We will be using St. Remy for our home base during a 6 day visit to Provence, and we plan on visiting Arles and Avignon. We will have a car, but I've heard driving in both Arles and Avignon can be difficult. I was planning on taking the bus from St Remy to both Arles and Avignon in order to avoid the traffic headache. Does anyone know approximate travel times by bus from St. Remy to those places ?
Thanks
The bus schedules are available at:http://www.saintremy-de-provence.com/saint-remy-access.html
The 54 bus for Arles, the 57 bus for Avignon.
Merci, That will help
While I thought that driving in Avignon was pretty awful, Arles wasn't a problem. Also, there are not many buses per day to/from Arles; more so to/from Avignon.
I also encountered quite a bit of city and suburban traffic around Avignon last fall, but your route to Arles definitely looks more rural.
I'm doing almost exactly the same trip in June: home-basing in St. R with a car for 5 days.
Arles has a number of parking areas in or near the city center. There's a big one apparently just north of the ramparts. From there the rest of the city center is walkable.
"While I thought that driving in Avignon was pretty awful, Arles wasn't a problem. Also, there are not many buses per day to/from Arles; more so to/from Avignon."
And my reaction is the exact opposite! I found parking outside the wall in Avigon easy and just wandered in to sightsee. Arles stands out as very difficult to park and navigate!
I think it is important to remember that you might need to be a little patient to find a parking place. I have driven in both Arles and Avignon, and while I always stay in St. Remy I would not leave my car and take a bus. You just might have to search a bit for parking, wait a bit or walk a little, but I would much rather have my car than do the bus. It's just like any city in the US that you visit. If you arrive really early your options will increase.