@StuDudley, thank you.

Once again, thank you for the feedback that you’ve provided me so far. Between what you’ve offered, more guidebook reading, and research, I’ve come up with the contours of an itinerary.

Friday, 4/15: Arrive in Avignon (6 nights).

Saturday, 4/16: Visit Avignon.

Easter Sunday, 4/17: L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (market day). From L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, we’ve looked at continuing on to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse or sampling other Luberon villages further afield. Which would you suggest for someone looking for a sense of the area? Regarding transportation, it seems getting from Avignon to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is possible on buses and trains but that it gets scarcer beyond L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. We’re open to hiring a taxi for the day or going on a private tour. The full day tours I’ve come across stop at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Gordes, and Roussillon. Would three in one day be too much to appreciate any or should we drop one or aim for someplace closer to give us more time in the villages?

Monday, 4/18, through Wednesday, 4/20: One day each for Arles, Pont du Gard and Nimes, and Les Baux-de-Provence and Le Remy-de-Provence. For Pont du Gard and Nimes, my current thinking is to take a taxi from Avignon to Pont du Gard and again to Nimes, and ride the train back. For Les Baux and Le Remy, it looks like a combination of taxis and buses. Would you recommend visiting Les Baux in the morning and Le Remy in the afternoon or vice versa? I’m asking in terms of crowds (which I know is unpredictable given the pandemic), lighting (for photos), and the intensity of the places to side (seems like there is more elevation changes in Les Baux, would would argue for a morning visit).

Thursday, 4/21: Train to Aix-en-Provence (2 nights). Visit Aix.

Friday, 4/22: Train to Cassis. Visit Cassis and take a boat ride to view the Calanques.

Saturday, 4/23: Train to Nice (4 nights). Visit Nice.

Sunday, 4/24: Visit Nice. I understand shops may be closed but it may make sense to visit the art museums on this day and stroll along the Promenade des Anglais if the weather is nice.

Monday, 4/25: Day trip to Eze and Monaco.

Tuesday, 4/26: Day trip to Villefranche-sur-Mer and Cap Ferrat.

I could use and appreciate your help in how to order some of the days to maximize market days (we don’t need to visit every market in every town we’re including, but at least a couple would be nice), pointing out redundancies, suggesting substitutions, etc. Thanks again.

L'isle sur la Soougue, Gordes, Rroussillon would be fine for a Sunday in the Luberon by car. Get to the market as early as possible in the AM (8:30). I think I mentioned in my itinerary that we visited & photographed Les Baux in both the early morning and later afternoon for best picture taking. So either time is fine.

Stu Dudley

Our visits to the area are from years ago. I particularly remember that the views from the dead city of Les Baux were quite nice near sunset, but a lot of the place was given over to tourist shops. I enjoyed the Roman village Glanum, between Les Baux and St Remy. Monaco was good for the palace (if it is open) and the aquarium/botanic gardens and I lost a franc wagering at the Casino. There was an interesting glass works (artisanal) and the Leger Museum in Biot. The Picasso Museum in Antibes and the Chagall Museum at Nice rated as "don't miss." We had a car, but I'm pretty sure buses and trains out of Nice will get you to a lot of these places, perhaps with a cab or two.

@StuDudley and @AJPeabody, thank you for the feedback.

Menton (Cocteau) is a much better day trip from Nice than Monaco. When in Aix, I recommend the Fondation Vasarely, and in St Paul the Fondation Maeght. I am not all that fond of Avignon, and I found the Palais des Papes rather dull. Hiking/walking is very good near Sisteron/Manosque/Digne.

To make the most out of visiting places like Roussillon, you really will need to figure out private transport.

Highlights for me are Aix, Port of Marseilles, Les Calanques, Les Baux, Roussillon, Fontaine de Vaucluse. St Paul, Haut de Cagnes-sur-Mer, and Menton plus many, many little villages you will need private transport for. I loved les Grottes de Cales, Vieux Vernegues, Jouques,

@shelemm, thank you for your suggestions. We will aim to visit a few villages, but given the transport limitations, the itinerary will weigh more towards bigger towns and cities. Knowing which ones to focus on will go a long way in our planning.

My 2 cents in a nutshell: underimpressed with Avignon. Liked Sorgue-would go back. Aix had much more to explore. Gordes-the view from the approach was great, but once in the central city, "not much here, where to next?". Fountain of Vaucluse-walk half a mile, look down at a pond (the fountain), walk back.....wouldn't return. Really liked Vaison la Romaine

@tomboy, thank you. There seems to be real divisions between where to base for several days in Provence. From everything I've gathered, it seems the only logical options are Avignon, Arles, and Aix, given that we will not have our own vehicle. We currently already thinking about a couple of nights in Aix with the majority of our time in Avignon. Would Arles be a better base compared to Avignon? Should we try to split our nights between the two or add more to Aix in lieu of Avignon or Aix?

From what I am able to gather, it looks like St. Remy hosts fairly significant market days on Wednesday, which would mean we would allocate Monday and Tuesday to Arles, Nimes, and Pont du Gard. Do Arles or Nimes have market days on these days that is worth using coordinating our visits with? Right now, we're looking at being in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue on Sunday for its market day, Aix on Thursday, and Nice on Saturday and Sunday. Would also check out Les Halles in Avignon. Any not to miss that we're not identifying?

The Les Halles market in Avignon is indoors. IMO, the market in St Remy kinda hides many of the architectural features in St Remy. I have a friend who mentioned this to me also. I think Avignon is more interesting than Arles, and has more "get elsewhere" options also. I would base in Avignon & visit Arles by train or bus.

