Provence

As it stands, you have four nights open? Am I interpreting that right?

I loved, loved Vaison-la-Romaine and would suggest two nights minimum. It’s a decent base too, so add on from there depending on what you want to see. I would also try as hard as I can to be there for their market day. It’s amazing, and takes over almost every street in the new town (you’ll need to be very careful about parking in relation to this too, check with hotel.)

Avignon is my least favorite city in all of my European experience and I would tell anyone to not stay there (you could skip visiting it too as far as I’m concerned.) With a car, there are better options nearby. St. Remy is a popular base, or maybe Uzes or L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

I would not split my time between Arles and Avignon, they are so close to each other that you can easily have dinner in Avignon and sleep in Arles. I would combine the Arles & Avignon nights into a single 4-night stay in Arles.

As for Vaison: 3 nights is nice, and you won't be bored with 4 nights either.

I agree with Balso. We stayed near Gordes and went to Arles as a day trip. It was a lovely drive. We passed some sunflower fields on the way. We stayed in Arles until midafternoon and were back in time to relax by the pool and then have dinner. I wouldn’t spend the extra time changing lodging between Arles and Avignon. You will get a good taste of the Riviera with 4 nights there. We flew into Nice, but stayed in Villefrenche-sur-mer for 3 nights. You will have a lovely trip.

I also agree with Balso that you don't need to change bases so often. We saw Arles and Avignon (and the Pont du Gard, Uzes, Orange, the Luberon towns, Les Baux, etc) from our 6 night base in St-Rémy-de-Provence. We did not get to Vaison-la-Romaine, but I've heard good things about it.

We only had 3 nights in Nice, and would have loved the extra night. You will enjoy it.

Thanks to everyone for their guidance ! We're going to be changing things up a bit since reading your comments. One more question, if you have a minute. Any places between Nice and Vaison -la -Romaine worth venturing off to and/or Side trips along the way that were particularly memorable or places that you wish you had more time for ?
Thank you, everyone !!

I just spent a month in Provence in March 2024, a week each in Aix and Arles and then 2 in Avignon. S, F, 70+, solo and public transpo only. I reviewed all the places I wanted to go and which of my 3 cities that town was easy to get to. Spent about 22 days traveling out from there. I would highly recommend you check out top sights in Arles and Avignon and Vaison to determine how you might to plan your time.

From Vaison to Nice, if you do not mind mountain roads, you can cut across to the east towards the route Napoléon. The route would take you through Montbrun les Bains (nice village), Château Arnoux, Castellane, Grasse. Beautiful views along many parts of it, driving time approx 5 to 5.5 hours.

More ambitiously, you could drive via Moustiers and the north rim of the Verdon Gorge. The route would take you from Vaison to Montbrun les Bains, Manosque, Valensole, Moustiers Sainte Marie (worth a stop), then along the D952 to Castellane with various view points on the Verdon Gorge (Point Sublime is the best), and back on the previous route. I would allow all day.

If you would rather stick to the faster roads, consider stopping in Saint Maximin La Sainte Baume to visit the Basilica there. Humble outside, grandiose inside.