[PROVENCE, FRANCE] — I spent more than a month hanging out in this gorgeous corner of Provence, staying at three different places — two rented villas and a famous gourmet hotel — and scampered about each day, exploring some quaint village, hitting the rotating Market Days, hiking or seeking out a destination restaurant. It was a glorious month. These are the great places I found to go in the Luberon in Provence. The best villages and the best things to do in the Luberon. If you have some suggestions on what I missed, leave them in the comments below.
My stay in Provence was conjoined with about another scattered month traipsing about all over rural France, visiting only small towns and natural wonders, no large cities, from the Pyrenees to the Bordeaux coast, to eastern Provence, before heading on to other countries. This quick video summarizes the best moments from that glorious two months.
This is a GIANT post, I know. Might be my biggest post, ever. But these are all the cool places I found after a month staying in the Luberon valley in Provence and wanted to keep everything in one place for your reference.
I was going to break this down into separate posts, but decided to consolidate everything I learned into one comprehensive post so you don’t have to go hunt and peck for information. Just scroll until you see something you like, read about it, click the links for more info and then plan your next trip.
I didn’t get to everywhere in Provence on this trip, I’m sure I’ve missed some of your favorites, but did manage to hit a lot of the more popular spots, maybe find a couple of lesser knowns. At least it gave me a great overview on where I need to go next. Leave your favorite places and restaurants in the comments below.
These pics are from 2015, I never got around to posting before…because the volume… but I’ve tried to make this info as current and timeless as possible when I created this post. And Provence is timeless.
The Luberon massif is the weather-creator “mountains” that rises above the flat valleys that run parallel to it on the north and south, with hilltop towns sprinkled along its edges, idyllic villages that each have their own character.
This whole post will mostly deal with those spots mainly along the flat Calavon river basin that follows along the old Roman road from Cavaillion to Apt, now the main highway, but I’ve highlighted some other places nearby. The valley is tucked in by the Vaucluse range on the north side, home of the towering bald Mount Ventoux, and the Luberon massif to the south, which helps makes this region grow some of the best for produce in France.
Bonnieux is always on everyone’s Favorites list. Dating back to Roman times, it’s considered one of the prettiest perched villages in France, sitting high up on the edge of the Luberon, overlooking the lush patchwork of farms and villas in the valley below.
Bonnieux is the perfect midday stop, with several cafes on the edge of the road that allow you to drink it all in, the gentle breeze ruffling the tablecloth. There’s a cool church, several nice shops and a nice little park with exceptional trees.
There’s a recently renovated five star hotel and restaurant just outside of Bonnieux, Capelongue, everyone is raving about it. There is also a respected winery that people stop in for a long lunch. Château la Canorgue, where the Ridley Scott/Russel Crow movie A Good Year was filmed.
Another perfect village on the top of everyone’s list is the thousand year old Lourmarin, on the other (south) side of the Luberon. It’s another Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and is a gorgeously perfect town, loaded with some of the best shops in Provence, great outdoor cafes and large amounts of charm. Lots of expats live or shop here, notably because of Peter Mayle’s books.
Their market day on Friday is one of the best in Provence. Contrasting to all the other hilltop villages I’ll show you, Lourmarin is at the bottom a beautiful valley that cuts through the Luberon range. It’s a gorgeous drive over on a sunny day. Here’s a great article from Travel & Leisure on what to do in Lourmarin, (even though the main photo is of Gordes!)
Lourmarin has some of the best shops in Provence. Don’t miss Market Day on Fridays.
Saignon is a sleeper, a beautiful town known mostly by the locals. Its stunning hilltop location peeks out in 360 degrees in all directions. The flat top almost looks like a castle, but is a natural formation that was used as a signal hill for the Romans and their main city in Apt directly below, because of its commanding views of the valleys and the flames could be seen from all directions.
It’s a super quiet little village, devoid of chock a block shops and cafes, but has a beautiful little main square with a bakery and a couple cute cafes tucked in around in the alleys. Make sure you hike up the to the top, past the fifteen hundred year old church, for amazing views.
Come in the morning or near sunset for the best light. OnlyProvence has a very nice write-up on Saignon.
Lacoste is a near-ghost of a town most days of the summer. A number of private houses out of view, a small cafe good for a nice sandwich at Cafe des Artistes, the village is super quiet and looks like it probably looked a thousand years ago. Lacoste is home to an outpost of the Savannah School of Design, but I never saw signs of it during the summer, they must have been off, maybe that’s that all the small little houses are for.
There’s an old castle on the top of the hill that used to belong to the Marquis de Sade who had orgies there, but now it is in partial ruins and is open only for special events with its current owner, Pierre Cardin.
