South of France - Itinerary Feedback

Both Arles and St-Remy make good bases but St-Remy is decidedly easier with a car
We’ve stayed in both and found plenty of places for dinner

Be careful driving after overnight flight
We are returning to the area late May and will pick up car at NCE on arrival but just go as far as Antibes for 2 nights then on to Aix, St-Remy etc
We’ll return car at NCE then spend 4 nights in Nice at end of trip
We really enjoyed Nice and didn’t find it too fancy
3 nights would probably be enough but flights
were better if we stay 4

Not real impressed with Monaco-I would skip in favor of the other villages

Hello…. We are doing similar at the end of March…. We are flying in to Barcelona, spending 3 nights in Carcasonne then a week in st remy, then 3 days back in Barcelona…. 3 rd time to the area, absolutely fantastic…. There are lots of quaint and nice restaurant option within walking in st remy…. We are renting vrbo on a street called “petit puits”. It is very central and can walk to many places…. Highly recommend you plan st remy for “market day on Wednesday”. It is fantastic and best market in Provence. The rest of your itinerary is great as there is so much…. Pont du gard is a must, as is LesBaux…. We have 1 day planned which is pont du gard (been before) and Uzes (haven’t been, but looks like lots to see…. Bringing my sister & binlaw who haven’t been to the area…. Another day will be Les Baux, the Carrierres du luminaire and a wine and or olive farm in that beautiful valley……. If you can get to Carcasonne for 2 days would highly recommend but is about 2.5 hour drive…. Have fun.. will be awesome

Thank you both, I appreciate the feedback!

Our oldest daughter and her family lived in Provence for 10 years, so we visited on a yearly basis while they were there. We visited St. Remy many times, and it would be an awesome place to stay in Provence. There are tons of restaurants, cafes, and shops within walking distance. Wednesday is their market day. And St. Remy is a good location for daytrips. The asylum where Van Gogh spent a year is in St. Remy as well as Glanum, the Roman ruins. Les Baux is nearby, too.

A much less touristed village that is enjoyable to visit is Eygalieres. It's about 20 minutes from St. Remy. Eygalieres has a wonderful market on Fridays, and the restaurants serve a white fish that is wrapped in parchment paper, served with vegetables. It's a local specialty that is only served on Fridays. You can visit church ruins up on a hill with awesome views of the area. You won't hear too much English, if any at all. The only visitors we encountered were French and from other European countries.

Some lovely Luberon villages to visit are: Roussillon, Gordes, Menerbes, and Bonnieux. We also like Lourmarin and Isle Sur la Sorgue. They all have market days. Isle Sur La Sorgue's huge market day is Sundays, with an antiques market, but beware, it will be very crowded and difficult to find parking. We prefer its Thursday market because it's less crowded but does not have the antiques market.

You should definitely visit the Pont du Gard; it's amazing!!! We visited the Camarque once in October, and we saw thousands of flamingoes!!! No exaggeration! And no mosquitos. But I don't know about June.

We did have two one-night stays in Nice, and I really like Nice. I don't think it's too fancy. In Spring 2020 we had a trip planned to spend about 4 or 5 nights in Nice and take public transportation to visit places like Eze and Menton, but of course that trip was cancelled due to Covid.

I do remember spending a half day or so in Arles but we never stayed overnight. That could be an interesting place to spend a night or two if you can add a night. But based on my experiences, I would choose St. Remy for the majority of your Provence visit.

Forgot to add that Aix en Provence would be another nice place to spend a night or two. And Marseille, which is very, very interesting. I love the harbor area and the Le Panier district, so colorful with its unique graffiti.

A reply to darenalarny:

The best way to get to Carcassone from Barcelona is the slower way straight North past Montserrat. Go to Montserrat itself and spend the night to get over jet lag. Its a fantastic scenic low traffic route. Montserrat is a spectacular location to visit too.

