Please help me choose between 2 tours in Marsielle

Hi! I'll give you a little background info, this is my first time to Europe and am talking a 21 day Mediterranean cruise with a few days in Rome to start. We are only going to 2 ports in France the other being Toulon. In Toulon I'm talking a Princess tour to maximize my time there. We'll be going to Bourmes les Mimosas and Hyeres. I'm in love with small quaint villages too. So please tell me what you know or think about the places I'll visit!

I'm looking at a Princess tour that takes us to Lourmarin and Isle Sur Le Sorgue. It's a full day tour 8:30-4:30 so we maximize our port time.

The other tour is with Italytours and it goes to Arles, Avignon, Saint Remy, and Les Baux. It is also a full day tour.

Anxious to hear all you input!

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Bormes-les-Mimosas and Hyeres are beautiful and exactly what you are looking for.

Lourmarin and L'Isle, while different, are more of the same. So if small villages is what you want, do go for it.

On the other hand, since this is your first visit to France, you might want to take the Arles, etc tour to really see the history and culture of Southern France. It will take you from Roman to modern times and you will see some extraordinary landscapes and architecture. And St. Remy is in many senses a small village. IMO, I would recommend this one.

Bormes-les-Mimosas and Hyeres are beautiful and exactly what you are looking for.

 

Lourmarin and L'Isle, while different, are more of the same. So if small villages is what you want, do go for it.

 

On the other hand, since this is your first visit to France, you might want to take the Arles, etc tour to really see the history and culture of Southern France. It will take you from Roman to modern times and you will see some extraordinary landscapes and architecture. And St. Remy is in many senses a small village. IMO, I would recommend this one.

Thanks so much for the help[emoji4]

If this is your first visit, I would do the second one....you will love all those areas..ENJOY!!

We did the Arles, Avignon, Les Baux and St. Remy tour.

What a great day. We saw so much. Obviously you don't get an in depth view of any one place but it was great. Here are links to pictures.

https://southerneurope.shutterfly.com/pictures/661

https://southerneurope.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

https://southerneurope.shutterfly.com/pictures/524

Thank you all for your input!! It helped me decide and I just finished booking the private tour to Arles, Les Baux, etc.!!

Thanks!!!

We stayed in St Remy for a week. It's a very nice area, you will enjoy it.

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We stayed in St Remy for a week. It's a very nice area, you will enjoy it.

 

 

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St Remy is one of the places I’ve been reading a lot about and really excited to see.

What day of the week are the Tours? St. Remy & Isle Sur Le Sorgue have amazing markets.That may sway me. We stay in Lourmarin when we visit.

What day of the week are the Tours? St. Remy & Isle Sur Le Sorgue have amazing markets.That may sway me. We stay in Lourmarin when we visit.

We’ll be there on a Wednesday and I saw that that is St Remy’s market day. So, hopefully we can be there early to enjoy that! Very excited!!

We would definitely choose the Italytours itinerary...although we cannot speak to the quality of that tour company. The problem with the other tour (which goes to places we know well) is that its not what we would normally recommend for a first visit to Europe. Isle sur la Sorgue is certainly where we want to be on a Sunday morning (when the weather is good) which is when they have their fantastic Sunday market (probably the 2nd best market in all of France). But on a weekday it would not be our choice for a tour...although it is a cute water-side town which is always good for those wants to look for antiques

As to small quaint villages, the reality is that most tours (especially cruise line excursions) do not go to small quaint places....but rather to small touristy places :). In France, the cute quaint places are the ones not visited by large bus tours. But Les Baux certainly has its charm (although its overrun with tourists) and St Remy (where we have previously rented an apartment) is a quaint village....but only in the early morning and late afternoon after all the tours are gone :). St Remy was the first French village where I could live out a long-time fantasy of walking to the local boulangerie in the morning...and walking through town back to my apartment with a baguette under my arm :0. The elderly lady that owned that boulangerie greeted me with a scowl for the first week. The beginning of the 2nd week she greeted me with a smile and a "Bonjour" and at the end of our 2nd week she said goodbye with a hug and embrasser sur la joue.:). That is the part of France never experienced by cruise passengers.

