Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Best Places to Stay
»Hôtel La Bastide du Bois Bréant (
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)
»La Bouquière (
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)
»Auberge de Presbytère (
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)
»Hotel Ste-Anne (
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)
Getting Around
The Luberon, an hour from Avignon, is just 60km in length. Car is easiest; bus service
limited. Village parking gets difficult in high season. Near-straight D900 bisects the val-
ley, east-west, Cavaillon to Apt, then rises to Haute-Provence and the southern Alps. Sec-
ondary roads are slow and winding. Plan to get lost.
THREE PERFECT DAYS
Day 1: Hilltop Villages
Wind your way to Bonnieux (
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) and ascend on foot to its 12th-century church, then learn about bread
baking at its museum. Bring a baguette on a two-hour walk in the nearby forest. After picnicking - or lunching in
the valley at good-value Café de la Gare (
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) - head to Lacoste (
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)
to spot the silhouette of the
Marquis de Sade's former château, before ending the afternoon wine tasting in Ménerbes (
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), with big-
panorama valley views.
Day 2: Ochre Country Explorer
Begin with a morning drive past lavender fields towards far-flung Rustrel for a walk through candy-coloured rock
formations at Colorado Provençal (
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)
(avoid wearing white). Shop for olive oil and lunch around St-
Saturnin-lès-Apt (
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)
, then swing west to Gargas (
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) to ooh and ahh at cathedral-like caves at a
former ochre quarry (call ahead). End with an amble along the Sentier des Ocres (
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)
in rust-coloured
Rousillon. If that's too much driving, head straight to Rousillon (
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)
, with a late-afternoon drive past
Gordes (
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)
to see the setting sun turn the grey-white village orange.
Day 3: Mountain Traverse
Get perspective on the mountains by crossing them. Gaze from on high in the tiny village of Saignon (
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), then wind through lavender fields to Buoux, where you can lunch in the garden at Auberge de la Loube (
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here
)
or riverside at Auberge des Seguins (
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)
. Afterwards, plunge down the Combe de Lourmarin
gorge to lively Lourmarin to stroll the château's olive groves and window-shop pretty boutiques. Stay overnight,
or cross back over the mountains before sunset.
