My husband and I have a wedding in Paris at the end of March, and we're thinking of flying into Marseilles early to spend about 5 days in Provence before we head up to Paris for four days (we've already been to Paris, and while we would never run out of things to do there, thought it might be nice to visit a new region). With five days, where would you recommend going (how would you divide your time), and is it easy to rent a car and drive between stops? Would we need to return the car to Marseilles or is it not too expensive to return it to another city and take the TGV from there?
Thanks!

Delay the wedding until May for better weather.

amusing thought, but clearly not within our control

I took the TGV from Paris to Avignon, rented acar and returned it in Nice. Wasn't expensive at all, driving was easy and this was end of February, so a bit cold but not bad and beautiful any time of year.

One option: Train to Avignon, and then Lyons, before going to Paris.

how not expensive was your car rental? it looks like a 5 day rental through autoeurope.com would be almost $500 (and this is for pickup and return to marseilles) - is this normal?

I paid 328 us for a week w/ drop off in another city. I forget who I used but it wasn't auro europe. I'll check and post back. I think the exchange was around 1.30 or so 2 years ago.

Provence is a very large area.
Are you considering
- from between Agignon to Aix or from Aix to Nice/Monte Carlo, better known as the Cote d'Azur?

If the former, you can
- TGV to Avignon, pick up car, sightsee and return vehicle at Marsielles.

If the latter, suggest you
- get into MRS, car, visit at Aix then head east towards Nice, then back to Paris.

Decide first which of these areas of Provence you want to visit; a good guidebook will provide info on both areas, towns, museums, etc.

I would go to Avignon, rent a car and do day trips around that area.

Most car rentals in France do not charge extra for dropoff to another city in France. One option might be to fly into Nice, then work your way over and drop the car in Avignon. Most of the rental cars will be stick shift, if you need automatic, it will be substantially more (as will larger cars). If your own (or credit card) insurance will cover possible damage to the car, that tends to make rental cheaper (but read the fine print ahead of time). While I wouldn't get the smallest car, I saw Hertz had a Peugot 207 for about $400/week, which might work.

Lots of options for places to go, one thing to think about is whether you prefer villages, towns, or cities. And also whether coast, plains, canyons, or mountains.

What are your interests? What do you think you would like to see? HAve you read any guidebooks or done any research on what there is to see? Answer these questions, and we can probably be of more help. I have a hard time helping people plan for a trip when I do not know what they like and are interested in doing. I can tell you what I like and how I would divide it up, but that might not do you much good.

Genreally, Provence has it all. Roman ruins scattered amongst pretty villages. Lovely markets and art histroy. Severl places of religous importance. Wine and olive country is always fun.

You have larger cities like Arles and Avignon, metropolitan areas like Nice and Marseilles, and small villages too numerous to name. Your choices in all of these places is limitless.

As for the travel arrangements, that to can depend on what you want to see. If I were landing in Marseilles, I would TGV to Avignon, rent a car, and explore the area there and south. I would want out of the city and to escape to the country, but that is me.

Thanks so much for the help so far. We will be flying into Marseilles b/c we can actually use miles (and return from Paris). We're thinking of starting in Marseilles and then heading westward, toward Avignon/Arles/St. Remy/etc. In general, we're interested in art/architecture (especially modern/contemporary, but from all other periods as well), good food (especially cheese!), exploring new areas, sitting in cafes, beautiful scenery. We were thinking of not heading into the Riviera area, since the weather won't be good for the beach anyway, and with 5 days, probably better to narrow it down. So, if you have any suggestions on which particular cities, villages, etc. to pick and how much time we need at each, that would be great!

My girlfriends and I spent 8 nights in the Luberon area of Provence, stayed in a B&B/guestouse in Pernes-les-Fontaines, and these were the daytrips we took:

1. Bonnieux
Menerbes
Lumieres

2. Roussillon (don't miss!)
Gordes (another don't miss)

3. I'lle sur la Sorgue (the Sunday market is fabulous! Get there before 9A to get a close parking spot -- town very charming with water wheels and lots of water)

4. Pont du Gard

5. Vaison la Romaine
Seguret
Gigondas

6. St. Remy

7. Cassis

We flew into CDG and took the TGV from CDG to Avigon, picked up our rental car at the TGV station, and at the end of our trip returned the car to the TGV station and took the TGV to Paris and then flew home from CDG.

