Provence in late September

I love Aix! Aix is a vibrant city with plenty of restaurants, cafes, interesting little shops, and some museums and churches. Pretty plazas with tons of fountains around the city. It's a great walkable city. Aix would be a good base for Marseille, Cassis, Lourmarin and Ansouis. There is a train station in Aix. The places I mentioned are about 30 minutes away. Gordes is about an hour away.

However, I think a more central location would be St. Remy, another lovely town. It's much smaller than Aix but there are enough restaurants in the town, and it is very walkable, too. St. Remy does not have a train station, though, so you would definitely need a car. From St. Remy you can easily visit Les Baux, Menerbes, Roussillon, Gordes, Bonnieux and L'Isle Sur La Sorgue, to give you an idea.

All ideas mentioned in post #1 are great.

I am in Aix and I love it, love it, love it! So much so that even though I am here for a week I plan on coming back in April of 2025. Mark it is delightful, people are friendly my apartment is great the city is so walkable it's a delight, I just can't say enough good things about it. Off to Arles next week and then to Avignon.

Merci a tous... I'm getting excited just reading your comments, which I greatly appreciate.

As lovely as Saint Remy is, we have mostly experienced those points, and it's further west than we want to be. So, it seems that Aix is the logical place, in spite of the more populated environment. I found what seems like a lovely hotel, The Cardinal in the Mazarin Quarter. It seems close to things and there is a large parking garage not far away.

Does anyone know of this hotel and this quarter of Aix? Is it a good area for cafés in the evenings, and safe?

The train station is not far from this area and a train into Marseilles for the day seems like a wise way to handle that.

One reason we sought to be further east is that we hoped to make daytrips into the Luberon, the Var or over toward Menton. Any suggestions on these points?

Menton is about 2.5 hours from Aix so it's too far for a daytrip.

Would you consider 3 nights in Aix and 2 nights in Nice? Menton is easy to visit from Nice. Just a thought.

I don't know the Hotel Cardinal but it's very well located and the area is certainly safe. The train to Marseilles takes about 45 minutes. It's a local train (TER) about ten minutes' walk from the hotel. (There's a TGV station farther outside the city but probably not worth it for Marseilles.)

I liked Aix for its pedestrian-friendly center, interesting cathedral, Granet art museum (about a block from the Hotel Cardinal), and Cezanne sites. It's large and busy, but the old center doesn't feel that way. Its Roman ruins are limited to a part of the cathedral and I think a bit of wall nearby, but you've been to the part of Provence with the better Roman sites.

Love Aix! We were there in September 2021 for a month and it was magical. It was during Covid times so I don't know how it might differ now.

One of two apartments we rented was next door to the Hotel Cardinal. I walked into the lobby and it was lovely. It's a fantastic little street. You will hear churchbells ringing every day. Here is my trip report in case this helps:https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/a-month-in-amazing-aix-en-provence

Thanks for these great responses and information. I'm wondering if anyone made it up into The Luberon while in Aix or as part of your trip to Provence. I'm having trouble determining if I can stay in Aix and manage reasonable day trips up into The Luberon by car, or if I should cut my time in Aix and book a place in Gordes or Apt. Thoughts and recommendations are most welcomed.