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Help me plan 6 days in Provence

Hello Travelers,

I am planning a very last minute trip with my 19 year old daughter the 1st week of September. Neither of us have ever been to Provence before.
I am planning on flying into Charles de Gaulle and flying to Marseille. At the end of the trip we are flying on to prague where she will be studying this fall. We can either fly out of Nice or Marseille (although the timing of the Nice flight might be slightly better).
My questions are: is it better to stay in 1 city/ town and day trip or stay in 2?
Some of the places we are thinking we would really like to see are:
Aix
Verdon Gorge
Sillans-la-Cascade truffle tour in Cadnet
Musee Estrine
some sort of vineyard/ biking excursion
maybe Le Sentier des Ocres

Is there anything else I should be sure to do/go?
I plan on renting a car so am also torn about staying within a town where we can walk out for dinner vs. in a b&b that is slightly out of town but is easier with parking.
All suggestions are invited.

Thank you! Merci!

Posted by
7304 posts

Hi,
Do you have 5 or 6 nights?
With the interests you've listed I'd split my time in 2 locations:

  1. Somewhere near Lourmarin/ Cadenet, basically just south of the Lubéron, for 3 nights
    --> This lets you day trip to Aix, do your truffle tour (I worry about September though, is it still the season?), pop by Roussillon if you wish. St Rémy is further away, not sure you have the time.

  2. Somewhere near the Verdon Gorges, I suggest Moustiers or Aups, for 2 or 3 nights
    --> This lets you tour the Gorges area. Forget about the Cascade in Sillans, it's likely to be a trickle by September. However, if you stay in Aups, I 100% recommend passing by Cotignac, if only on your way back to Marseille airport. To me, it's the most beautiful village in the region.

Posted by
741 posts

also if you do have a car, do drive some of Route de Napoleon, it is absolutely stunning!

Posted by
882 posts

If you decide to do the Gorge du Verdon, I recommend the hotel we stayed at: Les Restanques du Moustiers. We stayed one night and wished we had two. One night allowed us to enjoy the town and the gorge (both wonderful), a second night would have given us time to enjoy being on/in the water. There is so much else to see in Provence, that you might want to think about whether you want to do so much driving to go to the gorge, but it is wonderful.