We land in Marseille and hope to see Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Nimes, Les Baux, St Remy and Avignon over a 6 day/5 night period. Is that too much? Do we pick one hotel to stay and do day trips from there or stay in a different one each night as we move along our route? All suggestions are much appreciated. We will have a car. Thanks.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I would stay the first night in Aix and add another night if you want to day-trip to Marseille. Then move on to base in one of the remaining destinations, probably Arles or St Remy. Add the Pont du Gard to your sightseeing list. Also try to agree on what is last priority for you if timing doesn't work out to see everything; probably Nimes or Avignon.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thanks Laura. I should have mentioned that we are last minute planners and this trip is for July 7 - 12. Yes, next week. I found a hotel in Aix for 2 nights and another in Les Baux for the other 3 nights. Looks like it should work out well. Thanks again.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
July 7 - Arrive Marseille. Pick up hire car. Drive to Aix-en-Provence - 2 nights
July 8 - Day to Arles
July 9 - Drive via St Remy to Les Baux - 3 nights
July 10 - Day to Nimes & Pont du Gard
July 11 - Day to Avignon (& Orange ??)
July 12 - Return hire car and depart
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for that wonderful itinerary idea. I should have mentioned that we head to Geneva after our 5 nights in Provence so will likely end in the Avignon/Gordes area. Is it worth a night in Joucas at Le Phebus at the end?
Posted by
California 🦋
5293 posts
Bruce,
Les Baux is a very small town & there's not much to do there other than visit the castle ruins, a couple of small museums, & small church.
IMO, Les Baux does not make for a good, "home base". It also gets very hot up there, so I hope the hotel you've booked has A/C.
I know there is not much time, but you may reconsider & stay in Saint Remy instead of Les Baux.
You mentioned that you will be flying out of Geneva, you may consider spending at least one night in Annecy.
Avignon is a nice medieval city, but we loved our stay in L'Isle-sur-la Sorgue! ;-)
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
360 posts
We saw that many towns in the same time period and didn't feel too rushed -- it also depends on how much time you want to spend in each (we only spent a few hours in Avignon and Arles, which some might view as a travesty but that's how long they held our interest). We loved Uzes, which was recommended to us by our wine tour guide, and we went there on a Saturday for their market day and also saw a little parade. We stayed in L'Isle sur la Sorgue and would also recommend it for their Sunday market (get there early), and Gordes offers one of those majestic hill town views. And we also liked Rousillion with it's different look from the other towns, due to the red ochre. If you're in Aix, we also went down to Cassis for a day trip on the Mediterranean and thought it was beautiful -- we took a quick boat trip to see the Calanques, and I had the best bouillabaisse there (also happened to be there for their market day on Friday, by coincidence).
Posted by
Atlanta
3262 posts
I think that Les Baux is a great base for visiting the areas you want to see. We stayed nearby in Maussane Les Alpilles in May and it worked perfectly. For restaurants in the evening, you could drive to Maussane, Paradou or Saint Remy.
A highlight of our trip was a visit to Carrieres de Lumieres. Hope you have time to see it too!