From Nice to Marseille - route in between

With the exception of Marseille, I haven't been to any of the places on your list. And you didn't ask for suggestions on a route from Nice to any of them. However, based on my experience driving northwest from Nice into the Luberon and from Marseille to Toulon, I'll share some ideas anyway. First, unless you're in a hurry, avoid the autoroutes (freeways). You won't have to pay tolls and you'll pass through small towns that might be worth a stop to look around. Second, study the maps on viamichelin.com. Look for sections of highway that are highlighted in green. They are especially scenic. You can drive virtually all the way from Nice to Aix-en-Provence on the D N7 which parallels the autoroute. If you have the time, you could meander along the coast for a while and then head inland whenever you choose and connect with the D N7.

I would consider St. Remy, Arles, or (maybe) L'Isle as a base to visit all of these towns, although you might see Aix as a day trip stopover enroute to your base the first night. I assume from this list that you will have a car. There are plenty of other great things to see and do in Provence, if you have time, and those might influence your choice too. But except for Aix (and even that), these are all pretty close together in or near the Rhone valley. Happy honeymoon!

I have been to all the towns you are visiting a number of times and would suggest any would work for a home base...however, my favorite place to stay is St. Remy. It is so easy to use as a base as driving from there does not entail a ton of traffic trying to get in and out of town and it is a fantastic place to be. It has a great market... Sat. and Wed. I think. I prefer the smaller villages so Aix was not a favorite... overcrowded and just did not have the charm I was looking for. Also, Avignon is a bigger city and I prefer smaller, but we did have a good time there and saw a few sites. If you driving along the coast from Nice, which I always do there are some wonderful places along the Mediterranean. St. Maxime is a great little beach town with fun shopping and restaurants and also if you like the trendy, chic towns you could always spend some time in Canne or St. Tropez. Both are lots of fun. If you stay in St. Remy you can easily driving to all the places you want to visit.

Sarah I second St. Remy as a base! Bobbie

Thanks for the advice so far. We had considered Arles initially, but St. Remy sounds like a good suggestion. I will have to look into options for places to stay. We would love to go to an event in one of the amphitheatres (a bull "fight" or a concert)...any sense of whether May might be a good time to see something or whether we'll miss out? Thank you!

Also, to clarify what I meant by route ... in what order would you plan on seeing the towns? Thank you.

Theater at Orange (magnificent). Concerts and performances in season; lots of opera as I recall. Arenas in Arles and Nimes (think mini Coloseum). Bull fights and other events in season. French cowboys from the Camargue. The bull fights are real, they just don't kill the bull. If you are taken with the Roman antiquities, do not miss the Pont du Gard.