Aix vs. St. Remy

Aix is a lovely city but it is quite far from most of the places people wish to visit in Provence. I think St.Remy is lovely but as previosly stated, does not have good transportation links. If you will have a car that is no problem however. St. Remy has the best market and is convenient to Les Baux, Arles,
the hilltowns in the Luberon, L'Isle-sur-Sorgue, Avignon, Mt. Ventoux and the lovely wine villages nearby as well as Vaison La Romaine. You can visit all these places on day trips. Distances are farily small. You can also easily go south to the Camargue
and the coast. Have a lovely trip. Do try to avoid August if possible when everyone in Europe is there on vacation!!!

These are very different places. Aix is a city of 140,000; St. Remy is a rural town of 9,000. Also, Aix is on the main rail lines, but St. Remy is not and will require either a rental car or patience using the bus system.Aix is pretty much on the southern edge of Provence, not centrally located like Arles and Avignon. St. Remy is somewhat more central, located closer to Avignon.

Aix is more difficult to drive in. It's a much bigger city than St. Remy. I agree with the other posters about Aix's location as well. It's a long ways from the other sites you'll want to see in Provence.

I stayed in both Aix and St. Remy. I was in Aix to get a car repair and it was a lovely city, but I agree with others that St. Remy is better for touring. I think if I were going to live in south of France and wanted cultural opportunities, I would long strongly at Aix. It has and English language bookstore, good shopping, lots of cafes and other to things to see and do. St. Remy was lovely for a short stay where you want to enjoy a small town market and restaurants and see a bit of Provence. Pam

I can't speak for Aix as we never got there, unfortunately. In '04 we stayed at a B&B just a few miles from St Remy in St Etienne du Gres. It was a great base for the 6 six days that we day tripped. We were close enough to St R if we needed a restaurant, laundry, etc.

The name of the B&B is St Thomas Presbytere. We checked the website and it is still operating. Marie was a great host and fixed the greatest breakfast and served it outside in the garden. We were their in September

Aix is charming but far from many sights.

St. Remy is a brilliant location though small. We spent a week there (with friends) and it was a great base for day trips with a car.

If I didn't have a car, I'd probably want to be in a city near the Rhone, like Arles.

You might consider renting a house for a week. We used France Homestyle and had a wonderful house in Lourmarin and traveled all over Provence - north to Vaison, west to St Remy, Pont du Gard, and Uzes, south to Aix and Cassis, and also visited the Luberon hill towns. Have a great trip!