DrDave123

We are thinking of basing ourselves in Uzés or Nîmes for a few days to see the Uzés Saturday market, travel to the Chauvet Caves, and then wind our way to the Luberon. Any suggestions for places to stay with parking?

Moderator1

France tag added and duplicate thread deleted

Christina

Uzes is very small, there aren't hardly any hotels there at all. I don't know how it got so popular on the tourist circuit in recent years, but most people just visit it and stay elsewhere, I think, at least in hotels some miles away. If you just want to visit for the market, you can drive there for that and there are a couple municipal parking lots not far from it.

There are only two hotels within the outer ring road that I know of. One is the Hotel Entraigues where I stayed some years ago. It was nice enough, and they say they have a parking garage with four spaces. Good luck on getting one, when I went they had a larger garage across the street, I suspect that was taken over by some other business. There is a small city parking lot not far from that hotel but as I recall, there were some hours limitation on that, it isn't a large city parking lot like the ones over near the market (which is near place aux Herbes. I just walked around the city as I recall when I stayed there, it isn't that large. That's probably only about 400 m from the market place. I liked it that that hotel was on the outer ring road as I was visiting other towns, also, during my stay. The only other hotel in the town is the 5* Hotel Maison d'Uzes. It says it has valet parking only. It is also probably about 500m from the market, That hotel isn't as easy to get out of the town nor to find. The closest parking garage/lot is a bit away but of course that makes it easier to get out of town, which I suppose is where the valet takes it. But it's probably a couple hundred meters from the hotel.

The closest hotel to the market is outside the ring road, the 3* Hostellerie Provencale. It does not have its own parking, so you'd have to use the lots you'd use anyway if you were coming in for the market (like Qpark Cordeliers). It's several hundred meters away.

If your only interest is to see that market, I don't think staying inside Uzes is the best idea as there are limited hotel options and parking issues.

kja

I stayed at Hotel La Taverne de Sophie -- not a fancy place, but fine for my purposes . There was a parking garage -- Q-Park Gide -- just minutes away.

FrEsDe

I lived one recent summer in Nîmes and visited pretty towns in the region by bus on market days. Uzès is rather small, the market is not remarkable. Arles' blockbuster Saturday market is the star attraction of the region. A lot more hotels in bigger and livelier Arles & Nîmes. FYI, if you are a mosquito magnet like me, be aware that this region is known for aggressive tiger mosquitos which start as early as in April. I was covered in sticky repellent, wore long sleeves/pants, used mosquito plug-in & incense, slept in mosquito tent, but I was still eaten alive. Best to book hotel with air con so that you can keep the windows closed. Supermarkets &pharmacies have all sort of mosquito-related products.

kja

Picaridin insect repellents are not sticky.

Maribel

kja,
Nor is the mosquito repellent that I purchased in the pharmacy in Lausanne-les-Alpilles, prior to my visit to Saint-Marie-de-la-Mer and our (very touristy) boat trip on the Tiki 3 in the Camargue (I was warned!). I can't remember the brand, but it might have been Autan or an equivalent.

The minute I opened the car door upon arriving at the pier outside of Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer for our boat trip (6 kids in tow), the mosquitos swarmed all over me, but I was protected. Others on our boat ride, sadly, had not heeded the warnings and were covered with bites. I felt for them.

I had almost literally bathed in this repellant before our excursion, but not sticky.

I wasn't bothered at all by mosquitos in Uzes and didn't use repellent.
We rented an apartment and parked in a public lot just below, within walking distance),
nor was I especially bothered in our 2-week rental just below Les Baux, but in the Camargue, yes!! I had been warned about the infamous mosquitos of the Camargue.

I believe that maitaitom also stayed at the Hotel Entraigues, if memory serves (it doesn't always).
If I were to return to Uzes (been there twice), I would splurge for the Maison d'Uzes with secure pay valet parking, even though it would be a splurge. It's lovely.

I really enjoyed the market in Uzes. I had also been to the larger one in Arles and in Saint Rémy.

FrEsDe

Thank you, kja!

Maribel

Make that Maussane-les-Alpilles. Spell check!

kja

Picaridin is an insect repelling ingredient recommended by WHO and the CDC for preventing insect-borne diseases. It is the active ingredient in at least some Autan brand insect repellents -- and in insect replellents by Cutter, Sawyer, and others.

Maribel

Thanks, kja!

hetismij2

It is also known as Icaradin. Like DEET it shouldn't be used on very young kids or by pregnant women unless there is a real risk of malaria or other serious disease. It doesn't eat plastic like DEET does and is kinder to the skin.

When we went camping (in our campervan, with screens and nets!) in the Camargue in early May we looked like we had chickenpox after one night, we had so many bites.

Doesn't of course help OP with their query.