But what probably makes Lacoste the most famous are the stunning poppy fields on the flat valley floor below. Nearly everyone on their way to Bonnieux slams on their brakes and gets out to take this pic below. France This Way has a great write-up on Lacoste.
Apt is a workhorse of a village. It may not be the prettiest, but it certainly ranks as the most useful. As a Market Town, you can find just about everything you need in Apt. If you’re staying in the Luberon, you will no doubt be in Apt at least once a week to outfit yourself. Bakeries. Great coffee cafes. Newspapers. Wine shops. Soap shops. Clothes. Hardware stores. Family shoe stores. ATMs. Electronics. Whatever you need, you’re likely to find it in Apt. Here’s a super helpful guide on Apt from Luberon.com.
It has the biggest and best Market Day on Saturday mornings with over 300 vendors, so unless you’re coming for that, run your errands on less crowded days. There’s also a fresh produce market on Tuesdays, featuring nothing but local produce, in all its magical forms.
If you’re staying in the Luberon, you will no doubt be in Apt at least once a week to outfit yourself. Bakeries. Great coffee cafes. Newspapers. Wine shops. Soap shops. Clothes. Hardware stores. Family shoe stores. ATMs. Electronics. Whatever you need, you’re likely to find it in Apt
Apt had long been a very important and strategic town for the valley and at important crossroads, dating back to Roman times when it was the biggest town along the Via Domitia — the first road in France that connected Spain to Italy.
Not much Roman remains, but the remarkable Pont Julien is a perfectly preserved Roman bridge, a stone bridge that Julius Caesar ordered built in 3 BC, a baguette-toss away from Apt. It’s still standing today and incredibly was still used for car traffic until 2005!
The Luberon plateau is the weather-creator massif that rises above the flat valleys that run parallel to the north and south. People mostly see the Luberon from the valley floor below, following the lone highway along the Cavalon river basin. But few actually weave their way up on top of the magical flattop Luberon plateau.
Up here, about 1500-2000 ft above the Luberon valley, there are endless lavender fields, vineyards and truffle oaks. And temperatures are about 10-15 degrees cooler and a great escape from the heat below.
I stayed for two weeks in a small restored cow barn up here for near the hamlet of Buoux one June and it was magical. While the quaint Provencal villages can get super busy and very hot, there’s hardly anyone up here and the temperature are about 10-15 degrees cooler, so it’s a great way to get away from it all.
This all used to be underwater. Millions of years ago. Then it was thrust up to form the Luberon massif. The Aiguebrun river, which is more like a brook these days, has cut a course through the limestone on its way to Lourmarin and the Durance river to the south and onto the Rhone. Cliffs rise 300ft on all sides, with small scramble trails scattered in the leaf-shaded valley. Great for a cool running-around when the valley is too hot in the summer.
There are a lot of prehistoric cave dwellings tucked into the walls and small hamlets like Siverges, a town of 47, which is at the end of the world and end of the road and feels much like a five hundred year old group of houses. There’s nobody up here.
These cute pics might paint a prettier picture than the place actually is — think more of a creek in your backyard — but scrambling around under the shaded trees, its still wonderfully devoid of people.
You don’t see them at first, you hear them. You hear some talking or whooping and look up and see tiny specks on the face of a sheer cliff. Rock climbers come here from all over to tackle these 300ft cliffs.
This was another treasured find. Even friends who have lived or visited here frequently rarely know about Fort de Buoux. Hidden atop a pinnacle at the crux of three different valleys and the nearby Roman footpath to Apt, this has been a fort for centuries, from prehistoric times, to Romans and all the subsequent conquerors, until Medieval times until Napoleon ordered it dismantled to prevent marauders from taking it over because it was in such a good position.
You take a steep trail up and enter at the low end and pass through the stone gate. It was designed such that progressive fortifications allowed the residents to retreat uphill, protected by row after row of thick walls. My favorite part was the coolest hidden escape stairway carved into the rocks, totally invisible from the ground below, allowing people to escape unnoticed.
There are still garum pots the Romans used to cook up their treasured fermented fish sauce. Just out here in the open, exposed to the centuries.
Tucked between the buttes on all sides of this verdant valley is the hidden gem Auberge des Seguins. A true destination restaurant in the middle of nowhere, serving up simple but excellent food. It’s also a small hotel, complete with a sunny pool. I loved eating here. Get the big appetizer platter, their specialty.
One the best known and busiest of the Luberon villages is Roussillon, a pretty village on the edge of the valley, with every color of ochre under the sun. It gets super busy with bus tours in the summer, so come early or late in the day. It’s very touristy, but has a couple of decent restaurants.
