBEY SENANQUE. LAVENDER MAY BE IN BLOOM.
Roussillion-BRIEF VISIT
Apt-SKIP
Bonnieux
Loumarin-PRETTY LITTLE TOWN. NICE FOR LUNCH

Trip 2 -
St Remy WEDNESDAY IS MARKET DAY, 8 A.M. TO 1 P.M
Les Baux BRIEF VISIT
Arles SKIP

Trip 3 -
Avignon FOR LUNCH; PALAIS DU PAPE
Pont du Gard HISTORIC SITE.
Orange - SKIP

Trip 4 - HAVE NOT VISITED
Riez
Canyon du Verdon
Castellane (optional - may not make it this far)
Moustiers

Trip 5 -
Cassis
Les Calanques TAKE BOAT TRIP THROUGH THE CALANQUES-CAREFUL IF SEA IS ROUGH WE GOT SOAKED.

Trip 6 -
Nimes-SKIP
Aigues Mortes AND CAMARGUE VERY INTERESTING BUT KIND OF FAR WITH CHILDREN IN CAR.

If your budget can stand it consider lunch or dinner at the Hotel Pigonnet in Aix. Sunday artisan and artists' market if held is of interest.

Unless you enjoy being in a car,I would pare back the car time. Since you have time you might drop a note to each town you decide to visit asking about children's activities. Sometimes there are little fetes, carnivals.

In St. Remy and other vllages, for example, they run the bulls through the streets on Bastille Day (July 14) and some other summer days. You stand behind the barricades and watch this activity.

I, too, would advise you to skip Orange. I would definitely NOT skip Arles (but you'd better hustle through Les Baux to do St-Rémy, Les Baux, and Arles in one day). Market day is Saturday in Arles.

On trip 3, if you eliminate Orange you might want to add in Uzès, depending on how much time you want to spend in Avignon.

I think the kids will love Aigues-Mortes. In fact, if you do keep Arles in the itinerary, they weill already have seen a Roman coliseum and other Roman ruins (the city of Glanum outside St-Rémy is quite an amazing Roman ruin - something else to keep in mind), so you conceivably skip Nîmes and spend an entire day in the Camargue and along the seashore. I'm sure the kids would love the wild ponies and flamingos and maybe a picnic on the beach even if it's too cold to swim, which it probably will be in June.

You don't state how long you'll be in Provence.
This past summer I stayed 3 weeks in Provence with the family I work for (nanny). It was the second such trip I've taken and I think all around we did better. One of the best strategies was one day out, next stay in.
That said here are some things I think they really liked: Oh! and we were based just out of Avignon:

Les Baux- they have a scavenger type hunt for kids with a prize at the end. Us adults were waiting for them for once.

Pont du Gard- we kayaked down the river and the kids liked swimming in the river. We also all laughed about the corny movie they show on it's history.

Arles- we went one market day and returned a few days later to watch a French bullfight. We all loved it! We didn't see a bathroom in the arena though, so something to be aware of w/kids.

The camargue- they walked thru a bird sancuary and enjoyed it as well as swimming in the COLD Mediterranean.

The best advice I could give is be flexible and leave lots of time to just hang out. You'll have happier kids if they're not rushed. Also ask their input if possible. Give them a few options for the day's trip and ask them what they'd like.
Good luck!

I just returned from my Provence trip a week ago, and we were trying to pack in a lot of the villages too, and I found myself just plan worn out at the end of the trip (but not TOO worn out to enjoy a few days in Paris!). Definate "do not misses" in my book are Les Baux (I thought it was charming...also great almond cookies at the gourmand store at the entrance of the village!), the Pont du Gard, St Remy's Wednesday market is really great...also in town Joel Durand chocolates and the cookie place next door, right on the circle not far from the market...gotta stop there. Aix was very busy and hard to park in, but if its not negotiable, then its all yours! Give yourself a break if you don't make it to every town....we missed some, but honestly, we were worn out from all the driving!

