Hi, We are planning on spending 4 days in Provence in early July this summer. Would love recs and tips on favorite towns to stay in. Husband and I are traveling with our two boys, 12 and 7.

We fly into Marseille and plan on enjoying Provence for 4 days and then fly out from Nice (after staying in Nice for the rest of our trip to enjoy the riviera).

We plan on enjoying the Luberon towns and lavender, arles, avignon, pont du gard and les baux.

Is it convenient to stay in one spot and day trip? If so, which spot would you choose? Thinking either Avignon or Aix en Provence.

Or alternatively, we can break it into two stays with the first couple of nights in Aix en Provence and the rest in Avignon.

Are the luberon towns nice to stay in? Roussillon was the one I had looked into staying as well.

THANK YOU so much for any tips and recommendations.

Will you have a rental car?

We love Aix! Our oldest daughter lived in Aix for a couple years, and we visited her quite frequently. Aix is a lively university town with a very pretty Old Town, lots of plazas and fountains, and lots of markets. You can also visit Cezanne's studio.

However, as much as I love Aix, I think that St. Remy might be a more convenient choice to visit not only the Luberon villages but also Avignon, Pont Du Gard, and Les Baux. In fact, St. Remy is right next to Les Baux. The asylum that Van Gogh lived in for a year is in St. Remy, as well as the Roman ruins of Glanum. St. Remy is very attractive and has lots of restaurants, cafes, and shops. There is also a weekly market.

For 4 days, I would stay in one place. Otherwise, you waste too much time packing/unpacking/checking in/checking out.

Regarding staying in Avignon, I know that a lot of people like to stay there if they aren't driving because there is good transportation from Avignon: train station, bus station. IMO Avignon is an interesting city to visit for a day or half day, but personally, I don't think it's as attractive as St. Remy or Aix so I wouldn't want to stay there for 4 days.

By the way, are you spending 4 nights (3 days) in Provence? Or 5 nights (4 days)?

Whatever you do do not drive on your arrival day. Dangerous for you all and for other road users.
You have a long list of things there for not a lot of time. I think you need to decide what is really important to you and to your children otherwise you will spend a lot of time rushing around the French countryside and not getting to enjoy any of it.

Hi Traveler_2012, I agree about your limited time and would consider a tour. My dated TR below should give you a feel for timing needed to visit so many places. Scroll down to page 4 and very end of page 3 for the Aix portion of our trip:

Trip Report: A Provence Sandwich

Hi All, Thank you for your helpful feeback. Sorry, I forgot to include that we will be renting a car and driving. We will be there for 5 nights, 4 days and then switch to Nice for our base for another 5 days.

Hi Hitismij2, Yes agreed driving on the first day after a long flight is tiring. We are actually coming in from europe so have a shorter flight but don't plan on doing much our first day. Will explore Marseille and then get to our hotel and rest.

Hi KarenWoo,

Yes, we will have a rental car and are used to driving in europe. So happy to hear about your thoughts and experience with Aix. Will look into St Remy as well. We are staying 4 days / 5 nights in Provence.

Hi TDudette, Loved reading your trip report. It sounded wonderful. And loved reading about Aix in there. Thank you for sharing.

Traveler_2012,
Here is the link to my trip report from our last visit to Provence. There are lots of photos so it might help you decide what towns to visit. We haven't been back since because our daughter and her family relocated to the U.S. It's nice having them closer by but we miss visiting France.

Trip Report Provence in December - Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Thank you!!!

And a link to my long report:
A stellar month in southeastern France