L'isle sur la Sorgue or St. Remy

I've stayed in both and I like both. Both are touristy but St Remy is just a bit more so. I first saw St Remy when I saw a show with Giada de Laurentis and she referred to St Remy as the Hamptons of Provence and I think she is correct. St Remy is IMO a bit more upscale and has better restaurants. Given that you will have a car, L'Isle having a train station will not make much of difference. I'd decide based on which accommodations I like better and also exactly what I plan to do during the my stay. They are only about 40 minutes apart so it really comes down to the feel of both places. As I mentioned above, I have been to both. I have spent more time in L'Isle but that was because I found a beautiful house there one summer with a pool with walking distance of the center of town for the summer that I spent most of a month in Provence.

Thank you so much! We thinking to stay in L'isle sur la Sorgue. Any good restaurants you can recommend there?

I stayed in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (actually in a villa just outside), and did St-Remy as part of a day trip. I enjoyed doing it that way, as ISLS is so peaceful with the streams flowing through the town. ISLS is an easy base for St-Remy / Les Baux; Nimes / Pont du Gard; Avignon; or the Luberon.

St-Remy I recall being significantly hotter and drier. The thing I remember most about SR is the olive shops - olives, oil, tapenade - it was marvelous.

For a restaurant in ISLS, the only one I remember well is Le Bellevue, where you can sit outside right on the riverbank.

Thank you all!

Hi daliabadaras,

The following is a reply I posted last year in response to a similar question about wine touring in Provence. This is a DIY, not a private or group tour:

Rick's Provence book includes a suggested Cote du Rhone "wine route". We used it as a rough guide, starting in the village of Gigondas, about an hour's drive from St. Remy. (Can't speak to whether sparkling rose' will be featured in the region. This link might help: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/wines-of-provence.) We did a "tasting" at a shop in Gigondas; I don't think it was affiliated with a single winery. There are probably others. Rick's proposed route (a loop) is a beautiful drive. We enjoyed lunch in Gigondas at a restaurant named Nez, also a wine bar. Their website: http://www.nez-gigondas.com/ Domaine de Coyeux winery, on Rick's route, was particularly enjoyable....the drive up to the mountain-side winery is worth the effort.

rca

Not to hijack the original post, but I am interested in anyone else's comments on St. Remy as a home base in particular. My wife and I are planning to stay there for 3 nights in late June...the various comments/thoughts about that town as a home base have been interesting! We will have a car, and are spending some time in Avignon and Arles as part of the same trip.

Umami restaurant in L'isle is a great experience.

Both are great choices. With either choice, you will love having a car so that you can tour the smaller villages. Visiting on market day in a town is the best - my favorite is the Friday market in the village of Eygalières (near St. Remy). Good link: Provence Market Days

I agonized over staying in St Remy or L’Isle sur la Sorgue for our trip last September. I chose St Remy and was very glad i did. We did not like L’Isle at all. Felt dirty, run down, depressing. St Remy is a very real town, not Disney-like at all (which i was worried about). It is very nice, great as a base, great for walking around, lots of great little shops, restaurants, bakeries and cafés. They also have a weekly market which is considered the best one in western Provence. We really enjoyed Café de la Place with great food and a large outdoor terrace with lots of tables. St Remy is the most relaxing town i’ve stayed in. It was really wonderful. We stayed at Hotel du Soleil which was a real gem.

I've stayed in or near St. Rémy several times and visited L'Isle sur la Sorgue twice and of the two I would absolutely choose St. Rémy.

By the way, it's really Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, as there are an astounding 43 communes in France named either Saint-Rémy or Saint-Rémy-de/en/le-something. Obviously a popular name!

The time we stayed at the Hotel et Villa Glanum, just down the road (D5/Avenue Vincent Van Gogh) from the Glanum archaeological site and across the road from the Monastère Saint-Paul de Mausole (where Van Gogh spent some of his last days) was a nice trip, though it's a bit of a hike (10 minutes or so by foot) to central Saint-Remy. They have outside dining and it's a very pleasant experience for dinner.

One place I would not recommend is Da Peppe Italian Restaurant in Saint-Rémy. I had the misfortune of ordering their lasagne della Nonna -- it was very bland lasagne in a gratin dish pooled in heavy cream and baked. If there's one way to make even marginally edible lasagne inedible, that would be it.

There’s a beautiful place right outside of St. Remy called Le Chateau des Alpilles....my husband and I discovered it on a ride one day while we were staying in St. Remy. It is a lovely old home on a beautiful estate. We had lunch there one day in their gardens and it was delightful. You might see if it is available. I think it has 9 or 10 rooms it rents out. We went to the Sunday market in L’Isle sur la Sorgue and found it a great day....charming little town.