(7 Days - Departs Daily on a Private Basis) Avignon, Luberon Valley, Aix en Provence
This "town and country" tour features the best of Provence: important cities and hilltop villages, outdoor food and antique markets, valleys dotted with traditional stone farmhouses, and some of France's most acclaimed luxury hotels.
Arrive in the walled city of Avignon and spend the night at La Mirande, a hotel with a 700-year history. Avignon, once notorious for its schismatic popes, is today a vibrant cultural town with a medieval form. Some of its highlights include Les Halles and other specialty food markets, artist workshops, narrow streets lined with antique shops, and Palais des Papes, an imposing fortress-palace from which renegade cardinals once challenged the Vatican.
Next, transfer to Menerbes and spend three nights at La Bastide de Marie, a luxurious farmhouse set among vineyards of the Luberon Valley. During private touring, explore the surrounding countryside—some of the most picturesque in Provence—and visit markets, specialty shops, and recommended restaurants and cultural attractions in hill towns such as Bonnieux, Lacoste, Gordes, Roussillon, Lourmarin, and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
Continue on to Aix-en-Provence and stay two nights at luxurious Villa Gallici, a manor house set in large manicured gardens. Explore this "city of a thousand fountains," wandering past 17th and 18th century mansions and shopping at produce and flower markets perfumed with wild thyme and lavender. You might enjoy a visit to the atelier of hometown artist, Cezanne.
This tour can easily be combined with several days in the Cote d’Azur, or with touring in Paris or elsewhere in France.
Itinerary Overview
Day 1
Arrive Avignon
Private arrival transfer from Avignon or Marseilles to hotel for overnight. Introductory tour of Avignon this afternoon
Day 2
Avignon - Luberon Valley
Private transfer with driver-guide to Menerbes for 3 nights with touring of villages en route
Day 3
Luberon Valley
Full-day private tour with driver-guide of local villages
Day 4
Luberon Valley
Half-day private tour with driver-guide of local villages
Day 5
Avignon - Aix en Provence
Private transfer with driver-guide to Aix en Provence for 2 nights with touring en route
Day 6
Aix en Provence
Half-day private tour with driver-guide
