Is Provence too hot in early-mid June?

We were in Arles in the first week of June a couple of years ago. There was a heatwave, and the temperature must have been around 100 F during the hottest part of the day. I remember we experienced the heat as almost crushing at times (notably on a rental car visit to the shade-challenged Camargue), but in retrospect don't think it made all that much difference otherwise, given the kind of activities (largely urban) we chose. We sat around in the shade or napped in the hotel room during the hottest part of the day, but wound up seeing and doing pretty much what we had planned on. One great thing is that the temperature declined quickly after the sun went down, so evenings were very comfortable. In that kind of heat reasonably strenuous mid-day activities such as hiking would have been tough; but then, that heat was unusual. Our takeaway is that we love the area but are wary of the heat; we look forward to returning in April or early May sometime.

Temperature statistics are available from several websites. I was also there during that June heatwave. To mitigate your concerns, get air conditioned bedrooms. Our biggest issue that week was not the day, but sleeping in an unairconditioned bedroom with no window screens and many mosquitoes. Unlike much of France, mosquitoes are an issue around the Rhone.

Matt

Keep in mind that Europe is not as totally air conditioned as the US. Here at home (unless we are gardeners or golfers) we tend to move from one air conditioned environment to another. In Europe, you may encounter non-air-conditioned museums, historical sights shops, cafés, train stations and bus stations. Museums holding paintings are usually cooled to at least some degree.

You can reserve an air-conditioned hotel room (and you certainly should), but it's hard to avoid other areas that may not be cooled. Looking for restaurants that have their doors closed may help. The locals tend to eat outdoors, under umbrellas, which can be relatively pleasant, but that's the smoking section, so...

I suggest paying a lot of attention to the locations of your hotels. Try to find places that are a short walk from the tourist attractions so you'll be able to retreat to your room for an air-conditioned break if you need one. It's a real pain to do that if you have to walk a long distance or wait for a bus (no shade at most bus stops).

I like to use a Kool-Tie (competitors exist, and it's available from multiple sources in many colors) to keep my neck cool. I think it helps quite a bit, but the rest of your body will still know it's hot. It's really exhausting to be in high heat day after day. I've done it, but it's a lot more fun if you can avoid it.

Asking if a particular place is 'too hot' is a tough question to answer. What is 'too hot' to you? It actually depends more on you and what that means to you than on the answers you receive. I've been to Provence in July and it may or may not have been too hot in some people's opinion - temps in the upper 90's, not a cloud in sight, and often little shade. It was not too hot for me. Neither was Greece, Turkey, southern Italy, and Sicily - also in July when everyone else cringes at the thought. It all depends on your tolerance and your chosen methods to avoid the worst of the heat if it is too hot for you.

If you are definitely doing the two locations then Provence is best done first in early to mid-June, then going to BO later. The other way around would put you in Provence when it might be even hotter.

We stayed in Sur la sorgue the last two weeks on June a few years ago. Weather was great but of course the weather can vary a lot year to year. I would look at the daily temps for several years and see what the daily highs are. I did that when planning a recent trip. There were wildly different results year to year.

Thanks for the replies. I don't mind a day or two over 90, but I'd prefer 70s or low 80s.

Definitely look for a place with AC.
We stayed in early part of July and it was hot. One place we stayed for 3 nights had no ac and no fan. Was an Airbnb stay and we had a very hard time sleeping there. Everywhere else we stayed had AC and the heat was not a bother.

The other thing we noted in the summer in Provence (and probably much of Europe) is a higher accepted tolerance for flies around food.

The flies drove my mother nuts. It's not just in France. It's all over the place because there are no window screens and doors tend to be kept open due to lack of air conditioning.

Too hot as pointed out above is relative. However, the lack of window screens can be problematic. Flies and/or mosquitoes depending on where you're going can be a difficulty. Seeking AC is a way to avoid this. In Paris, for some reason, we don't have much of a problem with flies and mosquitoes but Provence is a different story. Arles and the Camargue are mosquito heaven.

Thank you for the replies. We will definitely look for a place to stay with screens and air conditioning. We have decided to save the Berner Oberland for another time and focus on Barcelona and Provence for this trip.

I recall asking a rental agent in Spain why the houses had no screens. His response was a puzzled, "But Senor, how then could the flies get out?". The answer made perfect sense to him. Me, not so much.

I follow an individual on Twitter who lives in Murren. You can access the pictures he takes every few days of the area on your computer without a Twitter account: https://twitter.com/Murrenlover

I will be in Murren from 22 - 26 May 2019. This past year, end of May into June, there was no snow on the ground and the flowers were in bloom. In 2017 it snowed on 19 May & had melted away by the 26th. You can scroll down & see his posted pictures over the years.

Enjoy your trip.