10 Days in Southern France – Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Avignon, Marseille

A trip recap from my 10 days in Provence. This video goes through my itinerary, overall thoughts, things I would change for next time, and more.

Late September/early October was the PERFECT time to visit. The weather was amazing. Some days were warm enough to lay by the pool, while other days the infamous provincial winds blew in and it officially felt like fall.

The tour guide on one of my tours confirmed that summer is PACKED. The little villages can barely handle the crowds. It was blissfully quiet while I visited. Enough people to feel lively, but never crowded. The languages I heard most often were French, Italian, and German. I saw and heard very few American tourists.

As expected, this region is best explored by car. Since I was traveling solo, I depended on trains and buses (I don’t rent cars when traveling alone). I knew going in this would make things difficult and there would be villages I would not be able to see because many places are not serviced by public transportation.

While it would have been better to do this trip with a travel companion (and thus have a car), I decided I could get a taste of Provence and decide if this is a place I would like to revisit with Jake for an extended stay.

I spent 11 nights/10 days in Provence, which is too long for the typical tourist:

3 nights Arles

2 nights Avignon

4 nights Aix-en-Provence

2 nights in Marseille

I arrived around 6:00 pm in Arles, so the first day was a wash. Arles, while adorable, is very small. You can tour the town in a few hours. There are a few good day trips nearby (Nimes, Pont du Gard, St. Remy), but again, they are all pretty small and start to feel redundant after a few days.

I didn’t need to stay in Avignon. It was my least favorite city and should have been done as a 1/2 day trip vs. spending the night. Though, my 1/2 day trip to Isle-sur-la-Sorge from Avignon was a highlight. The market was fantastic and the tiny town was tres adorable.

Aix-en-Provence exceeded expectations. This is one of the biggest cities in Provence, and while there aren’t any “tourist sights” per se, it makes a good home base for exploring the Luberon villages.

Aix has a wonderful restaurant scene, streets made for wandering, shopping, and colorful markets.

My advice for someone considering a visit to Provence would be:

1) rent a car

2) spend 3 nights on the western side of Provence (either Arles or St. Remy as your home base)

3) spend another 2 or 3 nights in Aix-en-Provence as a base for exploring the Luberon Valley/villages.

For the average tourist, 5 to 6 nights is plenty for exploring this region.

HOTELS

Arles – Hotel Present: https://bit.ly/3CTcKEV
Impeccably clean, mid-century modern, and wonderful location.

Avignon – Hotel de Cambis: https://bit.ly/4fOWwv6
This was a really cute hotel. The room design is based on different varietals of wine with a color theme to match. The location was perfect.

Aix-en-Provence – Renaissance: https://bit.ly/4ibdoxA
While one of the “better” hotels in Aix, I wasn’t super impressed. It was Ok. Location was great though.