I'd say almost all your trips need to be trimmed, I just can't imagine doing all of those things in one day in most cases. You are combining large town/cites, several in a day, and then throwing in other sightseeing on top (ie, Avignon + Orange + Pont du Gard; not major cities except Arles, but Arles+St Remy+Les Baux, a major tourist site seems too much to me). I really take things slow when I travel, though, and don't like to feel like I'm on a stopwatch and just a sightseeing tour (ie, here's this site, walk around quickly, check it off list, have to leave in two hours max type of thing).

I really liked Arles, and spent an entire day there and didn't even see a couple things I could have. I really like Avignon and have spent several days there at different times, but can't imagine only spending a couple hours in Avignon total, and on it goes with your itinerary.

Trip 1 looks okay although I don't know about Apt as I haven't been there of how much time that would take or if I"d want to go there (I never have). I think I did a similar trip one day but didn't include Apt or Loumarin as I didn't have time.

Trip 2 seems impossible to me -- I spent about 3 hours at Les Baux, all day at Arles and about half day in St Remy (I spent more there but didn't have a car, so that would have helped as I walked between town center and Glanum, etc., and back). I don't know what I'd cut out as I liked them all, for different reasons. I'd probably put Les Baux at the bottom of those in priority.

Trip 3, I'd cut out Orange. I enjoyed it and seeing the arena, but you can't do it with those other things.

Trip 4 and 5 I haven't done any of those.

Trip 6 I haven't been to Aigues Mortes, so can't comment. If I had to cut something overall, Nimes wouldn't be on my top list.

Trip 1 -
Gordes
Roussillion
Apt
Bonnieux
Loumarin

Skip Apt - like others have said and add in Saignon and Menerbes. Lavender will probably not be up in early June, unless it's an exceptionally hot spring like it was in '03. If you have my Provence itinerary I've sent to over 300 people on this board, follow the driving route through the Luberon I decribed - which adds in a brief drive-by to Oppede le Vieux and Lacoste.

I've vacationed for 5 weeks in the Luberon. It's a nice place to be on a Sunday. If you have a "dead" Sunday (don't visit any of the larger towns on Sundays or Monday mornings) then Sunday would be a good day to visit the Luberon. Of course, Sunday is when they have the fabuous morning market in l'Isle sur la Sorgue. A great (and busy) Sunday would be to start there VERY early in the morning (8:30), leave by 10:30, and then spend the remainder of the day in the Luberon.

Market day is Tuesday in Gordes


Trip 2 -
St Remey
Les Baux
Arles

Don't skip Arles, like someone else suggested. Drive through the area south of the Alpilles between Eygaliers & Maussane for some pretty countryside. I had a friend tell me she wished she had not visited St Remy on market day because she felt she really spent too much time looking at the offerings at the market and not enough time seeing St Remy - which was somewhat hidden by the market. If you are staying in Aix, they have a great market - so that should satisfy your market needs.

Don't do Trip 2 on a Sunday or Monday.

Trip 3 -
Avignon
Pont du Gard
Orange

I've visited Orange 3 times - and every time the Ampitheatre was hidden by stage props, or green netting, or both. Skip it, and visit Uzes instead, with a short stop in Castillion if you have the time.
Don't do Trip 3 on a Sunday or Monday

Trip 4 -
Riez
Canyon du Verdon
Castellane (optional - may not make it this far)
Moustiers

The Lavender in the Valensole plateau seems to bloom a little earlier than elsewhere in Provence. Reiz has a nice Saturday market. This would be a good trip for a Sunday or Monday, although I think Riez would be dead then. I have not visited Moustiers on a Sunday or Monday. It's a bit tourist oriented, so the Faience shops might be open on Sundays & Mondays, but I would not plan on it if you really want to visit them.

Trip 5 -
Cassis
Les Calanques

I've never taken the boats around Calanques, so can't comment. Cassis is OK. This would be a good trip for a Sunday or Monday.

