Provence A Guide For Visiting In The Fall

Provence - A Guide For Visiting In The Fall

Visiting Provence in the fall is magical, the weather is warm, there are less crowds, and the markets are still abundantly full of delicious foods and collectables. After spending several weeks in Provence at the end of September into the middle of October I thought creating a little guide would be helpful to some.

Off The Beaten Path

Just to give you some reference we booked our trip through Untours, a company that specializes in unpacking once. They will arrange your mode of transportation, give you an Unguide for support when needed and an orientation and then they leave you on your own. We selected a rental from their list in Le Thor, a small town 15 minutes from l’lsle-sur-la-Sorgue. Our rental dated back to the 15th century. It was a quiet town which has a supermarket and boulangerie, pharmacy and some other things you may need along your stay.

The Weather

Provence doesn’t get a lot of rain generally. However, we experienced significant temperature drops daily. Temps would start out in the low 50°F (10C) range and by mid afternoon be in the mid to high 80°F (26C). Which made it challenging to dress for the day and we ended up freezing most mornings.

There can also be very windy days (The Mistral). We did experience several different days of this with high winds.

TIP – Dress for the warmer weather but bring a large travel scarf to cover your shoulders and legs in the car in the mornings. Also, the air is very dry and dehydrating so bring some moisturizer, lip balm, and a reusable water bottle.

Navigating Around Provence

If renting a car make sure that you pay to have the GPS feature, while using your personal phone as a back up. This helps to prevent your phone battery from dying and you can use it for other things such as taking photos along the way and making sure the car gps is taking you in the right direction.

Consider getting a small rental car as there are many tiny streets and parking spots. Most roads have good signs and be prepared for many, I mean many speed bumps and roundabouts. There are hardly any traffic lights in the small towns but plenty of roundabouts everywhere.

TIP – If you plan on driving in Europe you will need to obtain an international drivers license. You can usually purchase one at a AAA store for $20.00.

TIP – Consider using the train system to take a day trip to Marseille. It’s also a great way to get to and from Paris.

Visit The Outdoor Markets

One of the best things about visiting Provence in the fall is that the weather is great for strolling along all the markets. Generally most towns have a market day. We visited several different ones. Some of the markets in Provence are small and some are huge. Generally most towns have a market day so there definitely is no shortage.

I would be remiss not to mention the market in I’Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue. This market happens on Wed and Sundays. In addition to food on Sunday they also have the large antique market. So many beautiful items so make sure you leave room in your suitcase for some extra special items.

Some Markets We Visited

Le Thor – A very small town market for basics

I’lsle-sur-la-Sorgue – One of the most popular markets, Wed is mainly food, and linens Sunday has both food and antiques. Highly recommend this one.

Arles – Another large market full of delicious foods, linens, clothes.

Le Petit Palais – A small town market but larger than Le Thor’s.

African Market In Marseille – It’s neat to wander through and see what they have to offer, along with the different shops surrounding the market.

Fish Market In Marseille – Fresh variety of fish right off the boat. Even if you’re not buying fish it’s interesting to see the different options.

Dining

Because our rental had a full kitchen we went food shopping regularly and had all our breakfasts and dinner at our rental. We did eat a larger, dinner type meal mid-day along with snacks then had a small charcuterie for dinner at night.

TIP – Many restaurants have a set lunch time such as 12-2, especially in smaller towns so keep that in mind. If you get there right before 2 they may not serve you. Some of the smaller towns the restaurants close at 2 and reopen at 7 pm.Some of the larger areas have lunch available all afternoon and it’s usually indicated on an outdoor sign.

What's Open When

You may be surprised, especially if you are coming from the US that many places are closed on Sunday. The local supermarket in our town was open for a 1/2 day on Sunday Morning.

In some areas many shops and markets are closed on Sunday and Monday.

Most stores close mid-day until about 3 so be prepared for that.

If you are planning on visiting Avignon most places are closed on Monday’s also. You wouldn’t think that for a larger city but it was like a ghost town when we visited on a Monday.

