We are looking at possible hotels in:<BR><BR>Graveson, Saignon, Gordes, Oppede, Paluds du Noves, Cabrieres d'Avignon and Les Baux.<BR><BR>Which would make the best base and be the most central (close to roads, restaurants, etc.) for seeing:<BR><BR>St. Remy, Les Baux, Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux, Menerbes, Lourmarin, Lacoste and L'Isle sur la Sorgue?<BR><BR>

Forgot to mention ....<BR><BR>We also are considering Graveson and Saignon hotels, but these two towns seem a little out of the way for what we want to see.

Hi: Consider staying in two hotels. One North of the Durance river for the hilltop villages you mentioned and one South for St. Remy, Les Baux and others. We have stayed in Lourmarin and from there you can cover both areas easily for day trips.<BR>Check out our Provence Group as well for other ideas at:<BR>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provence

I'd skip Graveson, Saignon, Paluds de Noves and Cabrieres d'Avignon.... Saignon is charming, but a bit out of the way for visiting Les Baux, St Remy and the Pont du Gard (you DO want to visit the Pont du Gard ?)<BR><BR>St. Remy or Les Baux are centrally located - but if you prefer to concentrate your day trips in the Luberon area, I'd suggest Roussillon. Gordes is too "done" and I prefer to see it from a distance, Oppede is a newer village (Oppede le Vieux is charming, but I don't know if there are any hotels there).<BR><BR>PB <BR>

Thanks for the help with narrowing down.<BR><BR>Does anyone have experience/info. on these hotels? (We don't want to rule out Gordes just yet).<BR><BR>Gordes - Les Romarins or La Gacholle<BR>Oppede - Mas de Capelans<BR>St. Remy - La Maison (I'm not sure if this is actually IN St. Remy)<BR>Les Baux - Mas de L'Oulivie (I think this is a bit too pricey)<BR><BR>

&lt;&lt; St. Remy - La Maison (I'm not sure if this is actually IN St. Remy)<BR>Les Baux - Mas de L'Oulivie (I think this is a bit too pricey)&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>La Maison is on the road to Eyragues and not in St Remy itself.<BR><BR>The Mas de l'Oulivie is a modern hotel - it reminds me rather of a motel type place. I would recommend the Benvengudo - a bit closer to Les Baux and the village of Maussane-les-Alpilles (where I live).<BR>

I found Menerbes a convenient location. Just got back and visited St. Remy and Arles one day, Avignon and the Pont du Gard another, Les Baux was so covered in tour busses, I looked from a distance and kept on going. One day we visited Gordes, Roussillon, L'lsle sur la Sorgue (couldn't see what the attraction was there) and generally made a sweep of small villages. We found them all to be more convenient to Menerbes than I had anticipated. While not as central as St. Remy, the day trips were very easy. We stopped in Lourmarin and Bonnieux on our way from Aix. Take care, Kay

Kay - <BR>Where (what hotel) did you stay at in Menerbes? I didn't know there were any.<BR><BR>I am confused why everyone is saying St. Remy and Les Baux are "central". When I look at the map, it is far west of everything we want to see.

As I said in an earlier post, if you want to concentrate on the Luberon area, you should stay there. St Remy and Les Baux (ten minutes from each other) are centrally located for most of the things Provence is well known for - the towns of Nimes, Arles,Pont du Gard, Avignon,Aix,etc. Most places are under an hour's drive.<BR><BR>PB

Hey Alan- am working on a trip report-stay tuned.<BR>Just got back and stayed at the Mas D'aigret in Les Baux and loved it. Nice low key place with charm and stunning views if you get a room with a terrace. The room was small but great.<BR>stayed at the Moulin de Lourmarin and wasn't impressed-too new and contrived. Try Villa St. Louis in Lourmarin if you can get in-it's great.<BR><BR>Bonnieux is a lunch stop but wouldn't stay there. Lunch at Les Terasses up on the hill was fantastic. Not fancy, just a brasserie with great Rose, the best pasta ever and the salads were delicious. <BR>Drove through L'Isle sur la Sorgue and wished we had stayed there- it's central and I think that's where you should have your base.

Alan, We stayed at La Bastide de Marie. It is expensive, our room was 450 Euro/night but it included a great breakfast and the best food we had on our trip. You can choose between lunch or dinner with your half board which is already included in the price. If you are interested, I posted a report while I was there last month titled "I am at La Bastide de Marie." If you like to shop, St. Remy has lots of craft type shops, I would guess the best selection of restaurants out of the places I visited, and is charming. Gordes is picture perfect and the most beautiful by far. Les Baux looks to be fabulous too, but I couldn't get near it! I drove through Oppede, but I think it is rather too small, although lovely. I didn't even stop in L'lsle slur la Sorgue. It just didn't charm me at all. If you can budget for ...Marie, you will not be disappointed. The web page is labastidedemarie.com. Take care. Kay

Thanks to all who have responded.<BR><BR>Kay, the Bastide de Marie is beautiful, but WAY over our price range of $200 US a night max.<BR><BR>Given where we want to stay, and comments from others, I am curious how these towns compare from a standpoint of being central to what we want to see - <BR><BR>St. Remy and Les Baux the furthest west (we will not see Arles, Nimes, Uzes or Pont du Gard this trip), Saignon the furthest east, Gordes the furthest north, and Lourmarin the furthest south. <BR><BR>We want see Aix, but most likely spend a night or two there.<BR><BR>Lourmarin, Gordes, Oppede and Cabrieres d'Avignon (PB - why would you rule this out?)<BR><BR>Interested in comparisons of closeness to main roads, village ambiance, and restaurants. Restaurants may not be an issue, as we may chose a hotel with a restaurant and crash and eat there each night.<BR><BR>I'm leaning toward Lourmarin or Gordes, but Cabrieres d'Avignon and Oppede seem more central. I love St. Remy, but it is too far west to be central to what we want to see, which mainly the Luberon - this trip.<BR><BR>Thanks again to everyone. I appreciate your insight and comments.

Kay - If you are out there - and anyone else - <BR><BR>wanted to ask what your favorite Luberon villages were and why.

Alan, you probably can't go wrong visiting any of the towns/villages that have been mentioned; one is as charming as the next. I'd consider just staying in one place and using it as a base. Here again you can hardly go wrong; everything is very close. A few years ago we and friends rented a gite near Gordes and went out each day in a different direction (probably never over 30 mi. away except for going to Moustiers Ste. Marie to the east[highly recommend]); it was a wonderful vacation. I hope to do it again next spring with a lg. family group.