Avignon or Arles - homebase

Heidi: My wife and I spent a week in Provence divided between two home bases: Arles and Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. From Arles we saw Arles itself, the Pont du Gard, daytripped by train to Avignon, and drove to Les Baux. From Isle, which is close to Avignon, we drove to the little towns of the lavender country around Mount Ventoux as well as the Cotes du Rhone itinerary in Rick's Provence book (which is excellent...you should definitely get it). I think if you want to stay in only one home base for the week, Isle would be my pick. It is a lovely little town with a fabulous bi-weekly market, easy to drive into and out of, and pretty central for the region. There were several good cafes and excellent restaurants in the town. Other posters will have good ideas as well, but whatever you end up doing, you will have a fabulous time. Provence is a very special place.

Avignon city center is not so good with a car. Even sleeping in the center of Arles (which is smaller than Avignon) can be a problem. With a car in either place it's best to book accommodations that tell you, on their website or by e-mail, that they will provide or facilitate secure overnight parking. Another thought: with a car in Provence it's not necessary to home base in one of the cities/towns, maybe better to consider home basing in the country. If you're interested in following up on any of this, post again and we'll try to provide more help.

Both Arles and Avignon are good easy daytrips by car from some other, cuter place to call home for a week. Provence is full of fantastic little towns people dream of living in. Take advantage of that car and enjoy the countryside. PM me for our family's experience in 2009.

We spent a week in Isle sur le Sorgue. We did day trips to Arles, Pont du Gard, the Luberon towns and some of the towns a little further north in Provence. I agree with the earlier post about Isle - it is easy to drive in and out of and is centrally located. We took the train from Paris to Avignon where we rented our car. The drive from Avignon to Arles was easy also. We even stayed in a little Gite that Rick recommended in his France book in 2006 - Le Pigionner - this isn't the correct spelling - but it means pigeon in French. It was very nice but only appropriate for no more than 3 people. If it isn't in his newer books, I can likely find the information on it.

I will be in Provence in October and St. Remy has been suggested to me as central location by someone who is very familiar with the area. Perhaps you're looking for a house or apartment to rent but, as I will be there for only 3 nights, I booked a room at L'Amandière in St. Remy. Its quite inexpensive, got very good reviews on tripadvisor and has secure parking.

We spent 2 weeks in a farmhouse near St. Remy this spring and thought it was a perfect location to access other villages and towns in Provence. St. Remy is a lovely small village.

I agree with the others, that if you have a car and are renting a house, you're better off in a smaller village or town. We've rented from France Homestyle and had an excellent experience. Any of the Luberon villages are good choices, easy to make day trips to the rest of Provence.

I prefer Arles by far as a base.