French Country Side: Best Town

Hello,

I am interested in seeing the French countryside, the typical lavender filled fields and quaint towns. Which is the best town to visit? I am interested in Aix-en provence and Marseilles but I have also heard of Avignon.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

|||

Hi,

Whether you will see the Lavender fields in all their glory will totally depend upon when you will be in Provence. Regarding where you should base yourself will depend upon your other interests, the length of your stay, and where you will be coming from as well as where you will be going when you leave Provence.

Hope to hear from you with answers to these questions.

AlpillesGal

|||

Which month of the year are you travelling? That is important for lavender.

|||

Hey I am planning to be in Provence next weekend starting 20th March to 23rd. Flying into Marseilles.

Where should I base myself, Aix or Arles?

Which is more quaint?

Or is there any other town or village which is connecting Marseilles which would give the typical Provencal experience. Not interested in shops %26amp; nightlife.

|||

Hello,

No lavender in bloom at this time as it is a summer %26quot;event%26quot;. Your choices are numerous and you might need to be a bit more specific about your centers of interest so as to give you the best advice.

If you want quaint with a Mediterranean view and not too far from Marseille, try Cassis. Depending on the length of your stay and if you have a rental car you can do many things from there.

If you prefer inland locations, Aix-en-Provence is certainly a wonderful, not too big city.

Marseilles is one of the largest Mediterranean ports with it%26#39;s ups and downs of a big port city (%26gt; 1 million inhabitants). Probably not the place you want as a base.

Arles will lead you more to visits of Avignon, Arles, Nimes, Camargue, and surrounding sites.

Lou Gari

|||

If you want to go a bit further afeild then La Roque Gageac and Rocamadour, both in the Dordogne, have been voted by the french a being prettiest villages in France.

Unfortunately, I couldn%26#39;t tell you where thatinformtion is published. i just heard from a colleague but I have been to La Roque Gageac, and it doesn%26#39;t disappoint.

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 5:19 pm, October 21, 2009