9 days in Provence - 1 or 2 bases?

Hi. It depends on how much time you want to be active e.g. exploring and how much time you want passive e.g. sitting in cafes, soaking up the sun.

I was in St Remy two summers ago. I had three nights there. It is a delightful town but incredibly busy these days with foreign tourists and their cars. It is accessible by bus from both Arles and Avignon. St Remy and the ruins about 10 minutes walk are worth a day. On my second day I hired an electric bike, which was amazing and just so easy, and then did a loop of 30km up and down through nearby towns. If you could find a farm house for five nights that would allow you to relax and let your child running around / exploring.

There are so many roads criss crossing the countryside I would not expect to be feeling like one is back tracking.

Provence is enormous, so it depends on what you want to get out of it. St-Rémy to me is the ultimate cliché tourist town, and I avoid it like the plague for many reasons, not the least of which are the high prices and the huge pain of parking in high season. If I venture to that part of France I stay in smaller Alpilles villages like Maussane. Or further afield in places like Malaucène at the foot of Mont Ventoux.

The Lubéron is hardly "remote," IMO, though that's subjective. There's a wealth of beautiful villages there, though you have to weigh your opinion of "remote" against actually finding French reality.

I very often advise people to consult guidebooks when they don't seem to have done enough research on places they want to visit, but in your case it might be wise to get out of the guidebook/Rick Steves mentality and look at the alternatives. Pernes-les-Fontaines, for example, is a perfectly lovely place rarely mentioned (like Maussane), where you won't be part of the hordes and can experience some semblance of actual real life in Provence. Read the Michelin Green Guide to Provence to ferret out the real gems.

Can't help with the Riviera, as I want little to do with it. I do love the Camargue, though. But if your main objective is to see what most tourists have a picture in their minds of what "Provence" is all about, then sure, go to St-Rémy and then settle into someplace like Nice and do the standard runs up and down the coast to the glittery places.

Thanks for such detailed replies!
I need to clarify what our expectations from the visit are - we can enjoy both the touristy places and the quiet out-of-the-way places. The kid is very travel-friendly, and can enjoy most things we enjoy - minus wine ;-)

There seems to be consensus regarding staying in a small village,
Ironically, St. Remy was chosen due to being quite small compared to the likes of Avignon and Aix :-)
We'll certainly consider following the recommendations, as one cannot judge the place before having visited it.

It also looks like I have to provide some definition of "remote".
While for some people driving for 5 hours one way is an ok distance, for us driving 2 hours one way is about the worst we're willing to consider for a day trip, and prefer to spend much less time driving. An hour is the optimal driving time and, while not always possible, we try not to drive for much longer than that without breaking the drive up.

Oh, and the question of the number of bases is still open!

I fully agree with Stcirq in #2.
When would you go?

I think the number of bases is also a very personal matter and not that much Provence related. Do you mind changing bases or not? And where in Provence do you actually want to go to? Maybe you can make a list of the places that you want to visit. But i agree with you on the backtracking when sightseeing and kids usually don't like to spend too much time driving in a car.
Having a car is great for exploring Provence but it implies that you should choose your bases even more carefully since parking can be a big issue in summer.

You've mentioned Gordes and Roussillon as possible bases in Lubéron. Note that these are highly touristy and Disneyfied villages. In high and even shoulder season you will see more tourists than locals there (and in winter they become almost ghost villages because there are very few permanent residents left, it is all holiday rentals and second residences). The same with villages such as Ménerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux.. If that is what you want or if you don't mind that, go ahead.
Not so far from there and still in Lubéron i like the villages and the area around Simiane-la-Rotonde/ Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire as a good and strategical base for exploring rural Provence (and you can still easily visit Gordes and Roussillon from there). And i also have a soft spot for the region called 'Les Baronnies' in and around Buis-les-Baronnies and Mollans-sur-Ouvèze.

As to the Riviera (is this for spending time on the coast or for sightseeing as well), you could have a look at Bormes-les-Mimosas/Le Lavandou. There are some fine beaches around there and the interior is beautiful as well with the Montagnes des Maures.

I fully agree with Stcirq in #2.
When would you go?

We're going in the first 2 weeks of October (arrive on Sep 29 and leave on Oct 13).
Should've mentioned it, but I keep forgetting that mind reading is still a very rare gift ;-)

I think the number of bases is also a very personal matter and not that much Provence related. Do you mind changing bases or not? And where in Provence do you actually want to go to? Maybe you can make a list of the places that you want to visit. But i agree with you on the backtracking when sightseeing and kids usually don't like to spend too much time driving in a car.

