We are planning a holiday in Provence and plan to rent an apartment for two weeks in either Arles or Aix as our base. We have found more rentals in Aix, but we are curious which town would be better for our base with minimal use of auto. We have been to both years ago but we did not spend more than one night in each. Any suggestions? Thanks, Jan
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
Convenience of getting to the train station may be another consideration. Aix may have two stations, but the TGV station is outside town with a bus ride to/from. Arles' train station is close to tourist-hotel areas (at least it was a few years back). Aix has the pedestrian-only zone at its center, which is very nice.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Minimal use of auto: that would be Arles because Aix is over in the southeast corner of the area you probably want to see (which you didn't specify) whereas Arles is in the south central part of the area you probably want to see and well connected by rail.
you should study the map, here it is
input Arles, France
and then for Aix scan your eye east from Arles,
and you'll see what I'm talking about
Posted by
Winter Park, Florida, USA
13 posts
Arles
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Arles is smaller and therefore less city like which to me is alot more desirable. It is a great town to walk around and visit roman amphitheatre and other antiquities. also parking is alot easier in Arles. If you cannot find and apt in Arles there are French chain hotels that are vg at a great price there.