Arles - Is It The Best "Base Location" in Provence?

Your question raises two issues: 1) where to home base 2) and whether local buses will get you to the things in the Provence countryside that you want to see. These are two separate issues. Discussing the 2nd issue first: Many travelers posting here decide to bite the bullet and rent a car for part of their Provence visit, the part involving seeing things in the country that are not on the rail routes and not so quickly reached by local bus. * * * ¶ Other travelers have a strong preference against driving and for that reason decide to limit their Provence itinerary to those destinations on the rail routes plus those reasonably reachable by bus. Not all places worth seeing in Provence are "reasonably reachable by bus." Some are, some aren't. Given enough time, patience, and resourcefulness, you can see some destinations in the Provence countryside by bus, but not all of them, or not easily.

Now discussing the "where to home base" question. Arles is not a bad choice, it's fairly centrally located. Nimes is too far west for some itineraries, Aix is too far east, and for some itineraries Avignon is too far north. Arles can be a little tricky, for those deciding to rent a car for part of their Provence visit. Doable for those with cars, but not without its challenges for those staying in the historic center of Arles with a rental car.

Kent is quite right. Although my wife and I are strongly pro-train, there are times when you just have to make an exception and rent a car for at least a day. Yes, you can absolutely do Arles and Avignon by train, and Aix, Orange, and Nimes as well. The Pont du Gard will be tougher by bus, but still doable. But there is no way but driving to do the little villages up to the summit of Mount Ventoux and back through Soult and Roussillon, and going to Provence and missing them would be a shame. As for a home base...although i actually like Arles much better than Avignon, there is no getting around the fact that Avignon is the center for rail activity in the region and is slightly more centrally located in Provence. You definitely should buy a copy of Rick Steves' Provence guide if you haven't already...it really is tremendously useful. Have a great trip!

Roe made the points I was trying to make, better than I could make them. And now that I think about it, I would modify what I said above to agree with Roe's description of Avignon as being somewhat more central than Arles. But for days you have a car, you probably want to avoid being in Avignon. See the post below for this. For the days you have the car, you may want to be located in accommodations in the country where overnight parking and driving are much easier than in the cities.

Thanks folks - the reason for the train idea was that I have read all the horror stories about driving in France. Are they as bad as they sound? Or is it a city (Paris) thing. If we trained to Arles/Avignon and rented a car, is that the safer option?? Thanks again.

"I have read all the horror stories about driving in France." The horror stories you've read here are mainly driving in Italian cities. Driving in the French countryside is something a lot of folks here do. But there is no reason why you need to, or would want to, drive in the Provence cities of Avignon, Nimes, and Arles. Those cities are efficiently connected by rail are navigating and overnight parking in those cities is both not so relaxing and unnecessary. * * * ¶ Here's what some do: Take the high speed train from Paris to the Provence location of their choice. Then take 2 or 3 days to get by train between the city destinations well served by rail, this would be Avignon, Arles, Nimes, (and Aix if you choose to go that far east). And then, pick up the car for the last 2 or 3 days (you said 5 days) to get to the country destinations that aren't on the rail lines. Driving and overnight parking in Avignon, Arles and Nimes are not enjoyable and not necessary. Doing it this way, you limit how much time you have the car to the days you need it.

While many other choices might do just as well, Arles is a perfectly fine choice as a home base. We stayed in Arles for a short week in 2003 with our teenage sons and had a great time running around Arles plus doing day trips. We DID have a car, so can't comment on the train approach. You'll have a great trip, wherever you choose as you base!

I'll just put in a word here for Arles as a base. Last summer we stayed at Hotel de Regence just inside the old city gates on the north side. It was very convenient. There was lots of free parking in the municipal lot on the other side of the gates next to the traffic roundabout. Getting out of town was easy as the roundabout led directly to the roads to the sites we day-tripped to: Avignon, Pont du Gard, Les Baux, Isle-sur-le-Sorgue, and more. Most of the local road junctions had roundabouts. Know the towns along the route to your destination and watch for the signs at the roundabouts - if you miss your turn, just go around again.

Gordon - Yes, I would train from Paris to Avignon and rent a car. Driving in Provence is easy, especially with a GPS, and will allow you to visit smaller towns which are the essence of Provence, in my view. Arles is a good homebase.

My husband and I spent 2 weeks in Provence this spring. We rented our car at the Avignon TGV station which worked out well. Our base was near St. Remy. From there, it was an easy drive to day-trip to Ile sur la Sorgue, Nimes and Pont du Gard, Cassis, the Carmargue, and Arles. Driving in Provence is very easy but a GPS and Michelin map of the region are almost essential. Rick Steves' book specifically for Provence was very helpful!

I too, vote for Arles, my husband & I are in our early 60s as well and we loved Arles. That have a wonderful street market on Wednesday & Saturday that is the best I visited in all of Europe. /we stayed at Hotel Calendal and it was amazing! We did have a car and were able to visit all the surrounding cities. Driving in France is not that bad. We had a little Prius we picked up at the train station in Avignon.

Last year my wife and I took a TGV to Avignon and rented a car from Hertz for one week. It was very reasonable, we have seen Avignon before so we drove to Vaison-la-Romaine. We used this town as a base and did nice day trips to see hill top villages and other sites. We, like others above, are very pro train. I do find that driving in Paris is complete hell. But Avignon and these villages and the connecting roads are no problem at all. Arles is nice too if you decide to take a train and stop in for a while but I find Avignon is better connected. Either way, train or car, have the time of your life!

I do not believe in "bests" in this case, but Arles is an excellent base. However, if I were in Provence for five days, I would absolutely want a car. (I add, driving there is no big deal). ¶ If I had a car, I might consider staying in a small town, such as St. Remy or even up in the Luberon (though that is less central). ¶ Finally, with a car you could consider three nights in Arles, two in the Luberon. ¶ October a great time for a trip like this[INVALID]have fun!