Avignon Trip

I have just booked a trip to France staying 5 nights at the Hotel Bristol in Avignon and 4 night in Paris.

We will have 4 full days in Avignon plus the day we get the train to Paris when we can either leave early morning or late afternoon. We will also have the afternoon we arrive which we will use to wander around Avignon and visit the Tourist Info, Train Station etc...

I am now looking into what sights we should visit. There seem to lots of places to visit and I have come up with the following places we could visit Avignon, Arles, Orange, Aix-en-Provence, Nimes, Villeneuve-les-Avignons, Marseille and would welcome some tips on the must visit sights and how long we need to spend there. We will probably only use public transport, although we could hire a car for one day if that would be much better.

Any tips would be most welcome.

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Of the locations you mention, I agree with Avignon, Arles and Aix-en-Provence. Unless you have a specific reason for so doing, I recommend dropping Nimes adding Uzes and Pont du Gard, Marseille is really too far just to see, and rather than Orange (not really a compelling visit) stop in St. Rémy de Provencde and les Baux.

I am not sure of the draw for Villeneuve-les-Avignons.

I highly recommend using a car to visit these locations unless you have plenty of time for public transportation (most vacationers have limited time).

Once you have explored car rental costs, it should become apparent of the impractically of a one day rental - you%26#39;ll pay little more for three days than just one day.

http://www.kemwel.com/

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Or, if you don%26#39;t want to hire a car, check with the Tourism Office when you get to Avignon. You can take day tours (either full day or half day).

I recently stayed in Aix-en-Provence for a week and the Tourism Office there gave me a brochure of trips to some really nice places (Gordes, Rousilliom,Lourmarin for example). I booked one day in advance.

It wasn%26#39;t a massive bus, more mid-sized. Air-conditioned. The guide was a woman who spoke four languages. Very informative with time alone to explore and have lunch. It was really enjoyable and easy to do. Met many very nice fellow-travellers.

On your first day in Avignon, definately make a stop at the Tourism Office. Maps, tours, event calendars, lots of good, useful stuff......

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There is so much to see in the villages and cities around Avignon, it depends upon your interests. From some of the places you named, it sounds like you are interested in Roman sites. In that case, Orange has the best preserved Roman theatre in the world, an hour should be plenty to allow for that visit. Nimes has the best preserved Roman amphitheatre in the world and a really good audio-guide you get with your ticket. Nimes also has the best-preserved Roman temple in the world, although part of it is under tarps for cleaning. Nimes has a lovely park with the ruins of a Roman temple and then there is the Tour Magne, a very high tower high up from the park, which you can enter and climb. There are passes that cover all the Roman sites in Nimes. You can take a bus from Avignon to the Pont du Gard and then another bus from there after you have visited, to Nimes for the rest of the day and return by bus or train to Avignon.

Arles also has a Roman amphitheatre, although with no audio-guide and some medieval additions - parts of it are being cleaned under tarps. Arles is a pretty little city that you can take the train to and see in a day.

The Roman site at Glanum outside St. Remy is partly under construction or closed in parts where archaeologists are working.

You can get a joint ticket for the Roman sites at Orange and Vaison-la-Romaine, but can%26#39;t do the two in a day without a car or tour.

Vaison-la-Romaine also has an awesome medieval village accessed by an old Roman bridge. There are other really fascinating medieval perched villages in the area like Crestet. Then there are the perched villages of the Louberon like Gordes, Oppede-le-Vieux, Roussillon, Bonnieux where the movie A very good year was filmed starring Russell Crowe, after Peter Mayle%26#39;s book. I would rent a car and see these sites and skip Marseilles and Aix-En-Provence. There is also an incredible Crusader fortress at Aigues Mortes and a very touristy but pretty perched village between Saint Remy and Arles called Les Baux de Provence.

If you don%26#39;t want to rent a car, here is a website for private tours that take you wherever you want to go, completely personalised if you want.

http://imagine-tours.net/us_provence.html

Some group tours:

viator.com/tours/…d1010-3555_04

avignon-et-provence.com/tourism-in-provence/… There are also other group tours - try searching the Provence Forum.

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