Provence

HI! I will be travelling to Provence in late August & would like to base myself in Aix-en-Provence. I will be travelling alone and am looking for inexpensive accomodation. Also, I'd like to know if it would be best to rent a car to see this area or whether i could manage it by train or bus. I would like to see Arles, Avignon, Orange, Vaison-la-Romaine, Isle sur la Sorgue, Roussillon, Salon de Provence & possibly Les Baux & Gordes. I am also wondering how much time I should allow to visit each of these places.
Thank-you!

An itinerary like that is really great and requires at least two weeks. Aix is a delightful place to base yourself and you'd definitely need a car to get to all those places easily. Buses and trains are infrequent, and at times non-existant. For example I can't imagine how you'd get from Aix to Vaison by public transport.

A car would also enable you to visit some of the wonderful countryside around Aix, like the Mont Ste Victoire, the Route Cézanne and the villages to south of the mountain like Puyloubier and Pourrières. A tour all around the mountain (via those villages plus Rians) will take a whole day and would be a great day out.

The only place that I'd consider dropping if I was running out of time would be Salon.

However, you might want to consider staying the night in Vaison because it's a 1.5 hour drive each way from Aix and that doesn't make for a relaxing day in what is one of Provence's loveliest small towns, especially on market day.

Isle sur la Sorgue has to be visited on a Sunday when the whole town is full of the market.

If you stay in Aix you definitely need a car to get around. Don't know what it costs now but Hotel Cardinal was a staple 2 star hotel, cantrally located with one of the tiniest lifts you have ever seen.

I agree. I've done almost your exact itinerary and we had a car. Our car had gps which was fantastic-we just explored back roads to our heart's content and when it was time to go back, we'd just punch in our hotel and it would take us there.

Honestly, the smaller places (Isle sur la Sorgue, Les Baux, Roussilon) only require a few hours. Tiny villages like those (except Isle, which I wasn't enamored with) are nicer to stay the night in-it's not that they have so much to keep you occupied, it's just neat to be in these pretty towns when they are quiet, having dinner, reading on your terrace, etc. Arles is worth a full day, hopefully a Saturday when they have their market.

Yes, rent a car, but use St Remy as a base. Much smaller than Aix and easy to get in and out of by car. Look at the map. I recommend this place to stay: Les Source. Have fun!

Hello

Place to stay: Aix you can catch public transport easily, St rémy if you have a car it's ok and you can go to visit "les baux de Provence" Sainte marie de la mer "la camargue".
Place to visit: Many, fontaine de vaucluse yes but see also (gordes, roussillon, gorges oppedettes) "Luberon"
The Verdon (forcalquier, Moustier sainte marie, la palud sur verdon) need a vehicles.
The beach yes but a lot of people.
The alps near also to the provence.

Transportation bus:

You have now an effcient network calling LER PACA try to find the link
Train: not to bad use our national transport
Car: it's the best solution but you will travel alone most of the time and you will go to visit touristic place so at the end you will fell like a real tourist... You can use a car to go in some no touristic place.

All the best and good trip and preparation.

Thanks so much for all your wonderful advice everyone! I am looking forward to an amazing trip!

Dear Tanda,

How was your trip to Provence? I'm going next June and for me it has been very difficult to chose from so many beautiful things to do and see!!!!

What did you think about the cities you saw? Should I not miss or miss any of them?

Thanks in advance,
tbt

TBT. Tanda hasn't posted since June 2007 and I think it's unlikely that he/she will see your message.

Dear Tony, I imagined something like that, but it's worth trying... do you have any good tips for me? I'd like to hear anything that could help me with my program!

Thanks a lot anyway!!!!

TBT, what about the stuff on this thread?

If you want any more specific information, I recommend that you start your own thread, with a title that reflects the topic, and give as much specific information as you can about your interests, likes, dislikes, mode(s) of transport, how long you're going for, and so on.

Provence is a large and varied region so you need to be as informative as you can if you want genuinely useful and informative replies.