Provence with no Car. Is Arles doable as a home base?

We stayed at Avignon, but regardless, we enjoyed taking the train over to Nîmes for half a day. That would be a 30-minute train ride for you. I see that Rick Steves has an article about Nîmes:

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/finding-nemo-in-Nîmes

We also walked through the Roman Arena and the Temple of Diana at Nîmes.

Arles may be too far away, but we also really enjoyed a minivan tour of the Luberon villages. It also included a stop at the lavender fields, etc. And we took a bus out to Pont du Gard.

With only 3 days, I think Arles will be a fine choice. We used Saint-Remy for our carless base for a week, but the next time we returned to the same gite we had a car, and it was much preferable. But I'm sure you can easily fill your 3 days with enjoyable sights. I don't know what the public transportation connections are like, but, as someone mentioned, Nimes isn't far, nor is Uzes.

Avignon is the transportation hub of western Provence. To go almost anywhere from Arles by train, you will likely first need to travel to Avignon.

Of the two places, I prefer Avignon but mostly for the restaurants, hotels, and accessibility to other towns. If you really want to stay in Arles then you should, keeping in mind the extra travel time required to visit other locations.

From Arles, it is easy (and very recommended) to daytrip to Nîmes by train in 20 minutes and, from there, Pont du Gard by bus in 30 minutes (line B21). You can combine both in a long day. And I do like Arles better than Avignon, it feels more preserved, more unique.

Whether a city is a must-see depends on your interests. For example, if you really like Cezanne and his work, go to Aix-en-Provence, and if you like Van Gogh, definitely spend time in St. Remy (and don't miss the asylum he stayed in, just outside the edge of town). On our most recent visit to Provence, we visited Nimes, and really liked it (and preferred it over Orange); if you enjoy seeing Roman ruins, then try to include Nimes.

Based on the suggestions of others, it sounds like you have more than enough to do to fill three days without a car. If your husband doesn't want to drive in other countries (than his own, I presume), then I suggest that you drive. Driving through Provence is pretty easy and very scenic.

You should be fine for 3 days in Arles.

Nimes, Avignon and Orange are all reachable by train and some smaller towns and Pont du Gard by bus. Some smaller towns like St Remy are out of reach via public transport if it's not the weekend but you should easily be able to fill 3 days without any trouble.
Arles is a whole day - or part of one because you have the evenings as well. Nimes is reachable by train - quick if you get the direct trains. Avignon is super easy by train and can be used to get to other locations like Vaison-la-Romaine by bus depending on what it is you're looking to see.

I used Avignon (2 nights) as my central jumping off point for Provence this June but I much preferred Arles (1 night) as a city. I would much rather stay in Arles and day trip to Avignon than vice-versa.

Wine tours will definitely be easier to book out of Avignon, but the train is 20 minutes to Avignon so there's no reason you can't book tours and then train in early to meet them and then train home. Some tours will pick you up in Arles but I wouldn't count on that.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

I'm with you-- Arles beats Avignon. Look into local day tour operators. The only one I know is Viator.

This part of France is a unique collection of Roman ruiins-- Arles, Nimes, Orange, Pont de Gard. 

Yes absolutely, if "nearby towns" are on the rail line. Did exactly this on our first trip.

To see a more rural Provence you need wheels. But Nimes, Avignon & Orange all have train stations.

Arles has a good deal of charm.

July and August are the "big" months in Provence with the stepped up bus schedules - more days and more routes. I couldn't get from Avignon to St Remy during the week in June because there was only a weekend bus and no way to Les Baux. I ended up renting a car for one day to do these towns.

Rome2Rio.com is pretty good resource for bus route and time information but I would always confirm the information with a secon source. Before I went it suddenly lost the information for the bus from Orange to Vaison la Romaine but I confirmed with the tourist office and they sent me the bus schedule. Currently information is harder to come by for buses in Provence with on-line schedules with links from tourist sites sometimes being seasons old or broken and local bus sites not having English translations etc. It's more work but generally the information is out there and forums like this help!

This is a good example. Rome2Rio says there is an Avignon to St Remy bus 1057 but if you follow the link the bus route they say it is does not exist on that site and St Remy is not mentioned. If you go to https://www.lepilote.com and search you find CARTREIZE Route 57 and can get a schedule for it, but the schedule only runs through November 1st at the moment.
And yet more searching brings you to this pdf of the schedule: https://www.lepilote.com/ftp/document/l57-22-10-2018.pdf which is pesumably still in effect from late 2018.

Like I said it's some work and ultimately if you can be in contact with a local - whether it's a hotel or tourist center that's the best source.

Also always confirm that you have exactly the right place name - eg Saint-Rémy-de-Provence not Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

Good luck!
=Tod