Provence - Avignon Itinerary

It's been a long time (maybe 15 years?) but I used Viatour for a lavender tour- not sure if it will be blooming during your week? But memorable, still!

Also moving was seeing Van Gogh's view to the gardens from his hospital window and as well as the actual sites for his work:
https://www.alafrancaise.fr/en/provence/282-van-gogh-in-provence
With a tour such as this one.
I checkout TripAdvisor for ideas but also carefully read recent reviews for the companies.
Have a wonderful trip!

You can do this by train or bus, although we’ve used a rental car for mobility and not requiring a set schedule:

South to Arles, for lots of surviving Ancient Roman structures, plus a fantastic museum with Ancient Roman mosaics, a recovered Roman boat, and lots of other artifacts. Also locations that were featured in Van Gogh masterpieces (signs at those sites explaining where and what), and a Picasso museum as well. Great food goes without saying.

West to the Pont du Gard and the city of Nimes, both Ancient Roman wonders. The amphitheater is far more intact than the Colosseum in Rome. Great for scenic walks through the historic locale.

North to Orange. Modern yet historic city with an amazing Roman theatre, still being used. We attended a performance of Carmen one July- amazing acoustics! Get a whole rotisserie chicken in the plaza, with roasted potatoes that the chicken was dripping fat on during the cooking process. A bit farther northeast, Vaison-la-Romain.

Alternative: west into the Vaucluse and/or Luberon mountains. A car is really helpful here, for seeing villages like Gordes, Rousillon, and Menerbes.

Since you’re leaving the door open on a rental, I’d encourage you to do that. I had a similar itinerary based in Avignon using only public transportation and took a small group tour. I had only two regrets: not renting a car and basing in Avignon.

Driving looked pretty easy, with good roads and not much traffic. I still saw a lot, but I would have much preferred doing it at my own pace in retrospect. Having a car here gets you into small town Provence which is where it’s at. If you rent, ideally you’ll stay in a smaller town in the countryside which can net you some better accommodations and access.

Avignon is just an all-time bummer of a town imo. There’s a few pockets of charm, but they get old fast. Its main attraction sights are total busts. I found the whole place just kind of skeevy and groady. I much preferred Arles, and would have liked to have stayed there instead.

If you do stay in Avignon, it does make for a decent base. There’s a lot of regular train service to Arles, which is a solid day. Try to go there on its market day. Nimes is also pretty easy. I didn’t get to Isle-Sur-Sourge but that also has decent connections. Beyond that you’ll have to rely on group tours, which are handy and a decent bet. There’s places like Pont du Garde, where you can technically get there by yourself, but work much better as part of one of these tour itineraries. I booked mine directly at the TI back in the Stone Age.

Thank you so much for your responses. My thinking on Avignon was that it would be better for public transportation and that we can rent a car for just one day for the villages without train connections. Also there might be more restaurants? Frankly, driving and navigating and finding parking will be a little stressful and distract from enjoying the trip I feel.

Although Avignon is arguably better for day trips without a car, after debating the options, I chose Arles for 4 nights, Uzes for 3 nights, and Marseilled for 2, My trip report is here in case it might be helpful. I did day trips from Arles by train to Avignon and Nimes, and by bus to Pont du Gard from Uzes. The train from Arles to Avignon takes less than 20 minutes. There is a bus to St Remy de Provence from Arles and in the summer there is a bus to Les Baux. My day in Avignon included a half day small group tour of Luberon villages. I really liked staying in Arles and found no shortage of restaurant choices. I'm not at all arguing against a car or against a base in Avignon if that ends up best for what you want to do.

Different strokes. We really like Avignon. We did rent an apartment, which added to the appeal. Ensure that you are staying in the old walled portion of the city for the most atmospheric experience. Restaurants, boulangeries, cafes, shopping, interesting strolls, all at your fingertips.

It is a great jumping off point, and there is also the option of a private tour if you are not group tour people. We used this service and it was awesome, also relatively affordable. They are a RS guidebook recommendation, at least in our edition.

https://imagine-tours.net/

They will provide car and driver, and you can completely customize your itinerary to suit your preferences.

As others have mentioned, Arles is a great and easy day trip. Don't miss Pont du Gard. Use the guide to get you to the harder to reach places like Les Baux.

Avignon is definitely your place for restaurants. Be sure to have lunch and/or dinner at Numero 75 (address is at 75 rue Guillaume-Puy), truly a spectacular restaurant in Avignon. The Chef and owner is Robert Brunel, truly a culinary genius. I’ve taken cooking lessons from him both in Avignon and in Boulder, Colorado, when he occasionally came to the USA more than 20 years ago.

Avignon’s Les Halles indoor market is also an essential visit while you’re in town. The train and bus stations used to be next to each other, downtown. When the TGV bullet trains were introduced, the train station moved some distance away from the old town. Enjoy!

Looking at the webste, I am impressed by how reasonable the prices are for the imagine tours recommended by PNW Patrick. Although still expensive for a solo traveler, for 2 people the prices for a private customized tour seem comparable to the per-person cost of a pre-set group tours that I looked at or took in Provence.

We also loved staying in Avignon, right near the Palace of the Popes, it was a wonderful experience for three nights.

We just hired a private driver for a full day to take us to Arles, St. Remy and the most wonderful of all, the Pont du Gard.

Avignon was great to just stroll around and eat and do wine tasting.

Thank you so much for all the suggestions! Imagine tours sound promising. And look forward to trying Numero 75, thanks for the suggestion. So excited for the trip. If anyone has a cooking class recommendation that would be great!

For Avignon dining we have enjoyed more than once the restaurant L’Epicerie. Medium nice and medium price on a quiet square not far from the palais du pape with outdoor seating that faces a beautiful church front.