Roussillon as a home base in Provence

I should think it very satisfactory but as Roussillon is not large, I would check on available restaurants, preferably those within walking distance of your accommodations.

Roussillon is a gorgeous hill town. It is on the small side but that should not deter you and you will take pictures about every 10 feet. We stayed in St Remy which is a larger town and about an hour away. Great base for exploring the area (we hit L'sle sur la Sorgue, St Remy, Les Baux, Apt, Gordes, Menerbes, Uzes, Pont du Gard - but we were there for a longer stay) - the country side is gorgeous and the drives itself are great. You will have no issues filling up 5 days here. Always check out 'market days' for all the towns - the most fun you will have while eating and shopping for great picnic supplies/dinner! If you have the time, do not miss Pont du Gard (just over an hour from Gordes and slightly longer from Roussillon). Great day out..if you plan ahead you can canoe/kayak down the Gardon and picnic at the foot of this marvel to engineering. A day you will never forget.

Thank you for the input!
I am now wondering if we should split the 5 days into 3 in Roussillon and then 2 perhaps in Avignon since Roussillon is so small? (I know there is time lost when moving locations - but we'll have a car to ease and the distances between towns appears to be minor).
Pont du Gard is definitley on the list of must do's! We will have our 1 year old son in tow and i look forward to a picnic lunch on the river bank!

Roussillon is tiny. We loved visiting for several hours but wouldn’t want to stay there. It is rather remote and isolated, only saw a couple restaurants and tourist shops. We stayed in St Rémy-de-Provence and loved it more than any other town. I highly recommend it as a base.

Do not view 'small' as a negative especially with a 1-year old in tow. You will be on your baby's schedule not yours (the joys of parenthood). 'Smaller' allows you take a slower pace, enjoy peace and quiet and feel the pulse of a place. Visit the same place for morning coffee and your temporary French hosts get to know you and your family. If you want or desire bigger, St. Remy might fit your needs - bigger than Roussillon but very manageable. Plus, you finish in Paris - you will get your fill of 'big' there!

For our travels, we try to limit to stay in one place and venture out appropriately. Different strokes for different folks. Consider that you may always return one day to see different things/places and even if you cannot, you will never see it all in 5 days anyways.

Western Provence is not so large that you cannot easily drive to the primary points of interest, just pick a cardinal point and visit locations along the route. You can easily reach Uzès or Pont du Gard from Russillon, maybe drop down to take a look at Nîmes - the coliseum and la Maison Carrée. Those points might be the farthest distance you might travel but you can do it in a single day.

For me, it would all depend upon where I am dinning and that place must be within walking distance of my hotel. In France particularly, I drink nothing if I am driving and I always have a glass of wine with dinner. If Roussillon has sufficiently interesting restaurants for an entire stay, there is no compelling reason to change locations. If the restaurant landscape in Roussillon is more limited than the planned available nights staying there, I would break up the stay and include Avignon or St Rémy or Gordes.

I've stayed in both St Remy and Avignon. St Remy is better as a base - still large enough for choice of restaurants and things to see in the evenings but easy to drive in/out of. Avignon is wonderful but harder for driving. Roussillon is gorgeous but I like a slightly larger town for a base.

Here's my photos of Provence - http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p233500526

You can use viamichelin.com to get estimated driving times.

Edited to add: I should also have mentioned that if you zoom way in on the viamichelin.com route map, especially scenic roads will be highlighted in green.

I stayed in Roussillon for 5 nights a few years ago. I thought it was a great base to explore the area. I spent the early mornings walking around the town and taking tons of photos as it's a very photogenic place. Then I would day trip to visit the other towns, explore the lavender fields and enjoy the weekly markets in the various towns. I was there in July and it stayed light late into the evenings so I often had my dinner in another town and came back to relax on my balcony with a glass of wine and wander around the town again when the day trip crowds were gone. So, the lack of lots of restaurants didn't bother me much and I liked the quiet in the evenings - I'm not a late night person. It was easy to get in and out of town and I had convenient parking at my hotel. I would use it again as a base if I was in the area again. I also took the train to Avignon, stayed there one night, and then rented a car for Roussillon.

Thank you all for the wonderful feedback. It is so helpful to hear different folks expierences and observations - and the take bits and pieces to see what will work for us!
Still undecided keeping the 5 nights in Roussillon vs. 3 nights there and 2 in a bigger town (St. Remy, Aix or Avignon?).
Love the idea of spending the day roamning the towns of Luberon - having a wonderful lunch and then returning in the evening to the flat terrace and enjoying finds from the day's market.

Just fyi when deciding, St Rémy is very small, Aix and Avignon are big.

Just to add to Susan - St Remy is small (about 10k pop) Roussillon is much smaller even (<2k pop).