Trip 6 -
Nimes
Aigues Mortes

After you visit Aix, Avignon, and Arles - you don't need to visit Nimes. It's much the same as the other towns and a little more difficult to get to. Also, I'm not a big fan of Aigues Mortes (visited 3 times). The walls are great and so is the main square. Much of the town's architecture is not that interesting to me (compared to Aix, Avignon, Arles, and Uzes). The first two short blocks past the main tower entrance into town has some of the tackiest shops I've seen in France.

Missing:

My second favorite area in Provence - the Dentelles, around Vaison, Seguret, Gigondas, Beaumes de Venise, Malacene, and also Mt Ventoux and the roads circling the base of Mt Ventoux.

My Lavender Route (see past posting). I think it's very scenic - lavender or no Lavender.

Stu Dudley

Great info - thanks - Especially to some of the regulars (StCirq, Stu Dudley, etc.)

Stu - I found your Lavender post - very interesting. Maybe we will get lucky with the hot spring.

If you're traveling with two small children you had better have plenty of "busy stuff" for them to do. You're going to be spending lots of time in a car and European rentals can be small inside.

Whatever order you do you day trips, I'd schedule no more than 2-stops a day - one in the morning, have lunch to relax and let the kids let off some steam - an afternoon visit.

Agree that Orange is a long way from Aix but so is Vaison and those nearby towns as Stu mentions. After one amphitheatre, the kids will be bored.

If you want to visit Aigues Mortes, do it on the day you visit the Camarque. Arles needs at minimum half day. Nimes is to far out of the way; though so would be Uzes. Don't go further than the Pont and try for this at the end of the day when most of the tourists are gone. The kids will also be bored to tears with more than one market and you better keep them close to you as these are often quite crowded.

Though you've committed to Aix, remember that everyday, regardless where you visit, you'll be back on that same road morning and night. We found St. Remy was a much better base for visiting these areas of Provence. Sure hope your hotel in Aix is providing free parking.

Can't stress enough... what you and your wife might be able to accomplish in a day, on your own, are thrown out the window with two little ones in tow. So don't over plan.

I believe Arles is where they have the open air sightseeing "train" that takes you around the town and our son loved it-also a nice break from walking so much!

Kid fun: there are lovely old carrousels in both Aix and Arles--also in Avignon.

The kids will love Les Baux. I think Avignon would be fun too. There is a park above le palais du Pape which is lovely. You are travelling with kids and I would strongly suggest that you have 1 child friendly activity a day. With a little work you can make many activities child friendly BUT some forethought is required.

HI, How about adding Oppede-le-Vieux to your itinerary? It is wonderfully un-touristic and has the feeling like you are discovering some ancient town and ruins all by yourself. The history is fascinating...lots of hideaways during the war...A nice pathway through gardens leads up to the town from the parking. The path to the ruined castle at the top is fascinating...lots of ruins still..the place just is set back in time. Don't expect touristy shops/boutiques, etc., just history and a nice authentic village, unspoiled. have fun!

For trip #3, I would recommend concentrating on Avignon where there is a nice merry-go-round in the central square and the Palais de Pape has a large outdoor park with grotto like structures where you & your kids can climb up & down. My wife really enjoyed shopping in Avignon while I entertained the kids. If there is any time left I would drive to Uzes instead of stopping for Pont du Gard.

The Luberon villages (Trip 1)are great for taking pictures of your toddlers. Every village is so different from the other. If you have time,consider stopping in La Coste briefly. It's quite a unique village where almost every corner provides the perfect background for video/pictures.

>>If you have time,consider stopping in La Coste briefly. It's quite a unique village where almost every corner provides the perfect background for video/pictures.<<

Great views of Bonnieux, but make sure you go there in the afternoon. In the morning, the sun will be directly in your face & Bonnieux will just be an outline.

Stu Dudley