You can’t come to Roussillon without spending most of your time at the jaw-dropping colors of the Sentier des Ocres. Once the ochre mine, with a thread of brightly colored powdering rock and dirt they used for pigments in paintings in the 1800s until the 1930s, when they shut down the mines to preserve this special place. The invisible underground ochre vein pops up again miles away outside Rustrel (see below).
You just can’t believe the unreal feeling of walking amongst the bright colors in the morning sun, like swimming inside the sun. You almost have to rub your eyes from the visual onslaught.
I loved ducking away and chilling under the grape leaves at Restaurant Omma in Roussillion. It’s in the Michelin guide and has peaceful views over the valley.
This is the place. This is where all the smart people come on market day to find endless antique treasures. Surrounded by water-fountain clear rushing canals, the streets fill up on the Sunday mornings in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, when shoppers and dealers from around the world descend on the Sunday market, in the perfect setting to wander the hundreds of booths filling the streets.
This is the top antique market in Provence. It gets super busy on Sunday mornings, so plan to come very early before the big crowds arrive. Then have a nice long lunch at any of the great cafes.
I had my second best meal in Provence at the enchanting outdoor garden at Le Jardin du Quai. I would build my entire next trip around eating here in this lovely place. It’s like being in your own romantic movie. Quieted behind the walls, nothing but the chirping birds and the shoozh-shoozh-shoozh of pea gravel and the clanking of nice silverware. Magical.
You can follow the famed super clear Sorgue river up to its source, a great maw in the side of a cliff, with Listerine blue spring water emanating from deep inside the cliffs. Fontaine-de-Vaucluse is a bit of a tourist trap in places, but also kinda cool. The green glow from the sun bouncing off the mossy green river is otherworldly. Just follow the people walking up the cafe-lined path to the source of the spring. Then stop at one of the moss-side cafes and cool your heels with a beer or spritz.
Nobody really knows how deep this spring goes. Jacques Cousteau tried to find how far down in the 1950s, but only got to a thousand feet deep. It goes much deeper.
Ménerbes blew up in the 90s after Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence. But it was famous before that as home to many famous artists and fancy people, with nice big houses hidden behind walls on the edge of the cliffs. The crowds have slacked off since then and it has mostly returned to a calm, perfect Provencal village.
I had one of the best meals of my life at the former La Veranda in Menerbes, unfortunately it is closed now but the chef has moved on to another place around the corner called Bistrot Le 5. I would book my whole vacation around eating his food again. Everyone raves about the views from the terrace on the side of the village. I would also look to at staying or eating at the famed Bastide de Marie, just outside town. I tried to stay there but it was fully booked.
This is where I fell in love with Michelin 1-star restaurants and out of love for 2- and 3-starred places. The food was elegant, but not a magic show. The service casual and friendly, the staff were dressed in elegant tennis gear. A wonderful long lunch, but not a drawn out 8 course ordeal.
This is another lesser-known but gorgeous ancient towns. There are actually two towns, the new and the old one. Park your car and walk up to Oppède-le-Vieux, nestled in the Petite Luberon hills. There’s a quiet square with a couple of cafes, some famous residents and a very cool Romanesque church.
Gordes is an insanely beautiful hilltop village on the north side of the Luberon valley in the foothills under Mount Ventoux. I first went there in 1998, before I took digital pictures, so I don’t have a lot to show, but you need to go here. Here is a fantastic guide to Gordes from the amazing Jessica, of BonTraveler. And another Gordes guide from Forbes.
It’s one of the most famous villages in Provence and rightly so. All these hilltops towns in Provence originated at fortified villages to protect the citizens behind thick walls high up the hills.
After that first trip, I wanted my whole life to stay at what was once called Le Bastide de Gordes, now call Airelles. I tried so hard to book at stay here, but it was booked solid for months. So if you want to go, book early… and work your whole trip around staying here.
(Photo from the Arielle website.)
Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt is built around an old hilltop castle church built in the early 1056 and a dam from the 1800s. A charming little town that is a must-stop for everyone staying in the Luberon. They have a lively market day on Tuesdays. This is where a lot of the cherries come from, at the first of Spring.
Every insider’s favorite: Le Saint Hubert. A lovely little hotel and restaurant in the quiet foothills of Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt. Run by a lovely couple.
This is at the East end of the Ochre Road. The Colorado Provençal outside the town of Rustrel. Go here. You can pair it with an Ochre Stop at Roussillon.
