We plan to spend 5 days in July visiting Avignon, St. Remy, Sault-en-Provence, Les Baux and the nearby villages. We will be arriving at Avignon via train and then rent a car. What would be a good place to stay? We would like to stay in one hotel and explore the surrounding towns on day trips? Thanks!!!
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If you have a car, it%26#39;s probably best not to stay in Avignon. St Remy is a very pleasant town.
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Avignon has a good number of hotels, restaurants, cafés and I consider it a good base. Parking can be a problem but there is a large garage under the courtyard in front of le Palais des Papes.
St. Rémy is popular with some but hotel space here can be limited. It%26#39;s plethora of small shops clearly targeted to tourist sales does not appeal to me but others find it a good choice. Isle-sur-le-Sorgue has a couple of hotels and this is another charming place to stay.
If I were to select the ideal setting in Provence it would be Gordes: beautiful views of the Luberon valley, pristine streets, and period stone construction through out. Gordes is probably the only tourist location in France with no Office de Tourisme of its own - probably because this place needs no further promotion. Prices are not for those on a budget.
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%26quot;Gordes is probably the only tourist location in France with no Office de Tourisme of its own - probably because this place needs no further promotion. Prices are not for those on a budget.%26quot;
No kidding about the prices. Have you seen the Taxe d%26#39;habitation and Taxe Fonciere bills for home owners in Gordes? Yikes ! and I thought mine were bad.
Yes, it is very pretty.
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Hi, I love St Remy and stayed in the Hotel du Soleil and reviewed it, it%26#39;s very reasonable. I also like Apt very much and it%26#39;s v. central for the Luberon. You might want to consider Arles too, plenty of hotels there and loads to see in the town.
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I would not stay in Avignon if my intent was to explore the small towns and villages of Provence. There is too much traffic getting in and out of Avignon and, frankly, there is too much ugly commerce around it.
Having said that, with only five days, you might as well pick one base and explore from there. In July, I would pick a nice village in the Luberon because of the blooming lavender. It could just as well be Gordes (take a look at Mas des Romarins, very nice) or a number of other small perched towns.
Altough I like the Luberon more than the area around St. Remy, St. Remy would still be way better base option than Avignon for your purpose. Should you pick St. Remy, take a look at Mas des Carrasins. Again, very nice and a good value.
Anna
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Hi Viviant,
I%26#39;m going to cast my vote along with sydneynick and ChicChantal for St. Remy as a base for exploring Western Provence via a series of day trips. A viable alternative would be to stay a short distance from St Remy in a smaller village such as Maussane-les-Alpilles or Paradou right amidst Les Alpilles, a drop-deag gorgeous series of limestone hills surrounding a valley filled with olive groves and vinyards.
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One very serious consideration and determination one must make when selecting accommodations is his interest in restaurants and wine. If a traveler consumes alcohol with his meal, he will not want to stay in a location requiring driving to reach restaurants. Consuming more than two glasses of wine (more than one glass for a woman) can put a driver at serious risk of being arrested. The police control even country roads with little traffic and can stop any car at any time to administer a Breathalyzer test to the driver.
I have seen these road blocks in the most unlikely of locations and at any hour of the day or night. I myself have been given a Breathalyzer test on more than one occasion (so far so good) but I never drive after having consumed any alcohol.
If you do not drink alcoholic beverages or have a spouse that does not and can drive then this warning is not for you. Otherwise approach drinking and driving in France very carefully.
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Happily there are scads of good restaurants in St Remy. Even I haven%26#39;t managed to try them all. Yet. Working on that one.
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