Greetings,
My wife and I shall be taking a trip to Provence from 12/21 morning to 12/23 evening. My initial thoughts are to use Marseilles as our hub and definitely go to Avignon and Aix-en-Provence.
Which other city should we add? Arles or Nimes? It has to train accessible.
Hugs,
jason
Arles is a great day trip option from Marseille St Charles station (1h). You can also take a direct train to Nimes Pont du Gard (1h 15m). After seeing Pont du Gard, you can take a 15-minute train to Nimes Centre and explore its city center. Marseille is a 1h 15m direct train ride back.
Are you planning on seeing the Calanques while in Marseille? Not sure if it will be doable in Dec but if I were going to Marseille, I would not miss seeing these fjords.
Hi,
I like all of the cities you've mentioned and have been fortunate to visit them all.
If it were me, I would use Avignon as the base. There is ample there in the city to keep you busy for a full 24 hours: the Palace of the Popes, the Pont d'avignon, and the old town. In addition, you should really try to get to see the Pont du Gard which is accessible by bus.
From Avignon, you can visit Arles, Nimes, and/or Aix. Each of them are worth a full day and are all accessible by train. I liked Nimes and Arles because of the ancient Roman amphitheaters in each city, plus Nimes has the Maison Carre, the Castellum, an ancient Roman Tower (and other ruins) and two beautiful public gardens. Arles has other ruins, plus lots of Van Gogh sites and a great Museum of Roman Antiques. All three have great plazas, restaurants and wine bars.
Aix is very beautiful, too, with some very beautiful museums and Paul Cezanne's atelier, along with some great churches, plazas/squares, and great scenic views of Mt. Victoire. I'm not sure if all, if any, of the sites I mentioned are open during Covid, but all the cities are great.
Best of luck
Because of your dates, staying down on the coast and visiting your original sites is a good idea. It gets gray, colder, and bleak further inland, not to mention the discomfort caused by the Mistral wind if it is blowing out of the Alps, which it does about every third day this time of year.
You are better off in larger places like Marseille, Arles and Nîmes because so many restaurants and cafés are closed or only inside this time of year.
Marseille has several days worth of sites and museums. Keep your schedule flexible, so that if the wind is blowing when you get up in the morning, you know to visit indoor attractions.
Avignon in winter is not very charming, unlike in July when the theater festival is running. We drove over for a day last December after the lockdown was lifted but left much more quickly than planned. We've been there many times before.
Aix is both a wealthy town and college town with plenty to see for a day. One of my kids went to school there and loved it.
Hi,
So you are there for just 2 nights?
Marseille can be a little bit bleak in the winter if you are unlucky with the wind, but the same is true all over the region.
This being said, it makes for a good hub for such a short visit. It is very easy to visit Aix by bus from there (either the very frequent line 50 from Saint Charles station, or less frequent line 49 from Arenc-le Silo which is more convenient if you are staying in/near the "Panier" old town area - both are better than the train), and Aix is very much worth a visit (including interesting museums).
If the weather's nice, the Calanques are worth a brief tour as well - unless you are keen hikers, the best way is by boat from Marseille, the boat tours run from the Vieux Port on the days you are there.
Arles is also easy to reach and very worthwhile - more so than Avignon in my opinion!
I echo Bets 100%. Marseille is the best place for winter time. It offers big city amenities. The other 2 you would risk not having enough to do. I spent Christmas 2015 in Marseille and it was an excellent base to visit these cities. I'd definitely tack on Arles. I haven't done Nimes yet, but I hear great things.
I stayed at the Grand Hotel Beauvau on the vieux port and it was the perfect place. Marseille has some of the most amazing museums in Fance and the restaurant scene is just amazing. People will try to talk you out of Marseille, but I have to say I really found the city charming and the people to be very friendly. Don't forget to go to Cassis and see the Calanques. I did use a local tour company that offered day trips and they were very professional and picked up at the Radisson in the Vieux Port. Next time I would probably stay at Les Résidences du Vieux Port.
I don't know what the situation is like in December, but during the summer boat trips run to the Calanques from both Marseille and Cassis. There are trains to Cassis, but the station is some distance from the port--nearly 2 miles on foot. There's infrequent bus service which (based on Google) isn't very direct or fast. Cassis is a picturesque little place, but if all you care about is seeing the Calanques, it's simpler to do that from Marseille.
@acraven, the boats should be running from Marseille too on the OP's dates, I checked earlier this PM.
They get cancelled if the sea is rough, though.
“Arles is a great day trip option from Marseille St Charles station (1h). You can also take a direct train to Nimes Pont du Gard (1h 15m). After seeing Pont du Gard, you can take a 15-minute train to Nimes Centre and explore its city center. Marseille is a 1h 15m direct train ride back.”
I don’t believe that Pont du Gard has a train station. You can take a bus there from Nimes.
There are a lot of day or half-day tours from Avignon by van and/or bus with a personal, English-speaking driver/tour guide. I've never done this, but I have signed up for two such tours in December leaving from Avignon for the small medieval-looking hill towns and the Roman ruins outside and around Avignon. They are a little expensive, but not absurdly so, especially if you divide the amount among your group. A four- or five-hour personal tour in a van can be as low as $80 per person. I booked in advance per a tour company website.
Arles is intersting if a bit crusty. I loved Nimes. Beautiful sparking town with great historical sights.
We spent September is Aix and loved it. There is a bus that goes from Marseilles Saint Charles Station to Aix Gare Routiere. Buses run back and forth every 5-10 minutes and it’s a 35 minute ride. The bus station in Aix-en-Provence is centrally located. From city center to the bus station it is a 5 minutes walk.
The TGV station is a 20 minute bus ride outside of Aix so the Marseilles-Aix bus is the way to go. Very easy. https://www.lecaraixmarseille.com/line-50