The afternoon or morning is best for the light. Hot. And it’s a little Hillbilly, but worth it. Stunning. A lot of walking around rocky trails, so wear strong shoes or hiking boots. Don’t go in sandals. Seriously. No sandals, unless you want ochre toes.
This is the center of lavender. The Valensole Plateau, the amazing views at Senanque Abbey or these random fields between Rustrel and Gargas.
If you want a nice canyon drive, the Gorges de la Nesque is a nice little couple-hour detour. On the north rim of the Luberon valley, under the breath of Mount Ventoux. This is RoadBiker Heaven™️, so if you’re looking for a challenging ride away from traffic, this is your place. You’ll see teams of riders chugging up the valley.
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Or is it “farther”?
At the far Western end of the Vaucluse, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is the other big and well-deserved famous market day. And just a gorgeous little town. It’s a bit of a hump over from the Luberon, in a different massif formation called the Alpilles, but a lovely, lovely drive, one of the prettiest roads in France (see video below). Here’s a great article on the ins and outs from Condé Nast Traveler.
Les Baux-de-Provence is one of the most famous of the prettiest French villages. This natural chunk of escarpment has been protecting people from the hoards since 6000BC, then the Romans, who drafter masons and miners from town to help build its many roads through Provence.
But I didn’t like it, because of the present day hoards. Tour bus after tour bus disgorging people into its narrow streets. If you can, come early in the morning or at dusk to beat the bus crowds.
Allow me to geek out on my Roman fixation here a little bit. I mean, where else can you walk right through 2000 year old Roman ruins, not be behind a protective rope barrier? All this 2500+ year old greatness, a whole Roman town, right out in the open, tucked into the gentle hills of the Alpilles. Where you can wander in and out of buildings and temples. Pose under the Corinthian columns, or look out over the old town like an emperor. This actually started out as a Celt temple village, then a Greek outpost, then Roman.
I studied in Rome. I’ve seen a lot of great Roman places, but I was blown away by Glanum, one of the best Roman ruins in France. Only a few minutes outside of Saint-Remy, this was along the ancient Via Domitia.
It’s just amazing you can walk freely around this whole Roman village, walking up steps, touring the houses, walking down the Main Street.
Moustiers in eastern Provence is the gateway to the great Gorges du Verdon, The Grand Canyon of France. (see my post on the Gorges du Verdon here). It’s an Adventureland of fun, with trekking, boating, canyoning, climbing and just plain gawking at all the natural beauty. It’s an absolutely stunning fairytale mountain village, tucked into the rocks like a children’s book.
You can read all about it in a big post I made of it here.
Driving up from southern the Luberon, you first drive over the high and flat Valensole plateau, home to some of the largest and most stunning lavender fields in France. Miles and miles of sweet purple flowers, as far as the eye can see. When you see pictures of giant fields of Provencal lavender, it’s usually from this high and dry plateau. I was there in first week of June and it was just shy of really hitting their peak blooms. It really peaks later in June and early July
You can hike inside the canyon, ride things on the river in the bottom of the Gorges du Verdon, looking up, but you can also ride things on top of the of the canyon, looking down.
Drive the even twistier and narrower Route du Crêtes (Route of the Ridges) and let it all hang out… over the sides, 700m down, with massive Griffon vultures flying thisclose to your nose on the windy edge.
Here’s a big post I made on the Gorges du Verdon.
Les Pénitents des Mées is more of a geological drive-by, not a destination. I was just fascinated seeing this same sort of geological phenomenon in the Dolomites, other parts of France, Italy, Portugal, even Argentina. It’s along the northeastern edge of Provence, right off the major motorway and a decent lunch stop.
— Last Visited June 1998 and June 2015; Post Created October 2024 —
Here is The Telegraph’s guide to the best hotels in Provence. And here is the UK Condé Nast Traveller’s guide to the prettiest villages in Provence. And here is CNTraveller’s Perfect 7 Days in Provence.
Here is the excellent and detailed tourism site for Avignon et Provence. The also the detailed Luberon.com. And the also excellent France This Way site’s Provence guide.
Here’s a great site for The Luberon and they have a great description and weekly calendar of all the best Market Days.
Here’s a great list of restaurant recommendations from the landlord at the villa I rented. It’s been a long time, so double-check that places are still opened, but most are institutions that have lasted for decades. The * mean special significance. This isn’t a list of all restaurants, just the best ones recommended by my wonderful landlord, so any should be good. I love how Old School and typed it all is… just typing the phone numbers would have made me bonkers :
[ROME, ITALY] — I studied in Rome my junior year…
[LISBON, PORTUGAL] — Way back in 2012, NY Times writer…
[PUEBLO GARZÓN, URUGUAY] — About 14 miles or so miles…
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