20 Best Shopping in Provence, France

Within walking distance of the town center and tourist office, this traditional bakery for the boat-shaped navette, an emblematic cookie of Marseille and Provence, was revived by the founder of the Provence-based cosmetics giant, L'Occitane. Delicately perfumed with orange flower water, the oblong cookie is said to represent the boat that brought saints Mary Magdalene and Martha to the coast near Marseille. Other traditional biscuits, flavored with lemon, almond, anise, or orange flower (including calissons d'Aix and macarons made from local almonds) are baked here by hand in gourmet versions updated by Paris superstar pâtissier Pierre Hermé. Though you'll also find them in gastronomic shops, all of the biscuits made here—easily transportable in tins—are sold in the Biscuiterie store at a 10% discount.

This is the place to sample more than 100 Gigondas vintages—all for free—and learn everything you want to know about the terroir, wine making, organic wines, and the AOP Gigondas appellation from friendly, highly knowledgeable staffers who speak English. Afterward, you can stock up on the best of these stunning wines.

Part charming café serving lunch, snacks, and coffee and part concept store, CQFD (Créations Éthiques Franco Décalées) is hands-down Avignon's chicest shopping destination. Its spacious rooms brim with a curated selection of whimsical clothing and jewelry, chic stationery, tableware, soaps, cosmetics, and handmade housewares (including eco-paints and hand-blocked wallpapers). Everything is eco-conscious—and made in France.

Known for its lush orchards, Apt excels at a technique for preserving fresh fruit that dates back to Roman times and was prized by everyone from the French popes to Madame Sévigné. At this local cooperative, founded in 1962, the old techniques were updated to 20th-century standards, but the colorful local fruits preserved in all their sun-ripened glory are still a sight to behold, and you can taste things before buying. Bigarreau cherries from the Luberon are an absolute favorite, but you'll also find Cavaillon watermelons and melons, Provence apricots, figs, plums, pears, and Corsican clementines, as well as kiwi, pineapple, and, of course, candied ginger.

This elegant cooperative features the best of the legendary Beaumes-de-Venise wines, made exclusively from the muscat grape, as well as the appellation's lesser-known but equally worthy reds, whites, and rosés. There are also options from the neighboring Gigondas and Vacqueyras. All can be tasted in the degustation room, as can local olive oil, fruit juices, and more. Wines can be shipped worldwide.

The official maison des vins of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vinadea has the town's best selection of wines, along with wine expertise if you have questions. Tastings are offered daily, and wines can be shipped internationally. Keep in mind that shipping rates are offset by the fact that you're getting "cellar door" prices with no markup.

This distiller, founded in 1898, makes aperitifs and digestives using aromatic ingredients such as gentian root, anise, thyme, wormwood, and peaches. Indeed, more than 65 plants and spices go into its famous Pastis Henri Bardouin.

If you're into Louis XVI, the Fusterie quarter caters to antiques hunters and interior decorators.

A former inn built in the 17th century is the perfect setting for an emporium of roughly 30 antiques galleries selling art, furniture, and decorative objets from the 16th to the 20th centuries.

The more luxurious shops along Rue Joseph-Vernet and St-Agricol in the Joseph Vernet quarter merit some lèche-vitrine (window licking, as the French say).

Also known as Passage du Point, this is another of L'Isle's emporiums of vintage and antique wares. Here you'll find about 40 dealers under one roof.

You might just be lucky enough to arrive at this Old Town artisanal chocolaterie on a day when you can watch the confections being made by hand. Specialties include delicately perfumed ganache-filled chocolates, calissons, and chocolate bars laden with dried fruit and nuts.

If you're shopping for a gift or souvenirs, you'll find tasteful Provençal tableware at Le Jardin, which also has a charming tearoom in its leafy courtyard garden.

For those with a taste for all things Provençal, this gourmet épicerie sells many of the delicacies found in the region's best local markets, all neatly packaged and suitcase ready—if they make it that far. Shop for olive oils, tapenades, herbs, preserves, bottled soups, fruit jams, honey, pastries, lavender-based sweets or cosmetics, and so much more.

This shop has a cornucopia of old-fashioned, old-world, and marvelously eccentric hats in a jewel-box setting.

All those famous, gorgeous Provençal fabrics can be found at Souleïado—sold by the meter or as elegantly tailored shirts, dresses, and skirts. There's also a fine selection of leather boots, bags, and other accessories.

This food boutique is stocked to the ceiling with bottles, jars, and tins of tapenade, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, honey, coffee, tea, and more.

For more than 200 years, Brun de Vian-Tiran has been making wool blankets, cozy quilts, throws, and other bedding accessories. You can find its signature items here amid housewares from other brands like Nina Ricci, Cire Trudon, Yves Delorme, and Le Jacquard Français.

Higher-end antiques are in plentiful supply at Xavier Nicod, which "pays tribute to eclecticism" in art and architecture.