Arles/Avignon Suggestions

The Avignon tourism office is very helpful: http://www.avignon-tourisme.com/home-1-2.html

We stayed at Hotel du Musee in Arles a couple of years ago. The hotel is old and very beautiful, the outdoor breakfast courtyard is surrounded by flowers, our room was quite large and looked out on the red and ochre-colored rooftops of Arles. It was quite reasonable too. I liked Arles more than Avignon, but everyone has their preferences.

We visited Arles in November 2010. Beautiful time of year: blue skies, cooler weather but not cold.

Definitely visit Baux Les Provence. In Arles one of the neatest places was the old Roman forum that's now underground. I think it's called the Cryptoportique, but the T.I. could help you for sure.

It's not the Place du Forum which is just a square in the city

For Van Gogh lovers, in Arles, the site of Van Gogh's "Yellow House" (it was destroyed in WW2 but there is still a tree that you can see in one of his paintings of the immediate area.

For Van Gogh lovers, in Arles, the site of Van Gogh's "Yellow House," the house was accidentally bombed into rubble in WW2 but there's still a tree a block away that you can see in one of his paintings of the neighborhood.

Also, if you're into Van Gogh, the Fondation Van Gogh now has about a dozen of his paintings, including "Yellow House", on loan from the museum in Amsterdam.

Hi Kitty,

We stayed at the Hôtel de l’Horloge inside the old center of Avignon and really enjoyed the hotel & location next to the square as a nice home base location. There's lots of shopping with reasonable prices in streets that are off-limits to vehicles. During our time there, we took a few half-day trips - a train to Nimes to see Maison Carrée, temple of Diana, and the arena. Another day we took the bus to Pont du Gard. And, we joined a mini-van tour that went to the Luberon villages & lavender fields. We enjoyed all of these options.

If you will have a car I personally always stay in St. Remy which is a smaller town but has many great restaurants and a fun streets to explore. It is between Arles and Avignon so it is easy to visit both cities along with many of the other great destinations in Provence. If you won't have a car then Arles and Avignon are easier to connect with rail. Between these two towns I personally like Arles (has a bit more of a historical look to it). Avignon is quite nice and has a university town feel so there really isn't a right or wrong choice.

Another Van Gogh hint. If you are familiar with his painting of the garden at the hospital in Arles, the building and garden are still there. It's not a hospital anymore but the garden looks very much the same as it did in the painting and is very nice. I had a citron presse at a cafe under the arcade too. It's also fun to visit the cafe on the Place du Forum. I liked Arles better than Avignon too.