Hi, We are flying into Marseille airport on 3rd June, for a week. I%26#39;ve read several forum postings but the more I read, the more confused I feel! Neither my husband nor I want to drive and we did plan to base ourselves in Avignon, which appears to have good transport links to Orange, Nimes, Arles etc However, I would be very interested to know what other travellers recommend. I realise we will be missing out by not driving but this is a definite %26quot;no go%26quot;. We are pensioners, so travelling on a budget, but we are interested in historical sites, beautiful scenery and a bit of peace and quiet, good food and wine to end the day!
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You don%26#39;t sound confused to me!
Places that will be easy to get to that I would recommend are Avignon itself, Villeneuve (just across the river), Nimes, Arles and Orange.
Seeing villages becomes more difficult if you don%26#39;t have a car. I like Fontaine de Vaucluse, and Les Baux de Provence is well worth the effort. Many of the Luberon villages are attractive - but they will, I suspect, be more difficult to get to using public transport.
You might also consider Vaison and St. Rémy - both have Roman antiquities.
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Looks like you%26#39;ve got a good plan. You might throw in a day tour or two to get out into the countryside to see perched villages, vineyards, etc. I can%26#39;t speak from personal experience, but for example here%26#39;s a link to a site about such tours. There are others which a web search will turn up.
http://www.viator.com/Provence/d184-ttd
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You can%26#39;t get to Roussillon, my favourite Luberon village by bus. Don%26#39;t know how fit you are but the alternatives are doing a coach tour (probably worth it since it will take in the rest of the Luberon) or getting the bus to Apt from Avignon and getting off five miles from Apt at Pont Julien and walking 3 miles up the road and 3 miles back. I%26#39;ve done it, it%26#39;s a quiet road and a pleasant walk, but depends on how fit you feel of course.
I would say don%26#39;t miss l%26#39;Isle sur la Sorgue (frequent buses from Avignon and I believe trains on Sunday which is when you%26#39;d want to go cos of the market, but you%26#39;ll have to check with someone else on the trains) and St Remy/Les Baux, which you can get to by bus but again you might want to look for a coach trip to do both of them.
Public transport can be infrequent and slow in western Provence.
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Thank you for your help! Glad we%26#39;re on the right track. Thanks also for the link to tours from Avignon. I got quite excited looking at the possibilities here.
I wonder if you can help with another problem! Our flight does not arrive at Marseille airport until 2300 hrs so we need to find a reasonably priced hotel near to the airport. The Etap Hotel Marseille aeroport Marignane (part of the Accor group) sounds rather like our Travelodge. Are you familiar with this chain? Any other suggestions? We just want something clean and functional for a few hours sleep.
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Hi, we%26#39;re off to Provence in late May. Our flight also gets in after 10pm but there are bus links to Aix and Marseille as far as I know. I%26#39;ve stayed in Etap hotels in the past and, as you say, they are just like the Travelodge, although maybe a little more basic. They are clean and functional though.
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As to Marseille airport hotels. We always use the Best Western. It is far nicer than the Etap. They have a shuttle to and from the airport (though you could walk). You may have to pre-arrange the shuttle since you are arriving very late.
bestwestern-marseille-aeroport.com/content/…
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Etap is definitely more basic than Travelodge. I tend to think of Etap as being like a hall of residence from a British University in the 1970s. Travelodge rooms are bigger and plusher. That said, I%26#39;ve stayed in Etap hotels (near Nice and Toulouse airports) several times, and found them fine. If you are looking for somewhere clean and functional for a few hours sleep, Etap is probably what you are looking for.
As for the suggestion for l%26#39;Isle sur la Sorgue, I%26#39;d say that if you are going for the Sunday market, fine. Otherwise, possibly not. Neither my wife nor I was very excited by it.
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We based ourselves in Avignon to see the Roman sites and medieval villages around Provence and were not disappointed. There were 3 of us and we were on a budget. We stayed at the Hotel Boquier in Avignon(see my review of that hotel), which is a 5 minute walk to the train station.
When we wanted to see Vaison-la-Romaine, Gordes, Rousillon, Les Baux, Aigues Mortes etc., which we couldn%26#39;t get to easily with public transportation, we used Imagine Tours,
http://imagine-tours.net/us_provence.html. They took us wherever we wanted to go, usually the scenic route and knew where to get the perfect photo. Make sure you tell them whether you just want to stop for a photo or want to explore the site.
Ask David of Imagine Tours to recommens a quiet eatery at the end of the day - he will do so according to your budget.
Be aware that trains are frequently a few minutes late, at least they were when we were there in March 2008, so we always allowed plenty of time for connections. We had a wonderful time in Provence, and dream about it every day. Hope you do too.
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Just saw this on another thread. Looks good:
www.ventoux-decouvertes.com/sommaire_gb.php3
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