The Luberon and Provence

The Luberon is the heart of Provence, and it is also halfway between the Alps and the Pyrennees, Italy and Spain, the Cote d'Azur and the Languedoc. It's the perfect location for exploring the best of the Mediterranean region.

Sightseeing close by

The Luberon is famous for its 'perched' or hill-top villages. They were built that way for defensive purposes, but now they are just plain gorgeous. The closest is Viens, which you get a lovely view of from the house and garden. Caseneuve and Cereste are close by, and the other side of Apt are Menerbes, Lacoste, Bonnieux, Gordes, Roussillon, Oppede-le-Vieux.

Also, Lourmarin and Buoux are lovely villages beyond Bonnieux, cutting into the Luberon mountain range.

Oppedette canyon (or the gorges d'Oppedette) excellent walking country with spectacular scenery.

Sault, famed for its lavender, is so attractive that it has been designated as a World Heritage Site.

Colorado Provencal at Rustrel, with its unreal ochre landscape. The contrast between the orange earth and the deep blue sky makes for memorable photography as you follow the hiking routes.

Roussillon is known for its surreal ochre quarries.

Apt is a bustling town, 15 minutes away, and Apt market every Saturday morning is the best in the region, with 200-300 stalls selling everything from fruit to fabrics.

Marquis de Sade's castle in Lacoste, scene of unspeakable acts, orgies, and other fun things.

Abbaye du Senanque outside Gordes, a 12th century working abbey (real monks!) set amid lavender fields.

Isle-sur-Sorgue is a village full of antique and bric-a-brac shops where you can pick up a real souvenir of Provence. It is known as the antiques capital of France. On Sunday mornings the streets are lined with stalls selling mainly bric-a-brac.

Fontaine de Vaucluse is where a deep spring feeds the Sorgue river. 'Fontaine' means 'fountain' and Vaucluse is the name of the department (state) you are in. It's said that all the rainfall that comes off the mountains feeds into this mysterious spring, which is over 1000 feet deep (but the bottom has never been reached). Fontaine de Vaucluse is the name of the village as well. It's best to visit during the week - at weekends the world and his dog are drawn there. There are places on the Sorgue where you can hire a canoe or kayak and drift down the river - someone will pick you up and take you back to your car.

Mont Ventoux. This is the mountain that looks snow-capped year-round, but is in fact topped with a white shale. In the winter it does have snow and some people go skiing and toboganning there, though runs are short. You can drive to the top and enjoy stunning views to the Mediterranean and over to the Alps. It can be cold at the top even in summer. Extremely fit people cycle to the top - it is one of the most notorious stages of the Tour de France cycle race - and this is an all-day endeavour.

A-Z of sightseeing beyond the Luberon

Aix (Aix-en-Provence), is a lovely city of art and artists, fountains and thoroughfares, universities and youngsters, as well as having ancient roots going back to the second century BC. Nearby Sainte Victoire is the mountain Cezanne spent much of his time painting.

Arles was a major Roman city and the surviving sites, such as the Arena and the Theatre, are unique in that they are integrated into the houses and buildings of the town, rather than sitting apart as they do in places such as Orange. Arles is also where van Gogh had one of his most productive periods.

Avignon is ancient, full of history, life, art, music and activity. The perfect small city to wander around, with narrow streets inside medieval walls. In the summer it hosts a famous arts festival.

Les Baux de Provence is a spectacular old fortress village on a hill.

The calanques are deep narrow inlets, like mini-fjords, that cut into the cliffs between Cassis and Marseille. The colour of the water is stunning and some calanques have tiny harbors or beaches at the ends, and rock climbers scaling the walls along the sides. You can't drive to the calanques - you either hike or take a boat trip from Cassis or Marseille harbour.

The Camargue is quite unlike anywhere else here - a nature reserve of birds, bulls and white horses, as well as rice paddies and salt plains. Best seen in the saddle - horse or bicycle.

The Cote d'Azur or French Riviera is a day-trip away. St Tropez is 1.5 hours, Cannes is 2 hours, Nice and Monte Carlo 2.5 hours.

Glanum, just outside St Remy, is a fascinating Roman site with well-preserved buildings giving a real feel of life in Roman times.

The Gorges du Verdon is a spectacular canyon up to 700 m deep and 21 km long - compact, wild and beautiful. From Castellane to the village of Rougons, the Verdon river flows clear and swift, and the road follows along the banks. Perfect for hiking, climbing and watersports.

Marseille, 1.5 hours away, is France's second city, a very lively place with wonderful seafood.

