Where should I stay in Provence?

I probably shouldn't comment since I've never been to Provence. I am planning a trip there so I have looked into it some. The consensus I get is that St Remy is a good base location. Arle is another popular place to stay. But, if you are only planning two nights then I don't know. Arle is about 50,000 population and St Remy is around 10,000 population and they are about 30 min drive from one another. Avignon is a larger city has about a population of 90,000 and is located about 30 min north of St. Remy. I personally am planning on staying in the Luberon area.

I'd look at a map, decide what you want to see, then base yourself there. You might look into sites along your drive and stop as you head south that way you use your driving time as site seeing. Then base yourself in the middle of what interests you and then pick up some sites as you continue driving south. Read RS guidebook to decide what sites interest you and then map them out, and stay in the middle or in a town you are interested in seeing.

Like Susan/Monte, we haven't yet been, but spent a fair amount of time researching our trip starting in a few weeks.

This website may help you narrow it down: http://www.provenceweb.fr/

Our criteria included: central location, especially for the Luberon hill towns; smaller rather than large; but big enough to provide a variety of dining and other tourism opportunities. We selected L'Isle sur la Sorgue. It's just east of Avignon, is reputed to have a great market one or two days per week, and is divided by several "canals" splitting the Sorgue River into small water-wheel-turning tributaries as it passes through the town. http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/vaucluse/islesorg/islesorg.htm

Good luck.

We spent 3 nights last summer in L'Isle sur la Sorgue and absolutely loved it! If you want something bigger, then I recommend Arles.

I've stayed in both Arles and St. Remy. Since you prefer smaller cities and towns, I think St. Remy would be a good choice for you, and I would spend both nights there. There are too many places for you to begin to visit in the time you have. You will have to read about the area and prioritize.

This weekend's New York Times travel section has an article on St. Remy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/t-magazine/travel/travel-saint-remy-provence.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel&action=click&contentCollection=travel&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=12&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Thanks to all of you for your kind suggestions.
I have looked into L'Isle-Su-La-Provence and it looks so beautiful! I would never have known about this gem if it wasn't for you.
By the way, I've been looking for places to stay on AirBNB and they have so much more availability and such great rates; check it out.
Wishing everyone wonderful trips,
Anne

As we were on the train from Avignon to Nice two days ago, we commented on how nice it was NOT to be driving that distance (rented a car at Avignon TGV, stayed in St Remy four nights and drove around the area)

I'm confused. I looked at L'Isle sur la Sorgue on Google Earth and all I saw were homes in a city. I couldn't find town which is shown is shown in the above posts. Am I doing something wrong.

The old town of L'Isle sur la Sorgue is primarily inside the ring made by the river. A view of the roofs is less exciting than being there.

At any of the above recommendations, I would stay two nights at one spot and daytrip out. A little deeper into the Luberon, I stayed two nights at a chain hotel on the edge of Apt (more interesting accommodations would be available in high season), and found the driving quite easy to reach multiple small towns in a day.

Laura B, did you drive from St. Remy on day trips to larger towns like Avignon, Arles, and Nimes? If so, how available/convenient was parking in those cities?

I was able to enjoy 2 weeks in Provence a year and a half ago. As previous posters have said, it really depends on what you want to see/do, what type of experience you want and what day of the week you are going to visit. I prefer a small town experience where I can go to an outdoor fruit/veggie/wares market in the morning see another local town in the afternoon, visit a local winery and relax by the pool in the evening.

On the way to my stay outside of Bonnieux, I stayed in St. Remy for one night and enjoyed walking the town in the evening and walking thru the market on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon I toured Saint-Paul Asylum where Van Gogh spent one year of his life. Across from the asylum is the archaelogical site at Glanum. A nice, small city experience with lots to see and great restaurants.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue has a great market on Sunday morning. For me, this "little Venice" town is a medium size city with lots of lovely canals and many moss covered water wheels. It's quite charming but I would stay outside the town if you enjoy small towns better.

Too bad you don't have more time in Provence. There's just too much to see. Enjoy your trip.

Early June last year, my husband and I had the pleasure of 4 nights in St Remy. It was very central indeed. We had travelled by hire car from French Rivieria. The village is delightful. Whilst based here, we did day trips to L"Isle sur la Sorgue, and actually canoed the river. Also visited Arles, Uzes, Nimes, Pont du Gard and Avignon. we found it a great base point. It is an amazing piece of the French countryside not to be missed. If you do decide to stay at St Remy, try to get accommodation inside the ring road.

The main parking lots at Avignon, Arles, and Nimes are well signed, but do plan your route to them using the info from Rick's Provence book and/or a mapping site like Google Maps or ViaMichelin.com. I found Nimes the hardest of the three to navigate, maybe because I was looking for a hotel instead of a parking lot. The small roads are fine in more rural areas, but heading into any of these cities, try to stay on the larger highways for as long as possible.

We stayed 1 night in Fountaine de Vaucluse last fall. I loved it! The headwaters to the Sorgue River is here. There is a nice little B&B in town.

https://susancw.smugmug.com/Travel/Cote-d-Azur-Provence-La/i-589vjZW/A
The B&B
https://susancw.smugmug.com/Travel/Cote-d-Azur-Provence-La/i-4hfmrCX/A
The view from our room
https://susancw.smugmug.com/Travel/Cote-d-Azur-Provence-La/i-CRbGtzb/A

I too am using Air BnB for much of my travels in France - staying in Orange area with a car - sometimes traveling alone I use Air BnB to control the 'single supplement tax' and I find it is a wonderful way to meet locals - have used them in Europe in the past 5 years. But one must check out the host or hostess carefully. Not one misstep with this technique. What do others think of staying in Orange area? Will be in the country with a pool. Want to use it as a home base to get to Arles, Remy and Avignon. I am not too rushed and plan to use some time to relax from other more heavily scheduled travels. Later to stay in an upscale hotel in Aix en Provence. Barbara