Stu Dudley

Agree with Stu. Unless you are planning to hire a car and driver for much of the time you spend in that area of Provence, Avignon is a better hub from which to explore the surrounding area. Aix is a poor hub except for Cassis and Marseille. Exploring Nice and its surrounding area by bus or train is easy except for some villages.

Gordes is a lovely place to stop but for no more than an hour. That is true of a lot of these villages, which is what makes a rental car a huge advantage.

And it is the scenic drive through the rolling countryside between these villages, passing vineyards & lavender fields - that keeps us returning to Provence.

Stu Dudley

You said it Stu, I love the drives, especially in the Luberon!

@StuDudley and @mjs, thank you for your confirmation of Avignon as a more practical base. We will stick with it assuming we proceed with plans.

@StuDudley, appreciate your observation regarding St. Remy and the market.

@kerouac, @StuDudley, and @geetika, your point about having our own wheels and it greatly contributing to the experience is taken loud and clear. Unfortunately, it isn't an option for us. Our choices are:
1. Go on a private tour for one or two days to be able to enjoy some of the countryside and supplement it with taxi rides here and there.
2. Forgo the countryside altogether and cut back out time in Provence to just the cities and towns of Avignon, Arles, Nimes, and possibly Aix, all of which are accessible by train or bus. This would reduce the number of nights we have in Provence from 8 to 4-5. We would look to reallocate our time perhaps to another part of France.
3. Scrap the idea of a South of France trip altogether and look at some of the other destinations we're considering.

I understand there are limitations to what we are able to see, do, and experience. Trying to decide whether or not it is worth the trip, I guess, and I appreciate that there is no correct answer. Will keep thinking on it.

Hiring a private driver for a trip in the Luberon would be my choice. See my itinerary for a very scenic drive visiting most of the villages, and my "personally selected" scenic roads to follow. About 6 years ago we were driving past a lavender field in the Luberon and encountered a "small group tour". The small van was about 3/4 full and the remaining 1/4 were out wandering through the lavender field. The van driver was honking & honking his horn. The people in the field were pi---d because they wanted to spend more time in the field taking pictures, and the people in the van were pi---d because they wanted to get to the next stop. A "no win" situation.

Attached is a time table for visiting the villages in the Luberon. It follows the route describe in my 35 page itinerary that is attached in post #2.

I would not do a "cities only trip". Avignon, Aix, Arles, Nimes will all start to look the same if that's all you visit. It's the small hill villages & countryside that keeps us returning (I said that before). There are several nice hotels near Gordes on the Route to Senanque which you could stay in for 1-2 nights & experience Gordes before the tourists arrive, and also get a "countryside" feel if you can hike for a bit.

Stu Dudley

Concur with StuDudley. You need to get out of the cities. I spent a week in Aix using it as a base. I did rent a car for three days of that, but I also took buses. In lieu of car rental, go through the tourist office and find a car/driver situation. Or stay in a gite and ask the owner if they can find a situation for you.. The glory of Provence is in the villages. The good news is that you can get a lot done in a single day with a car and driver. For a two week trip, I recommend having access to a car for at least three days. Bus and train can get you deep into the countryside for other days.

Your dismissive attitude of Fontaine de Vaucluse is charming, but in reality the village is packed with a ton of interesting and stunning features. You simply missed them. From Provenceweb.fr:

Ruins of the XIV° Bishops of Cavaillon castle. XI° ND de St Véran church, Roman style. Remains of the Roman Canal on the R. Sorgue.
Petrarque Museum (in the italian poet's former residence, XIV°).
L'appel de la liberté musée d'histoire 1939-1945 (Resistance Museum).
Ecomusée du gouffre (Underwater Museum : Caves).
Ecomusee du santon et traditions provencales: Santon Museum.
Papes Crystal makers (hand blown crystal).
Paper Mill (hand made paper, XV° century techniques.

In addition, the walking and hiking in the village and from the castle is impressive and will bring you to grottoes, in short, it's an awesome place, though I understand that not everyone agrees.

I DID enjoy the stop at the paper mill, in part because of my watercolor painting experience.

Echoing Stu's #36 post re hiring someone to drive you around in his own car.
I'll bet the tourism info office (TI) somewhere would know of someone who'd do that; HOWEVER, if you didn't do research on what wanted to see, you'd be at the mercy of whomever you hired (if you hired a farmer, you might see more farms than points of interest). So, do your research.
Also, be flexible. If the TI at St. Remy can't line you with one, try the TI at Beaucaire, or Tarascon, or Cavaillon.

@StuDudley, @shelemm, and @tomboy, thank you for all this additional feedback. From what I am gathering from you all and others, it seems the Luberon will be the best place to make use of a vehicle, be that a private tour or a car with driver.

In the meantime, we're also considering a second version of an itinerary, which would pare back our time in Provence and add Toulouse and Carcassonne. We're looking at three nights in Toulouse and one in Carcassonne before continuing on to Avignon and Nice. Under this scenario, we would drop our 2 nights in Aix and reduce our time in Avignon. What this looks like is:

Option 1 - Avignon (6 nights), Aix (2), Nice (4)
Option 2 - Toulouse (3 nights), Carcassonne (1), Avignon (4), Nice (4) - For our nights in Avignon, we would aim to spend a day each in Avignon and Arles, one day in the Luberon, and one more somewhere, perhaps Les Baux and Le Remy.