The faster way is the autoroute tollway, but yuck lots of traffic. You will feel like you never left the US stuck in a long heavy traffic commute. If you do this plan on an overnight stay at Girona. Girona is worth a half day visit as well.

Don’t try to drive more than an hour after crossing the Atlantic unless you like falling asleep behind the wheel

I live south of Carcassone so I know this area very well.

Cote d'azur (4 nights) I based in Nice which is likely more central for you as well. I visited all your places except Eze. Villefranche is lovely but if it's still a cruise port, perhaps not the best idea. It's also very small, so not much choice in restaurants.
You haven't said what your main interests are. There are wonderful art museums, markets, beaches (mostly pebbly), scenic walks.

I had 5 nights in Nice and spent a full day just sightseeing there. I enjoyed a day in Antibes, which was enough. On a subsequent trip I spent a not-very-interesting day in Monaco. It's steep so there's up/downhill walking. I was told there's a system of escalators, but too often I was unable to find the next one. It was easy to get from place to place on the train. It helped that I chose a hotel in Nice near the station. My visit was in off-season. In June it's liable to be pretty crowded, maybe standing room only on trains, waits for tables at cafes. You can reserve for dinners, of course - that kinda locks you in on your timetable, Just some thoughts

I agree with much of what kmkwoo said. We just (early Feb) spent about 2 weeks in southern France, starting with 3 nights in Annecy (more Alps than Provence), then a night in Cassis, near Marseilles, 3 nights in Arles and 3 in Avignon. Guessing we are closer to the age of your parents (mid-late 60s), but quite active. We flew in and out of Barcelona because of a great fare we found. Spent a night there on each end of the trip. We always enjoy Barcelona.

Visited Nice on a prior trip (Winter 2023/2024) and enjoyed it. Not that fancy and a charming old town with lots of eating options, even in off-season. And a wonderful beach and interesting harbor. Bussed through Villefranche-sur-Mer on a day trip to Monaco. It looked quite charming and smaller than Nice. But if you are on foot, know that it is noticeably hillier than Nice, Monaco even more so. Bussing along the coast is easy.

On our most recent trip, after Annecy, we trained to the Marseilles airport to pick up our car and really enjoyed basing in Arles, taking day trips to Les Beaux, Saint-Rémy and Pont du Gard, each of which we would recommend. Les Baux and Pont du Gard were fascinating from an historical point of view. Wander the trails at Pont and get views of it from all angles. After visiting Les Beaux and Saint-Rémy, we were happy we based in Arles. Granted, in early February, it was quiet with limited eating/lodging options like most towns, but larger than the others so more lanes to wander. In June, you won't have that issue, but of course, many more people competing for rooms and tables. Sadly, the Van Gogh Foundation in Arles was closed when we were there. The Roman Arena was beautiful (though also closed in Feb) and the Roman theater was interesting. Don't miss the Romanesque entry to the St. Trophime Church.

Our eldest daughter joined us for the 3 nights in Avignon. On the way to pick her up at the Marseilles airport, we drove through the Camargue area. Beautiful landscape but we saw no flamingos and only a few of the white horses. Caught the little drive-on ferry across the mouth of the Rhône on the way to the airport. No reservations taken, pay via card on board from your car. Locals with passes get first dibs on space.

From Avignon, day trips to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Gordes and Rousillon. As stated, the Sunday market in L'Isle is massive and the best of any of the towns we visited. We found parking easy near the train station a few blocks from the market. But again, it was Feb. Gordes was quite small and pretty empty in Feb, but a charming town to wander around in. It didn't seem to have much in the way of restaurants or lodging. Rousillon was lovely as well but also small. The ochre color of the buildings was unique in the area. Note that in Avignon, the Jardin du Rocher des Doms is largely closed for restoration/repair. You can access a small part of it via stairs from the entry on the river side for some good river views. The rest is fenced off for 2 phases of work, one through March 2026 and the second phase through June 2027.

Hope that helps. Enjoy!