Hello! My husband and I have booked to go to France again in June next year. We have family there so go relatively often and (luckily) have seen much of the country, however this next trip is somewhere new to us. We normally prefer to choose a base, and travel from there but the region that we would like to cover is a fair bit larger than what we would normally do. I think we may have to break it up, unless anyone has a magic solution? We would like to see Uzes (and surrounding area, such as Pont du Gard), the vineyards of the southern Rhone and also some of the villages around the Luberon. We have also read about Vaison-la-Romaine on the Rick Steves Provence page, and it looks interesting. So many places, so little time! Should we break it up into 2 or 3 night stays in each area, or should we rather "miss" some of the region and rather spend longer in each place? If the latter, any suggestions of what we should exclude? Our interests are pretty villages and towns (not cities!), food and wine (ideally down to earth "local" places, rather than Michelin star restaurants), walking and scenery. Thank you so much in advance!
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Hi Lauren,
These destinations are all clustered close enough that I think it makes sense to pick one central base and make day trips. I'm assuming a car, which you absolutely need. Plot your destinations on a map and pick a village that is approximately in the middle of it all.
The argument against is if you think you would especially enjoy spending the night someplace else and want to experience that too. In a city, for instance, where there is some night life. Then break it up for that purpose.
I don't find that persuasive, myself, but you might.
Posted by
Massachusetts
847 posts
From St Remy you can do day trips to Uzes/Pond du Gard, the Luberon villages, Arles, Avignon. Not sure about the Vaison-la-Romaine area. But St Remy is a great base, a lovely town with nice choice of restaurants, interesting streets to explore, etc. but also easy enough to drive in and out of.
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3941 posts
When we went this year, we had 7 nights - we spent 4 in Salon and concentrated on areas to the west and north, then moved to Manosque for 3 nights to concentrate on east/lavender trail. With the car, it worked out fine - on our 'switchover' day, we spent most of it visiting Aix. Not having to worry about getting to the next place and drop luggage was great (since we could just leave it in the car en route). I know we could have picked something more in the middle and spent the week there, but I didn't want to have to do some 90 min drives to and from destinations - I tried to keep it to about 45-60 min driving each way. I think it would make sense to break it up.
(Fr Salon we visited Les Baux, Ilse sur la Sorgue, St Remy, Orange, Arles, Fontaine del Valcluse, Gordes, Rousillon (my fav). Fr Manosque we visited Forcalquier (huge Monday market), Sault, Greoux, Moustiers Sainte Marie (my other fav), Valensole. Disclaimer - we had been in this area two previous times, so some of the places we'd been to before. We actually went to Vaison, but between issues trying to get the parking ticket machine to work ((it took more than a few people to figure it out)) and not being able to find the church we wanted to see and not having enough time to visit the Roman ruins, our visit there was a wash).
Posted by
1230 posts
We stayed in Il-sur-la-Sorgue for 4 nights/4.5 days days as a base, and if I did it again, I might choose 2 places for 2-3 nights each. We visited Port du Gard, Arles/Le Baux. Vaison la Romaine, Gordes, Abbey de Senaque, Roussillon, Fontaine de Vaucluse, and a few more. I would not want to eliminate any of these. I loved Vaison la Romaine, although that was a drive. Point is, we drove a lot. We spent a day and evening at Le Baux and Arles - that was a drive. Another day to Vaison and area - a lot of driving. But we loved staying in Il sur la Sorgue, so Im not sure Id want to have changed that. We drove into the area, so visited Post du Gard and area on the day we were coming into Provence from West of it, so technically we didnt have to drive there from Il sur. If I were to expand our visit I would have spent more time in the Luberon area. Not sure if thats helpful ;p
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7170 posts
We stayed in St-Remy for 5 nights- it is very central and perfect for day trips- we visited Pont du Gard, Avignon, Luberon villages, Les Baux, etc from St-Remy. All within an easy hour or less drive.
Then we moved to Arles for 2 nights since we had to drop our car there and catch a train.
That combination worked out well for us.
Posted by
Washington DC
28096 posts
How many total nights will you have in the area?
Posted by
OP
South Africa
25 posts
Thank you so much for all your suggestions, much appreciated. We will have a car and will be in the area for 10 nights. I will do some research and hopefully come up with a plan!
Posted by
Sydney
35 posts
Totally agree with the recommendations to stay at St Remy. It was a perfect base for day trips for our week long stay.
We visited L’Isle sur la sorgue on a Sunday, but were turned off by the crowds and difficulty parking. St Remy had more charm for us.
Posted by
Washington DC
28096 posts
The Sunday market at L'Isle sur la Sorgue is a major tourist magnet. It's fun, but the crowds and the little sales booths make it very difficult to appreciate the pretty town itself. The booths obscure the view of the picturesque streets. I was glad I had time to return on a non-market day, and I highly recommend that others try to do that.