Arles or Avignon?

I think a lot depends on what you plan to do during the 1-1/2 days (roughly) you will be in Provence. Is the Arles market a definite stop? Is there something you definitely want to see in Avignon? If your time in Nice is equally short, I honestly would consolidate all the southern France time into one stop. There are enough highlights in either area to fill more than a week, and you wouldn't be spending so much time on trains.

Going to Arles rather than Avignon TGV Station from Paris takes at least an extra 1-1/2 hours. Can you make good use of that 1-1/2 hours in Paris? Going on to Nice from Arles rather than Avignon TGV Station takes about an extra half hour. On the other hand, the Avignon TGV Station requires a transfer into town, which will eat up some of the time saved on the way to or from the city. So the time difference on the trip to Nice is negligible.

The trip from Avignon Centre Station to Arles takes 17 minutes, so the side-trip will not be time-consuming in either direction.

None of those trains runs extremely frequently, so your preferred times of departure are another factor that might make one base more convenient than another.

Thank you for the quick reply. We are using Provence as a transitional stop between two major cities. We like to walk and explore small town between bigger city stays.

If you have the RS app, there is a travel talk on Provence. In Part I, there was some discussion of Arles vs. Avignon as a base. I didn't make a mental note, since a trip to that area is probably a few years a way, but perhaps you'd find the discussion helpful.

When I did something like this in 2017, I chose to stay in Arles and day trip to Avignon and the Pont du Gard. I wish I had stayed in Avignon instead. While Arles is clearly older and more interesting in a sense (Roman ruins), the town is positively dead at night - at least, it was the two nights I was there. It's never fun to hunt around at night for a restaurant that's open in a sleepy town. There were restaurants open but it wasn't obvious. In other towns, there is no doubt that restaurants are open.

I spent a few hours in Avignon one day after day tripping from there to Pont du Gard (which was great - terrific museum there too!), and I could tell from that that Avignon was clearly a more interesting place to be at night. I would have preferred to day trip to Arles instead. I went in the other direction (Nice to Arles, Arles to Paris) and the trains really weren't the issue, so I wouldn't choose one town or the other based on the trains.

I agree there is more to see in Avignon - Popes Palace, pedestrian walking zone inside the old walls, the pont d'avignon. However if you're a Van Gogh fan there are several interesting sites in Arles plus roman ruins.

Also highly recommend Roussilon while in Provence. Lovely little artists town. We were lucky enough to be there on a market day. It reminded me of Sedona Arizona with classier shops.

If you want a smaller town, choose Arles. We stayed there for 3 days in August and found it very delightful. We did have a car to get to other towns, but we could have also gotten there by train. There is much to do inside the town, great restaurants.

We stayed 2 nights in Avignon also. Avignon is a bit bigger, but there are some nice neighborhoods. We were in the Rue de Trintieres (or something like that, the dyers area.)

We actually thought Arles was pretty lively at night. Restaurants were open late, the city square had people milling about.

I can't compare Arles to Avignon, since I've never been to Arles. BUT, if you decide to stay Avignon, I highly recommend this company for small-group tours in the area:

http://www.provence-panorama.com/en/

No matter what you decide, I bet you will love France.

Thank you everyone!

I liked Arles much better than Avignon. For two nights without a car, I'd much rather be in Arles than Avignon. IMO there is more to see and do in Arles (in walking distance).

That said, I think 2 nights is too little to see much in Provence. Plus you really need a car to see around. You can enjoy Arles (or Avignon) but that's a lot of Provence left unexplored.

Nice is fine without a car as are any of the beach towns that are connected by the local rail. When I visited I stayed in Juan les Pins but, after exploring, I'd suggest Antibes as the best overall place to stay in the Riviera. Fly back to Paris from Nice (Air France to Orly). It's much faster and cheaper.

Since you aren’t really talking about enough time to sightsee in the area, I would recommend Arles over Avignon in a heartbeat. Arles actually has more to see than Avignon. The Roman amphitheater and the Arles Roman history museum are top notch. There are also some other ruins and sights in the town center. Being there for a market day is absolutely reason enough to stay there! The market day is a unique experience. The town itself is interesting enough for a night or two, you won’t be bored. I would enjoy going back.

Avignon was one of my least favorite places. It’s fine if that’s where you decide to land, but there’s not all that much to see. The Papal Palace is... a bust. Having an expensive coffee while enjoying its facade is pretty much the highlight. The interior has nothing of interest. There’s a couple nice squares, and an overly touristy one, but otherwise nothing really set the place apart. I also thought it got sketchy at night. Not worryingly so, but it did nothing to inspire any romantic feelings about the place.

I'd like to suggest Villeneuve 'd Avignon, just across the famous bridge. It's a charming little gem of a village with a real "commune" feel & the fabulous Fort looming overhead, but only minutes away from Avignon, just across the bridge. It combines the comfort a tiny country town with the big tourist sites of the city only a 2-3 km taxi ride away.