Help with the Rhone Wine Route
 

My husband & I will be driving from Lyon to Menerbes this September on a Saturday morning.

During our drive I see that we will come close to a Rhone wine route. Does it seem possible to visit say Vaison-la-Romaine, Gigondas, Seguret, on the way to our b&b in Menerbes?

Perhaps we could have a nice lunch in one of the towns and then meander on down to our B&B. We have no time limit as to when we have to arrive.

I would appreciate any suggestions and "don't miss spots" along the way.

Diane

I think I visited all those in one or two days, actually, but I did it as a day trip from a location I was staying in the Vaucluse. You can go through them, but you cannot "visit" them all in the day in addition to driving between Lyon and Menerbes. Vaison la Romaine isn't a small village and it has things of interest to see. No point really in going through it if you don't spend some time there IMO, and traffic is a little dense right in the center, depending on time and day. I spent most of a whole day there, visiting the ruins, etc. and then I probably drove back through Seguret and Gigondas, but only stopped for a short break in one, but I was staying just south of Carpentras so didn't have to get all the way to Menerbes.

The distance is about 260 km total, so maybe 3.3 to 4 hours driving, realistically. So you could but won't be spending much time sightseeing in Vaison-la-Romaine at all, I suppose. if you just want to do drive-thoughs, you can do it.

If you got an early start, you could be in Vaison-la-Romaine before lunch. You would need to factor at least 1.5 hours for a sit down lunch and the remainder of the day to see the town.

Seguret is a really cute town and doesn't take long to explore. Crestlet has spectacular views of the countryside. Outside of that we didn't find the other towns in the area we visited of particular interest unless you want to spend time wine tasting. I'm sure each has its own charm, but we were hot and tired and one began to pretty much look like the next.

It wouldn't really leave you much time to explore any of these villages or do wine tasting if you plan to be in Menerbes by approx 6-7pm as it's a fair drive from here.

If you don't mind skimming over them, it can be done. I would say stick to Vaison-la-Romaine and Seguret...that'll take you until almost dinner time and you'd arrive in Menerbes by approx 6:30pm.

Good luck with your planning.

Crestlet is a good tip - it won't take up more than 20 minutes of your time, but it's darling and the views are stupendous. Vaison will take at least a couple of hours, assuming you want to wander around the upper old town and see at least some of the Roman ruins.

I also loved Gigondas and Vacqueyras and Malaucène.

If you get up early and really make a day of it, you should be able to take in a lot of the sights of the area.

Séguret is one of our favorite of Provence villages and deserves more than a cursury look-see. Crestet is much more than just the panoramic view. Same for Gigondas. Vaison is quite large and interesting.

I can't imagine doing justice to this scenic area (the Dentelles and Mont Ventoux) as an "on the way" kind of visit.

It's worth a day trip of its own.

P.S. Brantes is special. And I love Venasque too.

Mt. Ventoux would be a separate day trip all together. We made it to Brantes which is a wonderful little town. Unfortunately, there was a spectular downpour with thunder and lightening. The water was coming down the streets like a flood making it impossible to explore. We ducked into the little church to take refuge.

We were unable to complete our plans to go through the Gorge de Nesques due to the rain and lightening. We decided to head towards Vaison and take the safer route home to Bonnieux. We therefore missed Venasque as well.

I think if you try to cram too much into one day you'll come away exhausted and unsatified. That's what our last day in the Dentelles felt like and looking back we wished we had slowed it down. Mind you it was extremely warm and my foot was lame due to an edema I developed prior to departure. I am normally quite fit but the perched villages finally got the best of me.

I think I'll depend how early you're on the road for arrival in Vaison to see if you'll have time to explore the other towns...just play it by ear and see how things unfold.

How many nights will you spend in Menerbes? Will you have some additional time to explore Mt. Ventoux?