Provence is so beautiful -- I hope you totally enjoy your 5 days there. I'm pretty sure you'll want to return for a longer time, however!

Enjoy!

joy/luvparee

Our guesthouse website is: www.lelavandinprovence.com. However, I'm not sure if it's open in March. Absolutely gorgeous property while we were there with all the flowers and lavender in bloom!

Other than Marseille and Aix, should we just stay in one town in the St. Remy/Avignon/L'Isle sur la Sorgue and drive to the others for day trips, or should we switch hotels?

I would think about doing two days at a hotel in Cassis, and three at a B&B in St Remy or L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Day trips are pretty easy in the area, but it might be nice to have two base locations. If you are more city people, then substitute Avignon and Nimes or Aix. The distances are short enough that I would just select two locations for the 5 days.

sorry, which stop would you substitute avignon/nimes/aix for - st. remy or cassis or either?

Oh, and any suggestions for vineyards to visit from a base in the St. Remy or surrounding areas?

I suppose I would make one of the stops in the area of St Remy, Sorgue, or Avignon. You can easily make day trips to/from any of them. If you are there on Sorgue market day (Sunday?) that is well worth visiting.

I sent you my itinerary, and most of my suggestions are in there.

I'm not sure I would visit Cassis in March - especially Easter week when you need to make reservations well in advance. To me, the interesting parts of Cassis are best enjoyed in the summer - dining outside on the port, a boat ride through the Calanques, vistas along the Corniche du Cretes (just as scenic during other seasons - as long as the weather is clear), and hanging around outside. The town itself is OK, IMO, but I enjoy others much more. My wife thinks the shopping is mediocre. If you get some not-so-good weather in March, it would be less enjoyable, IMO. I would rathar be in Aix instead, if the weather was bad. We were in Provence for all of June this year, and we waited till the weather was good before we made an overnight trip there.

The dates of your arrival & departure pose a bit of a problem. Normally, I would suggest that you fly into Marsaille, stay overnight in Aix that first night, then head up to central Provence & stay in the Luberon or St Remy for 4 nights. On your other post, you indicated that you want to visit the market in l'Isle sur la Sorgue on Sunday. You're arriving (perhaps jet-lagged) on the 22nd - which is a Saturday. Shops are closed on Sunday in Aix (especially Easter Sunday), so if you want to see Aix at it's best, you'll have to fit it in on Sat - which is do-able if you're the type of person who can fight through jet lag. However, I suspect that the market in l'Isle sur la Sorgue will be mobbed Easter Sunday (we've never been there then). I think they also have a big annual antiques fair that day. You really need to get there by 8:30 to avoid the huge crowds at 10:30 that are too much for me to handle. Door-to-door from Aix, it is probably a 1 hr drive, and traffic should be very light in Sunday. If this is OK with you, then that would be a good plan.

Almost all of my wife's favorite shops in St Remy are closed on Mondays - some only in the morning & some all day. Same with most of the other major cities - Avignon, Nimes, Uzes, Vaison, Arles, etc. Shops in Gordes & Roussillon will be open.

Beaucastel in Chateauneuf du Pape (actually, quite a bit north of town) gives an excellent guided tour of their winery operations - reserve there. See my itinerary for details.

There's lots of debate on this forum about the best area to stay in if you want to be centrally located. St Remy is a popular choice for those who want to stay in a meduim sized village, walk to dinner, sit at cafe's a lot, have interesting shops within walking distance, etc. Others like the Luberon (Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux, etc) if they want to be out in the "country" & surrounded by vineyyards and scenic drives. We return to the Luberon a lot more than the St Remy area.

Stu Dudley

Would vineyards and/or the Pont du Gard be good for Sunday and Monday?