Hank.

We’ll be there on a Wednesday and I saw that that is St Remy’s market day. So, hopefully we can be there early to enjoy that! Very excited!!

Ah, wonderful. You'll just love Provence.

We’ll be there on a Wednesday and I saw that that is St Remy’s market day. So, hopefully we can be there early to enjoy that! Very excited!!

Markets usually close by noon, so it depends on whether your tour goes first to Arles or to Avignon. From South to North: Arles-Les Baux-St Remy-Avignon. If this is a private tour, you can ask them about your wish to see a market. The market in Avignon is daily. Arles also have a market on Wednesdays.

http://theprovencepost.blogspot.com/p/local-markets.html

We did the Italytours.eu tour two years ago. Italytours was the agent and the tour was offered through Provence Connection It was a wonderful tour. As for the order of stops, we went to Avignon first because when we went in July, Avignon hosts a music festival that closes a number of streets; we needed to stop there first to avoid the closures. We then went to St Remy where we stopped for lunch at a boulangerie. I could have spent more time there. After that, Les Baux and Arles. It was a long day, but what a great tour.

Hello everyone,

Myself (56) and husband (60) are sailing Princess Cruises in 3 weeks and thanks to all of you who have shared your experiences and photos, we will go with ItalyTours #1: Tour #1: Arles, Les Baux , St Remy & Avignon

crossing my fingers there is still room for us. I so appreciate everyone's input, suggestions, experiences, and photos. Hoping to get a small glimpse of these unforgettable places and go back to truly live the experience.

Have a great weekend all.

We would definitely choose the Italytours itinerary...although we cannot speak to the quality of that tour company. The problem with the other tour (which goes to places we know well) is that its not what we would normally recommend for a first visit to Europe. Isle sur la Sorgue is certainly where we want to be on a Sunday morning (when the weather is good) which is when they have their fantastic Sunday market (probably the 2nd best market in all of France). But on a weekday it would not be our choice for a tour...although it is a cute water-side town which is always good for those wants to look for antiques

We would be doing the #1:Tour #1: Arles, Les Baux , St Remy & Avignon on a Wednesday. Do you think it's silly to do on a weekday? Hadn't even thought about it being a workday. Please advise. Thanks.

We would definitely choose the Italytours itinerary...although we cannot speak to the quality of that tour company. The problem with the other tour (which goes to places we know well) is that its not what we would normally recommend for a first visit to Europe. Isle sur la Sorgue is certainly where we want to be on a Sunday morning (when the weather is good) which is when they have their fantastic Sunday market (probably the 2nd best market in all of France). But on a weekday it would not be our choice for a tour...although it is a cute water-side town which is always good for those wants to look for antiques

 

As to small quaint villages, the reality is that most tours (especially cruise line excursions) do not go to small quaint places....but rather to small touristy places :). In France, the cute quaint places are the ones not visited by large bus tours. But Les Baux certainly has its charm (although its overrun with tourists) and St Remy (where we have previously rented an apartment) is a quaint village....but only in the early morning and late afternoon after all the tours are gone :). St Remy was the first French village where I could live out a long-time fantasy of walking to the local boulangerie in the morning...and walking through town back to my apartment with a baguette under my arm :0. The elderly lady that owned that boulangerie greeted me with a scowl for the first week. The beginning of the 2nd week she greeted me with a smile and a "Bonjour" and at the end of our 2nd week she said goodbye with a hug and embrasser sur la joue.:). That is the part of France never experienced by cruise passengers.

 

Hank.

Thank you so much for your input and sharing your experience in great detail. This is why I love cruise critic. You ask and you get real opinions. I'm so excited to see St Remy too! Thank you!

Melissa

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We did the Italytours.eu tour two years ago. Italytours was the agent and the tour was offered through Provence Connection It was a wonderful tour. As for the order of stops, we went to Avignon first because when we went in July, Avignon hosts a music festival that closes a number of streets; we needed to stop there first to avoid the closures. We then went to St Remy where we stopped for lunch at a boulangerie. I could have spent more time there. After that, Les Baux and Arles. It was a long day, but what a great tour.

