We are planning a very short to France and asking for your help where to stay in Provence. Taking a train from Paris to Provence and will rent a car there. 4 nights in Provence, we prefer small sharming town, with local shops, vine tastings, markets and restaurants. What you recommend? This forum always helps us to find best places! Thank you in advance for your time.
Posted by
11569 posts
Look at Arles, St-Remy, Espellette, Les Baux, and Loumarin as a start. Avignon is larger and we didn’t care for it compared to the others I listed,
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
St Rémy-de-Provence is my favorite town in France. Very charming and a great base. Highly recommend Hotel du Soleil.
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
1327 posts
daliabadaras,
I second St. Remy de Provence. Charming town!
Posted by
OP
40 posts
Great suggestions! Thank you! We also considering to stay in chateau in bordeaux, where we can stay for couple of nights and enjoy local vines and food. Would love to hear any recommendations for these!
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA
700 posts
Avignon has a high speed train station that comes from Paris. It’s actually a good base. Many great restaurants. The 14th century buildings. And you can take short train rides to Arles, Nimes, Orange. Or longer to marseille or Aix-en-Provence.
Nimes also a great base.
Most of the others would require driving to get to them. Les Baux is scenic but way too small and remote.
San Remy en Provence is indeed a smallish charming town, but a little boring.
Lournarin is way out of the way and essentially a tourist shop only town. Maybe before it became famous.
There are many other places if you look around the countryside.
Posted by
SoCal
1140 posts
My recommendation is Valbonne. It's about as charming as charming gets. Closer to Cannes and Nice, so between St-Remy and Valbonne it's largely a matter of what you most want to be near to.
As for Bordeaux, we chose to stay in the city, which we loved. There are many fine AirBnBs in the city which provide excellent access to restaurants and tasting rooms. But your priorities likely differ.
Posted by
OP
40 posts
Any good recommendations for your favorite Bed and breakfast, or small hotel with parking in any of these charming towns in Provence? Thank you!
Posted by
SoCal
1140 posts
La Bastide De Valbonne was delightful for us. Rooms are air-conditioned, which can be an important consideration in Provence.