Personally, I'm not a fan of driving - it's just the most convenient way to get about the area, and trade-offs are a part of life.

Having a car is fine for exploring Provence but it implies that you should choose your bases even more carefully since parking can be a big issue in summer.

I make sure our base includes on-premise parking, and only expected it to be an issue when traveling to another large'ish town.

You've mentioned Gordes and Roussillon as possible bases in Lubéron. Note that these are highly touristy and Disneyfied villages. In high and even shoulder season you will see more tourists than locals there (and in winter they become almost ghost villages because there are very few permanent residents left, it is all holiday rentals and second residences). The same with villages such as Ménerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux.. If that is what you want or if you don't mind that, go ahead.

It's funny that I seem to have fallen into the same trap as with St. Remy - these were chosen for being small quaint places. Apparently, I was wrong. Maybe they'd be ok in October? If you don't think it changes the picture, your suggestions are certainly an option.

Not so far from there and still in Lubéron i like the villages and the area around Simiane-la-Rotonde/ Saint-Michel-l'Observatoire as a good and strategical base for exploring rural Provence (and you can still easily visit Gordes and Roussillon from there). And i also have a soft spot for the region called 'Les Baronnies' in and around Buis-les-Baronnies and Mollans-sur-Ouvèze.

Thanks, this advice is indispensable!

As to the Riviera (is this for spending time on the coast or for sightseeing as well), you could have a look at Bormes-les-Mimosas/Le Lavandou. There are some fine beaches around there and the interior is beautiful as well with the Montagnes des Maures.

Ideally, I'd love to do both - but having just 4 (full) days there we'll have to compromise.
We're not the beach going types - and the trip taking place in October probably makes it irrelevant.
My main hobby is landscape photography, and there's a ragged coast somewhere it would be pretty high on my list.
I'd like to visit at least one of the glitzy towns - be it Cannes/Nice/Monaco/St. Tropez (which one's the grandest?).
Rest of the time on the coast could be spent sigh seeing - be it nature or villages.

Thanks!

May I can make a suggestion. In October daylight get shorter and the weather can be between good and bad. What about if you try to stay at one plce in the middle of the region La Provence. For example in a nice village between Brignoles, Barjoles and St. Maximin. In a distance of one hour to drive (one way) you are there near to the eastern end of the region: Aix, Avignon and Arles, to the southern part and sea front wherever between Marseille and Nice, to the eastern part and the border to Italy including Monaco and the northern part, the back land with the valley of the Verdon river, the grand canyon, the near Alps.

Of course always up to which road you take: the motorway, national roads (the red ones) or departmental roads (yellow ones).
It include also a visite of Monaco, Nice and Cannes if needed and you have much lesser traffic on any road and town as tourists in this time are rare - except if in one of the place a congress take place.

For in what you are interested have a look to the different sites of local organism like http://tourismepaca.fr/ , http://en.infotourisme.net/monument/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur !

Our current list of places to visit is too long, and will have to be heavily redacted - that's why I hesitated to share it, but still seems to be too far from the area you suggest. It means driving for 90+ minutes if we wanted to get to any of these places. Well, besides Aix, but it's also too far for us for the closest place.
Just to clarify - we were planning to move for the Riviera part, so it shouldn't be a concern - in this topic I'm mainly trying to understand if it's feasible top stay in one place for the Provence part. the answer seems to be "it depends on your preferences" - and if so, it's fine as it means any choice will be ok.

Let me try to focus the question as, originally, it was too broad:
We'd prefer to stay as close to the attractions as possible while still being able to hop into the car and drive away (i.e. not in the middle of the city) and only drive longer than, say 1 hour every other day as there are always some great locations that are a bit removed from anything else. For example, if we stayed in Avignon area (not the city per se) a lot of places would be reachable in under 30 minutes - or so it seems.

Provence POI map

<<We'd prefer to stay as close to the attractions as possible>>

The problem is that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of "attractions" and we can't guess which ones appeal to you. Therefore, we can't zero in on a place that will be suitable, within your parameters, for traveling to them.

....... as there are always some great locations that are a bit removed from anything else.
It seems you know exactly where to go, where to stay and all the great location you will see. That's fine.

Staying in the suburbs of Avignon (or Menton, Monaco, Nice, Cannes, St. Raphael, Frejus, Toulon, Marseille what concern the Riviera) and 'driving half an hour or less' in any direction will bring you to nothing beside in the middle of the next town but I do not know the surrounding of all this towns very good.