Renting a place in Provence

We have traveled to Provence several times and in fact are returning there next week. Our first couple of times we stayed in a gites/house near Vacqueyras. The last few years we have stayed at a gites near St. Cecile. We have gotten to know the owner so we are very comfortable there. This area is very good for taking day trips - Avignon and Orange are very close But Aix-en-Provence is a pretty long drive. Provence is really a fairly large area but we have found St. Cecile to be perfect for us. Also driving is very easy in this area - the roads are excellent.

Unless you plan to spend most of your time at your rental, I would begin by scoping out the activities - the day trips - that you want to do. Then a home base partially on logistical grounds. If you are going to spend most of your time in the Luberon, be in the Luberon. For the Rhone delta, anywhere in that area is good. I'm assuming you will have a car, which I recommend for a week-long stay. If so, stay in or near a small town of some charm and interest but with quick auto egress. St. Remy, for instance and among many other possibilities.

We have enjoyed staying in the Luberon area. You can easily go to many small villages within an hour's drive. We stayed near Joucas and really enjoyed it. Have fun!

We stayed in a house in St Chamas, a village about 30 km north of Marseilles. It was a little out of the way, but the town had a charm we grew to like. Having a car would make it a good location. From there we went to Pont Gard, Avignon, Arles, the Camargue, Les Beaux, Isle Sour le Sorgue (spelling) Aix and Salon. They were actually surprised to find tourists staying in the village....and its probably one of the few towns in France that does not boast a lot of restaurants!

We rented from France Homestyle and highly recommend the company which is based in the US. We stayed in Lourmarin and loved it. Walked into town each day for fresh baguettes and pastries. The Friday market was my favorite of the many I've been to.

All good suggestions.. Thx.. Anybody have experience with L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue ? Looks like it is around an hour from the coast..

Well we've never stayed there but we've spent a lot of Sunday mornings there! They have a wonderful market every Sunday. Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is famous for their "antique" shops and they have a big market every Sunday which has all the things of a regular street market plus "antiques" (the antiques are a real mix of things - some might even say "junk" but I'm sure there are some treasures as well). Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is fairly close to a number of great places to visit in Provence so it would probably be a good base of operations.

My wife and I will spend 10 days in Vence, near Nice in Provance. We found our place on HomeAway.co.uk and have taken the chance that it will be okay. Adam is right. Figure out where you want to go and then select your home base. Michelin has a good map which has helped us decide.
#527, Provence-Alps-French Riviera. That plus Steves' book, Provance plus About.com/France, click on Provance gives a good overview.

I have stayed in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue twice. Once for just 3 days and the second time I rented a Gite for 2 weeks. I loved it. The town is very busy and crowded on market day, but the market is one of the best. The rest of the week it is a quiet and charming town, full of canals with water wheels. We made it our home base and took day trips by car all around Provence. I think it was great home base. Can't wait to go back!