Thanks for replying. Would you happen to remember how much time they gave you in St Remy? And if they let you decide between spending more or less time in each town? Thank you

Melissa

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We would be doing the #1:Tour #1: Arles, Les Baux , St Remy & Avignon on a Wednesday. Do you think it's silly to do on a weekday? Hadn't even thought about it being a workday. Please advise. Thanks.

 

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It is fine on a weekday. You will see more of the everyday life. Wednesday is the large market day in St. Remy, so if you get there before noon you will enjoy seeing it. Strictly tourist sites like Les Baux are the same every day.

Besides, that's the day you are there, enjoy it.

Thanks for replying. Would you happen to remember how much time they gave you in St Remy? And if they let you decide between spending more or less time in each town? Thank you

Melissa

 

 

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If I recall correctly, we were there about an hour and a half. We had lunch and then did a walking tour, stopping at the birthplace of Nostradamus. Depending on how many people are in your tour I think the driver could adjust the time a little.

Thank you

Good evening everyone! First and foremost, I so appreciate all of the recommendations and photos and experiences some of you have shared of your travels to Marseile - Arles, Les Baux, St. Remy & Avignon. So much so that this port stop is completely consuming all of my thoughts!

So my question to a few of you that have already been:

Hlitner, Caripoo, MsKaufman, and Marazul -- from what I read it sounds as though you have each spent considerable amounts of time in each of these places, so perhaps not necessarily just one day. Would you say it is possible to get to see all four places completely DIY via cabs from our ship? I have now spent my free time in the evening for almost two weeks trying to put together a group with one of the major tour companies and have had no luck. Any recommendations as to how to get around? Do you think a tour is absolutely necessary? Even if my husband can get to two of the towns on our own, we would be so pleased.

NYBumpkin -- I read that you have toured with ItalyTours before and I think this Marseile - Arles, Les Baux, St. Remy & Avignon tour specifically? I have been corresponding with them almost ad nauseum it seems and just can't seem to reach a happy medium where we officially book the tour but with even a fraction of a discount. It'd be a private group of 5, two of us and 3 additional which we have yet to find to offset the cost. I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel and just pay the full tour fare for just the two of us, but wanted to ask you if you thought it'd be worth it? Any additional selling points on the tour?

I value everyone's thoughts and all you've so willingly shared thus far! Thanks so much!

INEZ

I completely defer to Hlitner (Hank) who has spent much more time in this area than I. My opinion is that doing this by taxi leaves a lot up in the air until you get there. I do not like to drive on shore excursions as I want to spend my time looking around and not concentrating on the road or where I am going (so I do not generally rent a car). We were very happy setting up the itinerary and having the local driver get us from place to place.

The only way to get to all four towns during a port stop is by road.

A taxi would cost you an arm and a leg of each person on your tour. Probably more than a private tour for just two people. Plus, you will probably not be able to hire one on the spot.

Go with a reputable local tour company. Italy Tours and Viator are resellers. Go to local companies such as Provence Connections. Others are mentioned on Trip Advisor (which owns Viator and Cruise Critic).

The price of private tours are usually for the trip, not per person. You could book one for the two of you and let the company know that 2 or 3 more may be joining you. The total price will be the same and you might be able to find others to join you. The total price even for the two of you could still be less than a ship excursion. Would the tour be worthwhile? IMO, yes!

The only other option is to rent a car.

You can also go to Avignon and/or Arles by train. but you could not get to Les Baux or St Remy. There were some posts about that recently. Search the board for "Avignon train." Then again, there are train strikes going on for the next few months, so it depends on when you are going. Even so, it is always more time consuming to use public transport.

https://en.oui.sncf/en/

I agree with Marazul to check what Provence Connection's rate might be if you booked directly. Also, if you are booking multiple tours through Italy Tours see whether they might give you a discount on that basis. They are a reseller but I've never had a problem with resellers. Some tour operators use them so they're not responsible for bookings - as one solo guide explained to us once, if he handled bookings himself he wouldn't have time to do the tours. At any rate, I think the only feasible way to see all four towns is a road trip. For us,it was very worthwhile.