We are in Marseilles for 10 days shortly, and thanks to posters have identified some day trips. We are probably going to do organised trip to the Gorge and taking train to Aix en Provence. We will hire car for three days and think the following will be a great itinerary - what do you think?
Trip 1: Camargue - walking trail Fangassier to Galabert. Onto Arles then St Remy and Les Baux;
Trip 2: Village trip: Fontaine de Vaucluse, Gordes, Roussillon , Oppede le Vaux, then Saignon (too many? should we have omitted Lacoste?);
Trip 3: Coastal trip via Bangol to Bournes les Mimosas (not sure what else to see in this area? Is Toulon worth visiting?
We are omitting Avignon from trips - big mistake?
Many thanks for your help.

Re Trip 1: We were disappointed in the Camargue and, conversely, VERY impressed with Les Baux. We spent the better part of a day at the latter and moved on quickly from the former - to Aigues Mortes (delightful).

Re Trip 2: I'd omit Fontaine de Vaucluse and not omit Lacoste. Add Bonnieux and Joucas if you can. Oppede le Vaux is very nice; Roussillon, nice but infested with tourist traffic.

Re Trip 3: I'd not go so far. This day should be devoted to Cassis and Les Calanques.

IMHO, Toulon is the one town on the
coast that is NOT worth going into -
it's a naval base.

Fontaine de V. is interesting when
the water is high but decidedly
unthrilling (again, IMHO) otherwise.
Plus it's very tacky-touristy.

Lacoste is really tiny - perhaps
a 'swing by'?

I'm one who loves the Camargue.I got a rush seeing the herd of wild white horses the first time and seeing my first flamingoes and the wild bulls. There is also a bird sancuary and several good restaurants.

If you're going to Gordes (not really worthwhile except the photo op on the road leading to it) continue to the Senaque Abbey. This is the abbey that's in all the photos with a field of lavender. I thought it was very interesting to tour.

I would leave out Saignon. I stayed there 6 nights and can't imagine anyone going there for any reason.

I liked Lacoste and Bonnieux and didn't think much of Oppede-le-Vieux.

Day 1 seems to be over scheduled. I loved St-Remy and Les-Baux so keep those.

Looks like you need another 10 days!

The mosquitos in the Camargue are blood-sucking vampires that take no prisoners, so take bug spray!! I will agree that Aigues-Mortes is wonderful and it's also fun driving through the honky-tonk classic seaside town of Saints Maries de la Mer.

Stevelyon -

What you've learned so far from these answers is that we apparently have divergent tastes. That being the case, I'll add my two cents -

Trip 1 - I wanted to go to Camargue, I was advised by a local from Gordes to waste little time there, and he was right. His advice was "Go, see, and leave!" He strongly recommeded Aigues Mortes. Although we did see some flamingos (at a distance), the only horses we saw were not really wild. Stes. Maries de la Mer was "quaint" in the same manner that an old beach town on the Carolina coast would be considered quaint - looked like many French families might go for a holiday.

Trip 2 - Our time at Fontaine de Vaucluse was great, but we were there in late May (LOTS of water and very few tourists). Roussillon and Gordes are "worth" a quick visit IMHO, but Oppède le Vieux was worth much more time - the setting and the architecture are just fantastic. Lacoste is OK (for views of the Luberon as well as the Marquis de Sade castle ruins). We didn't see Saignon but did spend some time in Lourmarin and less time in Bonnieux. All in all, I think your itinerary for Trip 2 is pretty ambitious (if it's a one-day trip).

Trip 3 - No thoughts on this one since we didn't do a coastal trip (other than Camargue and our week east of there on the Côte d'Azur).

Have fun!

Sam

Thanks very much everyone. Looks like I might just skirt around the Camargue and replace it with Aigues Mortes (which I was originally considering). Cassis and Calanques were on a MUST DO list and so did not declare this as I did not want advice on them. But it sounds like Bournes may be a little too far so I may need to consider what to do as a Trip 3 - is Bangol worth the trip and are there places nearby which would make this the route to take? Is Bournes best reached by train along a coastal route and is it worth the effort?

> I may need to consider what to do as a Trip 3 <

Go to Avignon and/or Pont du Gard.

Steve is correct we all have different tastes. of a dozen times in the Camargue I was never bitten, lucky us.
My favorite places I've stayed or for yearly day trips.
St Remy, Maussane, Bonnieux, Lourmarin, eygalieres, Saignon, Gordes
Crowed as it is, Les Baux is a must see nothing like it. If you go to Russillon and visit the ocre quarries that produce those beautful warm colors, be sure to bring olong old shoes!
Fontaine de Vaucluse. Lunch at Chez Philipe overlooking the falls.
Saignon, at the Aubrge de Presbytere
by the fountain and across from an ancient lavoir.

Sam is correct we all have different tastes. of a dozen times in the Camargue I was never bitten, lucky us.
My favorite places I've stayed or for yearly day trips.
St Remy, Maussane, Bonnieux, Lourmarin, eygalieres, Saignon, Gordes
Crowed as it is, Les Baux is a must see nothing like it. If you go to Russillon and visit the ocre quarries that produce those beautful warm colors, be sure to bring olong old shoes!
Fontaine de Vaucluse. Lunch at Chez Philipe overlooking the falls.
Saignon, at the Aubrge de Presbytere
by the fountain and across from an ancient lavoir.