I’m back for my 3 weeks in southern France and while it’s still fresh in my mind I wanted to do a quick trip recap what my itary looked like things I would change overall thoughts Etc so first of all I splent my time half between provance Province however you want to say it and then the French Riviera so this video I’ll focus on provance I flew into Marseilles and went straight to ARL a r l s it’s the western side of pance so three nights ARL two night night Aon which I could have skipped four nights x i I used to think it was pronounced I but it’s x a iix i on X on provance and then two nights Marseilles before heading to the French Riviera so I flew into Marseilles headed straight to ARL via bus and train which was super easy so I didn’t arrive until about 6: p.m. on the first night so out of those three nights the first was a wash so I had two full days in ARL and for day trips around ARL ARL and aanon they’re on the western side of Province and so ARL made for a great home base for the villages and sites on the western side so from ARL there’s a lot of places you can go visit they’re all tiny orange memes the Pont guard which is a Roman aqueduct St Remy and you have Aenon to the north so all these towns are very small there also very Roman so it’s called provance because it was the first region to have the status of a Roman province so you’ll notice that a lot of these towns look and feel more Italian and Roman than they do French a lot of them have many coliseums amphitheaters forums Aqueduct systems all of that so much more Roman which I like cuz I love Italy so ARL definitely felt more Italian and I’m glad I chose ARL as a home base it was very easy it’s also run in the river so great for jogs the restaurants were great there was two good coffee shops cuz again it’s tiny so I spent one full day exploring ARL and then I did a day trip to to nemes which nemes was interesting because it’s the Pont guard the Roman aqueduct that’s where the water from the Pont guard flows to so it was interesting to see that and I liked nees because while ARL and many of the towns and Province are only tourism nemes actually felt like more of a living City where there were actually locals and it wasn’t just purely tourism so I did enjoy my day trip there wasn’t anything mind-blowing no honestly none of those Villages over there are mind-blowing they’re more just cute quaint good food so three nights in ARL was great I then went to Aon which is easy it’s like a 20 30 minute train I had a hunch I wasn’t going to like aanon which I should have stuck with that I liked it I didn’t love it I think aanon is better served as a day trip so I would have rather spent an extra night in ARL and then just day trip to aanon it just didn’t feel as quaint it felt more touristy the famous site there is the Pope’s Palace which is gorgeous from the outside but it’s bare on the inside so it’s not really even worth visiting so I would have yeah taken off my two nights and Avon and just done that as a day trip one positive is though with Avon is it was a really quick train ride to Isles through lorge which was a Charming little town it was my favorite Market out of all the markets in provance because that is what that region is known for they live by their markets but is Sola Sorge great Market is huge even though it’s a tiny town and it’s of like water canals through the town so it just has a different feel like ARL and many other places feel kind of dry so that was cool and it’s really fun to visit during market and then stay long enough so you can experience after they pack the market up it feels like a totally different place once the Market’s gone so I really enjoyed is St of Sorge but again I could have done that as a Daye trip from ARL I could have even done that as a day trip when I moved on and was basing myself in X on pance so Aon I think most Travelers can skip it or just just do it as a day trip don’t spend the night there so then I took the train to X on provant I always thought it was I but no it’s pronounced x a iix four nights there uh again it was a little too long which I kind of knew that going in but I would rather have too much time than too little I loved X I was surprised I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did it’s bigger it’s one of the biggest cities in the province region and there’s University so it has a different vibe and again it feels a little bit more livable than a lot of these quaint Charming little Villages so the vibe was great they have a market almost every day has more of a local feel yes it’s touristy but I don’t know I just felt like there were more locals there than the other places I had visited restaurant scene was great really good cafes patisseries again it’s well situated for day trips to explore the luberon villages so out of my four days and ex one of those days I did a tour where we strung together lur Marine lure Marin I have no idea how you pronounce that lur Marin and then Rous salon and gourds and we could have continued and done a longer day trip and done Al suras sge from there but I had already done that loved the luberon villages I thought they were all different so lur lur Marin was medieval again tiny you don’t need more than two hours there to walk around and even stop into a few shops and have a coffee somewhere I it’s that small 2 hours is plenty uh Rous Salon is very interesting that’s where the ochre Valley the ochre Cliffs are which is that um bright orange yellow pigment so that’s what they used back in the day for cosmetics and paints now it’s all fake synthetic stuff but so now you can there’s an actual Trail where you can walk through the ochre Cliff so it’s really cool to see the bright orange colors compared to like the green tree very pretty and then of course the village I mean is very orange since like that’s the material they had to build their Stone um buildings but again very tiny you only need maybe 30 minutes to wander around that little village it’s tiny same thing for gourds it’s beautiful especially from afar um once you get in again very medieval but very small so you only need not even an hour to wander around gourds vill is all very quaint and very Charming so to recap loved ARL didn’t love aanon really enjoyed X on pant I did spend two nights in Marseilles cuz I was just interested on what I would think about mer cuz I’ve heard not a lot of great things but I don’t know Rick Steve said can kind of compare it to Barcelona and I love Barcelona so I was like let’s try it my opinion is most Travelers don’t need to go to Marseilles but it exceeded my expectations the restaurants were great the whole area around the port was wonderful great hotel scene uh again it’s a city so it feels more real and livable and different populations students people living there and working there not just tourism so it’s like if it’s convenient or easier if you’re flying into and out of Mars is it if it’s more convenient to spend a night there coming in or leaving then do it I think it’s enjoyable I don’t think you need to go out out of your way to spend time there though so things I would have done differently again I had too much time which I kind of knew that going in I feel like for the average tourist you need I would say three nights in Western pant so either pick ARL or like St Remy St Remy is supposed to be wonderful I could not get there because they were having a festival and so I couldn’t get there by public transportation but if you have a car apparently St Remy is easier to get into an out of with a car than ARL is so pick a town on the western side I would pick St Remy or or ARL so you can explore that region and then do two or three nights in X on provance to focus on the lubron valley obviously there’s wine region and Hiking if you want to do some of that even bike riding I went back I would probably schedule some bike rides or something then obviously add in a day or two so yes I definitely would rent a car for next time I don’t rent cars when I travel by myself I could get around with public transportation but it was difficult and it’s difficult to get get to the further fun Villages so highly highly highly recommend renting a car again I knew that going in but I figured I’d try and make it work regardless overall thoughts cuz a lot of people ask me when I get back would you go back how soon did you go back you know did you love it I really enjoyed it I’m glad I went I don’t think Jake would have loved it I I feel like for me like The Villages I can’t get enough of the cute villages and I love taking photos and I love just wandering around and stopping at a cafe and that I never get tired of that for Jake I feel like after two or three villages he would have said I got it I don’t need to see anymore so I just don’t know if that would have been his type of trip I definitely would have had to work harder at maybe finding some hikes or bike rides or something um because I think it would have been a little bit redundant and slow for him like this region you really slowed down this is not a fast-paced European Adventure I don’t know that I’ll be back anytime soon and a big part of that for me is I just prefer Italy Greece southern Spain one part is France in general and like Southern France the prices were pretty much very similar to American prices so like why I love Italy and southern Spain and Greece I mean it’s so cheap and you feel like you can live it up for a fraction of what you would spend in America you don’t really have that feeling in France and Southern France it doesn’t feel like as good of a deal so I’m glad I went do I need to go back anytime soon no also I’m very happy I went in late September and early October the weather was perfect it was like shorts and a t-shirt maybe a sweater or jacket in the morning or evening jeans and a t-shirt um out of 3 weeks it rained 3 days and back to back and then it was it and of course in Province you have the provincial winds that come in which that’s normal so I highly recommend doing late September into October also when I talked to my tour guide on one of the tours she did say that summer while it’s beautiful because that’s when the lavender is in full bloom and usually June it’s packed she said the villages can’t even handle the crowds and so just imagining what that would have been like I would not have enjoyed this trip if it was packed like that like part of the charm was that it was quiet it was quaint I think that’s why I ened it so much it it would not have been enjoyable if I had gone during High season so yes definitely late September early October I think that’s everything I want to talk about for provant so next up will be the French Rivera