Just off the coast, near Toulon, Porquerolles is a mostly uninhabited island of Mediterranean forests, rocky calanque coastline, nature reserves, beaches, boating and one little village. This is probably what the Cote d'Azur was like 100 years ago. A ferry ride is 15 minutes and there are no cars allowed, only bicycles. It is very lovely and the 'high street' has almost a Caribbean feel to it. If you are into scuba diving you can explore the underwater world too.

Port-Cros is smaller than its neighbour Porquerolles, but more mountainous and thickly forested. There is a pretty little port guarded by ancient forts. The whole island is a nature reserve, excellent for walks and hiking.

St. Remy is a picturesque, busy town with a good choice of restaurants and hotels. The road between St. Rémy and Cavaillon is arrow-straight and lined by plane trees - like French roads are portrayed in films. This is where Nostradamus and van Gogh lived, and where Princess Caroline of Monaco lives now.

Activities

Luberon Markets

Explore the daily markets for food and arts and crafts.

Apt
Saturday morning
Tuesday morning June-October

Avignon
The Halles covered market - Every day
Flower market, Place des Carmes - Saturday morning

Coustellet
Farmer's market on Sunday mornings in season (roughly April-November)

St-Saturnin-les-Apt
Tuesday morning

Gordes
Tuesday morning

Sault
Wednesday morning

Cereste
Thursday morning

Lourmarin
Friday morning

Bonnieux
Friday morning

Reillanne
Sunday morning

Hiking & Walking

This is terrific walking country with dramatic scenery and terrain from hills to mountains, valleys and canyons, ochre quarries to cedar forests, as well as the hill-top villages scattered all around.

There are more than 4000 km of marked paths over hill and mountain in the Vaucluse region. The "petite randonnée (PR)" are the shorter hiking paths, and "grande randonnée (GR)" are bigger hiking paths which criss-cross Vaucluse, through the wine country, across the lacy Dentelles de Montmirail, and even an entire loop around Vaucluse.

If you are planning a long hike, take some precautions: always take water, and a cellphone if you have one, or tell someone where you're heading.

Cycling

Cycling is a lovely way to see everything - bicycles can be hired in Apt. There are over 100 km of marked bike paths through the best parts of the Luberon.

Horse riding

A good alternative to cycling around the Luberon, trips are organised by equestrian centres nearby.

Hot air balloon

Le Luberon en Ballon, Roussillon, Tel. 04.90.05.61.46

Restaurants

Best restaurant: Capelongue, Bonnieux, 30 minutes; same owner as the famous 2-star Moulin de Lourmarin

Very good: Auberge du Luberon in Apt; Auberge de la Tour (good Provencal fare from the wife of the chef at Petit Jardin).

Pretty good: Albin Croix near St. Saturnin d'Apt, continental; Bernard Mathys near Apt/Le Chene, traditional French.

Good: St Paul Hotel/Restaurant, Viens.

Local: Petit Jardin, Viens, outside dining, conventional menu.

Provence on the Web

Guides to the Luberon:

www.guideweb.com/luberon/indexa.html
www.crt-paca.fr/eng/GP/avoir/dossier?LNGID=eng&DOSID=37
www.provenceweb.fr/e/groupes/luberon/luberon.htm
Overview and maps: www.atpm.fr/c_luberon_a.htm
Online magazine: www.luberon-news.com/index-uk.php

Newspaper and magazine articles:

Walking the Van Gogh trail in Arles
Provence is a painter's paradise as well as a traveller's delight
Provence and artists
Travelogue on the big Saturday market in Apt
Avignon and writers
A day in Avignon
Aix piano festival
On Roussillon and L'Isle sur la Sorgue
Roussillon and its extraordinary colours
L'Isle sur la Sorgue, the antiques capital of France
L'Isle sur la Sorgue at the weekend
Marseille - What's not to love?
A day in Marseille
Where to eat bouillabaise in Marseille
Things to do within an hour of Marseille
Driving from Provence to Spain
Cycling in Provence
It's official! Provence is better than Tuscany...
The Luberon
Luberon highlights
A tour of the Luberon
Enduring appeal of the French Riviera


Outdoor leisure activities:
www.provenceguide.com/gbcdt/Activites.asp

Provence in pictures (and quotes), gives you a good impression of the region:
www.2docstock.com/provence/photo%20galleries/index.html

360° virtual tours of most of the villages of the Luberon:
http://www.vaucluse-visites-virtuelles.com/glvirtualbluepopouts/carte-luberon-us.html

Provence books & DVDs

Any questions? Ask me here!

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