TIP – Mid-afternoons in most towns are deserted. Most shops are closed and the only people you see are the tourists. This is great if you’re looking to get photos to post on social media. However, it leaves little to be done other than wander. Some towns are more attractive for this than others.

What To Wear

As I mentioned previously the mornings were really cold and the afternoons were sometimes quite hot.

Ladies

Dresses – I brought one short sleeve, one no sleeve and one skirt.
Lightweight pants – One pair of black trousers and one pair of lightweight casual pants
Bathing suit, towel, etc – If you plan to go to the coast
Long Sleeve Cardigan – For the chilly mornings and evenings
Nicer light jacket
Scarf – I love this one Travel Scarf
Sneakers – Try for a neutral color scheme to go with everything
Comfortable flat dressier shoe – leave the heels at home, some towns are all cobblestone and on slopes.

Men

Polo shirts
Long sleeve collard shirts Untuckit is a nice brand.
Lightweight pullover or sweater
Lightweight travel pants, Banana Republic has a nice travel line, as does Vuori.
Solid Color T-shirts – Stay away from graphic t-shirts
Lightweight Shorts
Sneakers

Restrooms

I wanted to mention this because it’s not something we find in the US and it’s better to be prepared, especially for the ladies. You can find free public restrooms in some areas, they tend to be near parking garages. Make sure you have hand sanitizer and more importantly tissues as many restrooms lack soap and toilet paper.

Also be aware that some restrooms have toilets with no seat on them or they have just a drain in the ground and an area for foot placement. These are very common throughout Europe but I wanted to mention it just so you are aware.

In some areas such as train stations and airports, you will have to pay to use the restroom and they do take credit card. Those facilities are clean, maintained by an onsite attendant.

Favorite Towns

Everyone will have their own favorite towns and we visited a lot, but here are some that we really loved:

Sault

Arles

Gordes

Roussillon

Uzès

Aix-en-Provence

Fontain-de-Vaucluse

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence

Visiting The Coastal Towns

We visited both Marseille and Cassis. Depending on where you’re staying some of the other towns could be easy to get to.

Marseille

We took an early morning train to Marseille. The train station is at the top of the city and you walk down to the port.

On the way down we strolled through the African Market which is 3/4 of the way down and the fish market was at the port.

There are many restaurants with all kind of food options so you shouldn’t have any issues finding something you like. We decided to eat away from the waterfront, one street in and had a fabulous meal.

We mainly strolled along the port, however we did get up to the Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la Garde. Which was a beautiful church and the views alone are amazing.

TIP– Choose carefully how you get up to the Basilique Notre-Dame-de-la Garde. It’s a very long walk up but doable walking down. Consider a car service or bus service.

WARNING – We booked the Colorbüs Marseille service that was supposed to get you up and down the mountain with guided audio tour along the way. They were very disorganized in boarding (we pre-booked and still had to wait in a long line with everyone else). The audio on the bus didn’t work for anyone. When we were done visiting the Basilique the line to board the bus was super long and after waiting for a half hour with no bus we decided to walk down ourselves. In other words it’s unreliable.

Cassis

We were advised to arrive in Cassis early in the morning if we wanted to find parking. We were successful in finding a lot that also had a free public restroom.

Cassis definitely had a more Mediterranean feel than Marseille. It is part of the French Riviera and a place to consider lounging around on the beach or hiking the Calanques National Park. There are beaches that you can get to only on foot. We did not swim but explored the town and did a boat tour of the Calanques National Park. The boat tour was fantastic, but I suggest you arrive early in the morning to get on one easily. Our boat was not full and we were able to walk around easily and ask questions. The boats are lined up along the port and there is a ticket booth that assigns you to the boat.

We also took the very curvy D141 when we left Cassis. It takes you up into the mountains where you can stop at various points to see beautiful views. Note, this drive is not for the faint of heart, it’s winding and there are no railings.