We’re planning a road trip (approximately 10 days) through parts of Provence in May. Thinking of flying into Marseille and out of Nice. We’ll have a car. We’re in the process of selecting which towns to use as base sites from which to explore the areas. Wherever we stay must have easy parking. Towns/areas we’re thinking of visiting for the day (or possibly several): Arles, Verdon Gorge, Luberon Park, Aix en Provence, St. Remy, Avignon and perhaps L’Isle sur la Sorgue and Eze. We’d like your opinions, and are open to other ideas. (Keep in mind- the trip will be approximately 10 days.) I’ve read that St. Remy might be good for one of our bases. Hotel/inn suggestions? (In general, we like small, charming places to stay but are open to other ideas.) Know of any great food tours in any of these towns? We’d also like suggestions for great cafes or restaurants (if for dinner, offering a selection of seafood and vegetarian options). Thanks in advance!

If you haven't already seen it, you might find some useful information in my trip report. I didn't use bases, but I visited most of the places you mention and have comments about lodging and restaurants in them.
A stellar month in southeastern France

Thanks kja. I did read part of your post. Will check it out again.

It's long, but the names of places are in purple text, so that should help you identify relevant sections.

Glad to see you have found a few more days for your trip. As I said before please do not drive on your arrival day, for everyone's safety.

Stu Dudley was the man to go to for info on Provence, but he seems to have vanished (anyone know why - did I miss something?. You could do a search on his name for suggestions he's made in the past.

Heti, your post made me realize that I haven’t seen any posts by Stu Dudley in a long time, either. I did a quick google search an, of this is him, it looks like he passed away last August. I don’t remember anyone mentioning this on Fodors. Very sad, he was such a great contributor, especially in regards to France, especially Provence.

https://patch.com/california/sanmate...s-august-20-26

I say no to the Verdon Gorge and quite frankly I find Avignon to be boring. It sounds to me like you have yet to truly delve into what is in Provence.

It's a big area, and of course you can cover a lot of ground in ten days. I find the following site to be excellent for one-stop shopping on info for the villages of Provence:

provenceweb.fr

Some of my favorite places are: The ochre quarry at Rousillon, Fontaine de Vaucluse, Vieux Vernegue, Grottes de Cales, Fondation Vasereley in Aix, boat trip out to Chateau d'If, Marseilles harbor, les Calanques, Hauts de Cagnes sur Mer, St Paul de Vence, Eze, Tourette sur Loup, Rue Obscure de Villefranche, Menton, Biot.

Honestly, there are so many magnificent places to explore, many of them you just need to stumble across along the way.

We have moved several posts about the passing of long time Fodorite Stu Dudley to a new thread which is found here: Passing of longtime Fodorite Stu Dudley

Please post comments or remembrances about Stu on that thread.

I take the liberty of trying to attach Stu Dudley’s 2023 edition of his Provence notes. He was so very helpful to so many. Greatly missed.

Thanks everyone. Still have a lot of research work to do! Please keep sending your recommendations.

Started reading Stu Dudley’s Provence ideas. Also researching half-day food tours. If any of you know of great ones- or ones to skip- please let me know. I was reading about one in Aix called “Tastes of Provence” that people seem to love.

Trip almost planned. We need to find a nice hotel in Cassis for one or two nights and then a nice one in Aix for a few nights before our flight out of Marseilles. Any suggestions? We’re flexible about price, and whether or not there’s breakfast included. As far as location in each town, we’re open to your suggestions for that, as well. (We’ll have a rental car.)