Hello

I am planning on visiting Provence with my three kids ages 8 / 10 and 12 in August. We will be flying into Barcelona; staying 5 nights and then we would like to fly either to Marseilles or Nice. Can you recommend where to stay in Provence and for how many nights ?
I was thinking of doing 2 nights in Nice (fly from Barcelona to Nice) ... then taking a rental car and driving to Avignon (where I would stay for about 5 nights) and then drive to Marseilles for 3 nights (fly out of Marseilles).
The places I would like to visit are Gordes and Rousillon, Abbaye de Sennanque .
Any other suggestions? Would Avignon be a good base place to set up ? I don't want to rush around too much with the kids. Also , would it be worth it seeing Nice?

Moved to Europe board

Well the Avignon area is nice but Avignon like many French largish cities has lots of traffic- many folks here seem to love St-Remy-de-Provence, a smaller town to use as a base. Arles is a really nice city - be sure to spend a day in Avignon and Arles and Les Baux-de-Provence - ruins of a dead city high on a plateau - of course the Pont du Gard Roman aqueduct. Kids may love a pony trek into the Camargue - a nature preserve to see its famous wild ponies and flamingos - and your other places. You may want to stay in a town like St-Remy east of Avignon and then one like Uzes, a really neat old town, for your other things on wish list.

Nice is nice for a few days - but you may want to stay in a smaller town like Antibes - better beaches than Nice's large pebbly beach. Nothing much IMO necessary in Nice for a family but having some food in the Old Town area - a veritable Latin Quarter by the sea.

The inland route to Avignon area is infinitely nicer than the heavily trafficked coastal autoroute route but ideally you would break it up somewhere - this lets you and kids take a fantastic canoe or kayak float thru parts of the Gorges du Verdon - the Grand Canyon of Europe but a mini one compared to the real one. No reservations needed - lots of places on the roads around the gorges.

On way back to Marseiles I'd hit Aix-en-Provence and maybe base there for 2 night and then drive to Marseille, return car and spend the day walking around this very underrated fantastic old city.

Accommodations for August in Nice & Provence might be scarce. We book our hotels & gites more than a year in advance - and we go in June before the French schools let out.


Nice is the best place to base, IMO. Lots more stuff to do & see there than anyplace else on the Cote d'Azur - especially for the kids.


I also recommend St Remy as a place to base in Provence if you want to be surrounded by shops, restaurants, cafes, other tourists, and English spoken. Stay in the Luberon near Gordes, Roussillon, Menerbes if you would rather be surrounded by vineyards, lavender fields (maybe still there in early August), fewer tourists (compared to St Remy), and have access to a pool. I'm not a fan of Avignon as a base because it is surrounded on 3 sides by very ugly urban sprawl that you'll have to drive through coming & going on your day trips.


My wife & I have vacationed for 43 weeks along the Cote d'Azur & Provence. I developed a 35 page itinerary that describes our favorite villages, scenic drives, farmer's markets, sites, etc. I've sent it to over 3,000 folks on Fodors. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail. Specify that you would like the Cote d'Azur/Provence itinerary - I have others.


Stu Dudley

You know, there are plenty of trains from Barcelona to Marseille, most with a connection in Montpellier but some which are direct. It might be more interesting than flying. The Côte d'Azur would not particularly attract me in August -- wall-to-wall tourists stepping on each other. And if you are thinking of sandy beaches in that area, think again. Most of the beaches are rocky. I hated them as a child.

Avignon should be a bit calmer in August because the theatre festival will have finished. It is always a good hub for visiting the region and super convenient to Gordes, the Pont du Gard, les Baux, Nimes, Orange, Mont Ventoux and lots of other places such as the Grotte Chauvet, one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the last 20 years. Also a bit north of Avignon -- keeping in mind that you have kids -- there is a huge tropical crocodile farm ("tropical" because it uses the water from the nearby nuclear power plant) and also the Haribo candy factory and museum. I'm not sure if a lot of the traditional itineraries for older people are of great interest to younger children.

Hi,

Although I enjoyed Nice and the pretty backcountry villages, I think Provence (near St Remy/les Baux area) has more kid-friendly things to do. My kids especially loved kayaking down and under the Pont du Gard (and visiting the Haribo factory as noted above outside of Uzes)! The castle around Les Baux had neat medieval demonstrations and activities for kids and they also liked the sound and light show at the Carrieres des lumieres. They also enjoyed seeing a show at the Arena in Arles (courses camarguaises and the beautiful horses). We had a long-ish day hiking in Roussillon (cool red canyon - don't wear white!) and checking out Gordes and lavender fields (but that was more for me than the kids).

We stayed near Les Alpilles in a little self-catering cottage here:
https://www.lesgarrigues-valbaux.com/

It was not fancy but had everything we needed (including a pool for the kids).

hope this helps.