We had settled on a rental in Gordes for May of next year, but now some issues with the rental agreement have caused us to explore other options...so, which of these towns would you choose and why? We are looking for a 3 bedroom rental with a pool that is walkable to the village centre. A minimum of 3 restaurants within walking distance would be ideal, but 2 good ones would probably be OK, because we'll be visiting the other towns too, of course. Vote for your Luberon favorite!

hi. we stayed in velleron for a week but explored each town you mentioned and enjoyed all 3.gordes and menerbes are very close. the best dining options would be in gordes so that would be my choice

Just outside of Gordes is Les Imberts
That has a wonderful garden restaurant,
Le Mas Touteron, featuring of of Provence's best
female chef.

Les Imberts and Estellan near Gordes are not within walking distance - and you certainly would not want to walk back UP to Gordes after dinner. The Bastide de Gordes near the center of town has an overpriced/expensive menu - but I suppose the food is good. The remainder of the restaurants in Gordes are a little touristy/simple. There are a few restaurants about 20-30 mins away (by foot) on the Route to Senasque, but there are some uphill & downhill sections of the walk.

I do not know of any restaurants that I would want to dine at in either Menerbes or Lacoste.

I think I've already mentioned to make sure that the house is actually IN town. We've spent a considerable amount of time in Gordes & Menerbes & less in Lacoste - and they are all hill towns with not much room for pools. Make sure that the house is not on the flatlands with a killer climb to town. The walk from the Route to Senasque to Gordes is not bad, but other routes into town are very steep if your house is there.

Stu Dudley

Thank you, Stu, cigalechanta and plambers...picking a rental with a pool that is within walking distance to a good restaurant has proven more tricky than we imagined. How about this...does anyone know of a rental within 20 minutes walking distance of Les Imberts or Estellan? We much appreciate the great help for this, our first trip to Provence.

Personally, I would forgo the 20 min walk idea, and settle for perhaps 1 restaurant within a 20 min walk and the remainder by driving.

We've stayed in a gite for 4 weeks near Gordes with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a pool - that was about a 30-40 min walk away from both restaurants mentioned and a 20 min walk to Cabrieres d'Avignon which has 1 Bistro in the Rewd Michelin Guide, 1 hotel with restaurant, 1 patisserie, 1 Boulangerie which will roast a chicken for you, and a very nice mom & pop grocery that can pretty much supply you with everything you need for cooking dinner (meat at the Boulangerie). Both times we stayed at this gite, we booked it a year in advance for a June visit.

Stu Dudley

Wow - that second paragraph had a "too long of a sentence" to start it off.

Stu Dudley

That information is exactly what I needed...I will search for a rental near Cabrieres d'Avignon. Looking for 2 bathrooms and 2 to 3 bedrooms, but just pinning down a good location might be enough to identify the right rental. Thank you!!

Also look in les Imberts & Goult (latter not within walking distance to Les Imberts, Estellan, etc) but there are some restaurants in town and groceries & patiserries, etc. Goult is a very nice village that the day-tripping tourists have not discovered yet.

Stu Dudley

Thanks again, Stu. We have sent inquiries on three places in Cabrieres d'Avignon and are just starting to look at Goult. One of the places that has attracted our attention is Le Prieure located in Cabrieres behind the church...it's a former priory and now rental villa. Since you spent 4 weeks in Cabrieres, any thoughts about or knowledge of that location would be welcome. We haven't found any reviews of it on-line, just descriptions on several rental sites.

Sorry - don't know the property

Stu Dudley

Voyager61: Did you ever decide where to stay?