Choosing a base: Avignon, Aix or Arles
All three are on the rail network, all three have a hire-car desk nearby, and each pulls your itinerary in a different direction.
Avignon is the best base for the northern half: the papal palace and its bridge in town, the Luberon villages to the east, the southern Rhône vineyards to the north, and Pont du Gard to the west. It has a high-speed station a short shuttle from the walled centre, which makes arriving from Paris or Lyon easy.
Aix-en-Provence is the most elegant of the three and the most urban: fountains, plane trees, a café culture and a serious market. From here Marseille and the Calanques are close, as is the Sainte-Victoire mountain, but the Luberon is a longer drive than from Avignon.
Arles is the base for Roman remains, photography and the Camargue — the flat delta of horses, salt pans and flamingos south of the city. It is smaller and quieter in the evenings than Aix.
A common two-base split is three nights around Avignon or the Luberon, then three nights around Aix or Arles. That gives you a northern block and a southern block with a single move in between, and avoids the mistake of driving an hour each way every day from one fixed point.
The car question
Public transport in Provence links the towns but not the villages, and the village day is the reason most people come. Hire a car, but be deliberate about it: collect at a station on the day you leave the city, and drop it before your city nights begin. Historic centres in Avignon, Aix and Arles are partly pedestrianised, with parking either in paid underground car parks or in outlying lots.
Practical realities of driving here: roads between villages are often single-track with stone walls and no verge; village car parks fill by mid-morning in summer; many are a steep walk below the village itself; and satellite navigation will happily route you down a lane designed for a mule. An automatic gearbox is worth requesting if you are not comfortable with a manual on hills, and it is the option most likely to run out at the desk, so book it early. Fuel is more expensive on motorways than in supermarket stations, and toll motorways run north–south along the Rhône corridor while the scenic routes do not.
The village circuits
| Day | Route theme | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Luberon north | Gordes, the Sénanque abbey valley, Roussillon’s ochre cliffs | Go early; the ochre trail is best in soft light and closed in bad weather |
| Luberon south | Bonnieux, Lacoste, Ménerbes, Lourmarin | Quieter than the north; Lourmarin has the best Friday market in the valley |
| Alpilles | Les Baux-de-Provence citadel, Saint-Rémy, olive groves | Combine the fortified site with a quarry light show and lunch in Saint-Rémy |
| Roman west | Pont du Gard aqueduct, Uzès, Nîmes | Half a day at the aqueduct if you swim or walk the riverbanks |
| Plateau lavender | Valensole plateau, Sault, Simiane-la-Rotonde | Only worth the drive within the bloom window; check locally before committing |
| Coast & cliffs | Marseille, Cassis, the Calanques | Access to the inlets is regulated in fire season; boat or hike, book ahead |
| Gorges | Verdon gorge rim roads and lake | A long full day from Aix; leave at dawn or sleep nearer |
Markets, and why they dictate the week
Provençal markets are morning affairs, each village on its own fixed weekday, and they are the cheapest and most reliable pleasure in the region. Build the week around two or three of them rather than trying to catch one every day: a market morning, a long lunch and one site in the afternoon is a full and satisfying day. Tourist offices publish the weekly market calendar for their area — Avignon Tourisme is a good starting point for the north — and it is worth checking, because a village on a non-market day is a very different and much quieter place.
The lavender window and other seasonal truths
Lavender is the reason many people book Provence for summer, and it is also the most commonly mistimed element of a Provence trip. The bloom generally runs from late June into July on the plateaus, earlier in the lower valleys and later at altitude, and harvesting begins while the fields still look full. The exact timing shifts year to year with the weather, so treat any date you read as an estimate and confirm with a local source close to travel. Fields are working farmland: stay on tracks and edges, never walk into rows.
The mistral is the other seasonal fact. This dry northerly wind can blow for days, scours the sky to a hard blue, drops the temperature noticeably and makes exposed cliff walks and boat trips uncomfortable. It is most frequent in winter and spring but can arrive at any time. Plan indoor alternatives — a Roman museum, a wine tasting, a covered market — rather than assuming every day will be still.
April and May bring wildflowers, green hills and cool evenings. September is warm, calm, and the vineyards are harvesting. August is hot, busy and the month when fire restrictions most often close forest and cliff paths.
Pros and cons of Provence as your main region
- Pro: the highest density of landscape, food and heritage per driving hour in France.
- Pro: excellent shoulder seasons, which spreads your options across half the year.
- Con: it does not work without a car, and driving is the part travellers most often underestimate.
- Con: the famous villages are small and absorb visitors poorly at midday in high summer.
Connections out
High-speed trains from Avignon and Aix reach Paris and Lyon quickly, and the coast line runs east towards Nice and the Riviera via Marseille. The natural pairing is Provence plus the Riviera: drive inland first, return the car, then travel the coast by train.