Two Nights in Provence - Base & Hotel Help Please?

With only two nights and after the two weeks in Paris (and with time in Nice, too), that you will have had, I’d suggest you stay in Avignon and skip the car entirely. For just walking around, cafe sitting, food and people watching with some ruins thrown in, Avignon is the easiest base for day trips to Arles, Nimes and Marseille, and is pretty nice itself, too. Train service from there is quick and easy to all of these, and starting from Avignon for Paris will give you a head start, as you wouldn’t need to connect there en route to Paris. If you stay inside the wall in Avignon, the train station is a short walk away. With a car, you’ll spend more time driving and finding parking than actually visiting anything. As for a hotel, can’t help there as we had an Airbnb for our week there, but booking dot com is a good source for searching for hotels that meet your needs. Book through them, or check the websites and contact the hotels directly.

Avignon is a good choice, but many people here, myself included, slightly prefer Arles. It is better preserved, and has a unique array of Roman, medieval and more modern sights.

Getting to Arles from Nice is a bit less convenient as you must change trains in Marseille, but as a bonus, the station in Arles is right at the edge of town, compared to Avignon TGV which requires a cab or train shuttle.
Arles to Paris is longer than Avignon TGV to Paris, but there are two direct trains a day that take 4 hours, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon, so it is still convenient.

Avignon itself is my best base place in that area because I use regional trains and buses to explore and Avignon has two train stations, one for the TGV and the central station for the smaller trains so good central location if you are not renting a car. Old town Avignon is the place to see, its beautiful and very historic. Look it up in Rick's book of course! I cannot recommend a hotel because I have never had to look for one with parking for a car.

Arles: I stayed in a lovely garden hotel in Arles near the colosium years ago, found it in Rick Steve's book of course! I don't remember seeing a carpark. Be sure to check events and festivals wherever you plan to go. We landed in the middle of bullfight weekend in Arles. Great fun but it would have been a nightmare if you were trying to park or drive a car!

St Remy, in August? I have never tried that! It will probably be crawling with tourists.

BTW you are probably too late making reservations to get your first choices anywhere in Provence in August, so if you have not done it by now, move fast. Rental cars too, Europe is swamped with Americans this year.

I agree with the others here, two days isn’t enough to justify renting a car for. I would stay in Arles over Avignon 100%. Avignon’s best attribute is transportation connections, which you won’t really be utilizing. Arles has much more to see, and a much more comfortable atmosphere. Two days there would be just right. If you felt like checking out Avignon for a few hours, it’s a convenient and regular train connection. The TGV to Paris departs from Arles as well.

Sorry I don’t have any hotel recs.

We just did this trip a month ago. Two nights in Avignon after Nice. Day tripped (in the rain) to Arles, walked around Avignon and trained back to Paris. You can also train to L'Isle sur la Sorgue from Avignon. We too only had two nights. We skipped L'Isle due to weather, but enjoyed walking through Avignon. We stayed at the Bristol, an easy walk from the centre train station with luggage. Not fancy, but Rick Steves recommended, with decent size rooms with nice breakfast. They have AC. They have queen size beds, but we opted for the two twins pushed together to make more of a King bed. Worked fine for us. Not sure if you have priced cars or not, but they aren't cheap. Don't bother. With only two days, the train will get you to Arles, Nimes, L'Isle sur la Sorgue, and you are out of time. Walking Avignon at night is charming, and we did enjoy staying there. With limited time, it's easy to get back to the train station for your return trip to Paris. Be sure to book your train tickets to the City Centre Avignon station. The TGV is on the outskirts of town. The City Centre station is in the town itself.

Thank you all! These are very helpful comments. Sounds like we will skip the car rental. I will look into both Avignon and Arles for our base, although I like the idea of being closer to Paris when we have to go back and just using the train to see one or two other areas. Appreciate your input.

Consider reversing.
Train to Avignon 2 nites.

Train to Nice. 4 nites.

Tramway to airport 4 miles.
Then fly NCE-CDG 1H40m. 4/day Easyjet.
Stay at airport hotel.