I know you've posted that you are re-thinking day 1, but even substituting still seems like a lot to me. We spent an entire day just seeing Arles and Les Baux (although it was market day in Arles). We really enjoyed both.

We had a wonderful picnic by the river in Fontaine de Vaucluse, yes its touristy, but still worth a visit. We didn't think much of the source of the river (you can walk up hill to see it) but had a lovely time in town. We didn't visit Lacoste so I can't comment on that.

Trip 1 is not possible to do in one day. Arles, St Remy and Les Baux is a lot for one day as well but combined with the Camargue...there is no way.

Saignon was one of my favorite towns...to each his own. The view from the lookout there is amazing. The town was as cute as a button and not so touristy. I personally would omit Lacoste before Saignon.

Lacoste is only marginally interesting IMO but it has a nice view of Bonnieux...and Bonnieux has a nice view of Lacoste. You can no longer visit the Castle as it is closed. There are so many towns that you could visit. This was towards the bottom of my list.

Even though Roussillon is touristy...I would not give it a miss. It's very different from other towns you'll see. The colors are wonderful. Visit later in the day and the buildings glow.

I would say Gordes, Roussillon, Oppede le Vieux and Saignon would be plenty and take the full day. Oppede le Vieux is a long climb from the parking area and there is no way to see this town in a rush (you'd kill yourself trying due to the distance). We felt it was worth the trek but it is not the type of place that you zip in and out.

Good luck with your planning.

Pierre Cardin, the fashion desighner bought the castle, restored it and now there are summer concerts there.

I'm going to answer just the 'trip 3' part of your question, because you have the heavily touristed areas pretty well covered in the first two. Toulon first. Yes, Toulon is worth seeing, there is much more to it than just the naval base. Rising behind the town is Mt Faron, with a telepherique to whisk you to the top. From there, the views are astonishingly wonderful. There are cool walks on soft paths through typical Mediterranean maquis vegetation. The wildflowers are abundant, at certain times of the year you will even see orchids and wild tulips. There is a small WWII French Resistance museum and a couple of bars/cafes. And lions and tigers and bears too - there is a small wild cat sanctuary back in the woodlands. Here you will probably not run into any American or English-speaking tourists, just French families or young couples out for the day. The port is a real working port, and there are places to eat with good fresh fish and lovely wines.

Here are some photos, if you're interested: http://jmstudio.fotopic.net/c1542303.html

Bandol is another pretty but heavily touristed town, although the wine is good. Have you thought about Hyeres instead? It's one of my favorite places along the Provençal coast. The town itself rises up a hillside a couple of miles from the sea, with a maze of interesting old streets leading upward and winding through. There's even a rue Paradis, which passes through an old stone archway with a ceiling of golden stars painted on deep blue. Hyeres is very different from most of the other seaside resorts along the côte d'azur, because it's a real town for real people, as well as being a resort, mainly for the French. There's a lovely square with large old plane trees and cafes and a good market - I'm not sure but I think it's on Saturdays. The Place Massillon, another open square, features a Knights' Templars tower from the 13th century watching over the small cafes that spread their tables out onto the pavement. Another market, this one for fruit and vegetables and olives, stretches away down one of the side streets. At the top of the hill are the remains of an old castle and wonderful views out over the mountains and the sea and islands. Just below the castle is Park St-Bernard, where there is the Villa Noailles, famous for its 1920s/Art Deco/Modernist garden, and also Castel Ste-Claire, once the home and garden of author Edith Wharton. The garden is open to the public and it, as well as Park St-Bernard, have trails and good walks.

Beyond Hyeres ville is the peninsula Presqu'ile de Giens, connected to Hyeres by a 4-mile-long wide and sandy beach, from Almanarres on the west side and Hyeres plage on the east. Between the two are ancient Salines des Pesquiers or salt-evaporating lakes. These and the large Etang des Pesquiers attract migrating flamingos which can often be seen in large flocks along the shallower edges feeding on small shrimps. On Giens there are a couple of small villages and some good walks, one of which will take you to a large sea-water pool carved out of the rock, where you're welcome to swim sans-suit if you wish. There's also a small port and from here you can catch ferries to the Porquerolles Islands.

There are also more salines and often more flamingos about a 20-minute walk to the east of town, near the Port d'Hyeres.

Bormes-les-Mimosas is a lovely, but heavily-touristed, small town on the hillside above La Lavendou.

Thanks as always, crazyfortravel. I will go with your itinerary for Gordes etc although one poster suggested Gordes is better viewing from a distance (dont mean to start any fights).
Isnt this Forum wonderful - I hadnt realised there was a salt lake near Hyeres nor a lift up to Mt Faron - many thanks julia 1 .... and of course, everyone else who posted.

Staying 10 days in Marseille itself is a long time. I personally prefer to spend couple nights there and move on.
Re: the coastal trip, Bormes-les-mimosas is a perched village with a view to the sea which is very nice, there are some great beaches/vineyards in the area. La Ramatuelle is worth visiting and also St Tropez, it's easy enough to get back to Marseille on A8. Villages north of the A8 are worth a visit eg Tourtour, Villecroze, Le Thoronet etc.