svicious22

I will be in Provence without a car (and no interest in renting one) and would like to take an afternoon tour of the Luberon towns and possibly some wine tasting leaving from Aix where we will have spent the morning at the markets after arriving early via train from Avignon. Ideally this would end in Avignon which is home base. Since we would be leaving and ending in different towns some distance apart, I assume this would likely require a private tour/hire of a car & driver. If anyone can recommend a person or service that would likely be amenable to such an itenerary it would be helpful. Or if this is possible via bus service it would be nice to know that as well. (seems like it would be a major hassle if not impossible). Thank you.

StuDudley

So - your plan for 1 day is to:

Take the train from Avignon to Aix

Spend the morning at the Aix market

Spend the remainder of the day touring the Luberon towns and perhaps a wine tasting.

Do this by bus or private tour.

Do you plan to do anything in Aix other than visit the market???

Might I suggest that you do this over 2 or more days????

Stu Dudley

svicious22

Yes, your understanding of the plan is correct. We only have 3 days for Provence in total, so doing this at a more leisurely pace is not really an option. We do have a separate day reserved for wine tasting, so that part is not a necessity. Apart from the market, we'd take a walking tour of Aix and likely have lunch, but that is all that time would allow. Rushing around like that is not very Provencal, I know, but it will have to do for this trip. It sounds like you think this can be accomplished by bus; any info on buses from Aix to Avignon via the Luberon hill towns would be appreciated; or perhaps this info be had at bahn.de.

ira

Hey SV,

>Rushing around like that is not very Provencal, I know, but it will have to do for this trip.<

Just to drive from Aix-en-Provence through Bonnieux, Gordes, etc will take about 3 hr. This gives you no time at all to visit anything.

I agree with Stu. Spend the day in Aix and see something, rather than just rushing through.

StuDudley

I always travel by car. I don't think there is a bus that starts in Aix and goes from hill village to hill village in the Luberon and ends up in Avignon. If there was, I don't think there is any way you can do this in an afternoon with perhaps only 2 or 3 departures each day from the villages. Private car is the only thing that would work, IMO.

I don't know about buses from Avignon to Aix. You could take the train - but that involves getting on a bus at 7:20 to the Avignon TGV station, train to the Aix TGV station, then bus to Aix center arriving at 9.

Most people don't think you can even visit most of the Luberon villages & see some pretty countryside in 1 entire day. I posted a detailed time schedule on Fodors once, and it involved getting to Gordes at 8AM, and finishing the tour around 5PM. Most people thought my plan was too fast paced - but my intent was to indicate that it was possible - but perhaps not recommended.

If this was my trip, I would skip Aix (you're staying in Avignon - which is a big city like Aix and has much of the same feel as Avignon), and do a private car tour of the villages in the Luberon for an entire day. I don't think your plan is workable at all. If there was an organized bus "tour" of the Luberon villages, it would most likely start & return from/to Avignon (or Aix), which would probably not work for you. It probably would not be an afternoon only tour deparing from Aix.

For only 3 days in Provence, I certainly would not spend time wine tasting - which you can probably do close to home.

Stu Dudley

StuDudley

FYI - here is th time schedule for the Luberon that I referred to

Luberon - Time schedule

8:00 or 8:30 - Get to Gordes, pull the car over at the view "spot" & take a picture. Park the car in the lot, and visit Gordes. Have a cafe creme & croissants for breakfast at one of the outdoor cafes. Walk down to the Lavoire & back. Explore Gordes.

10:00 leave Gordes.
10:30 arrive in Oppede le Vieux & explore a bit
11:30 leave Oppede, drive to Menerbes
11:45 arrive in Menerbes & explore. Grab a sandwich for lunch & sit on a bench with a view & have lunch.
12:45 leave Menerbes
1:00 arrive in Lacoste, drive up towards the village & view Bonnieux across the valley. No visit of Lacoste. Drive to Bonnieux.
1:45 Visit Bonnieux (sandwich, if you didn't have one in Menerbes)
3:15 leave Bonnieux & head to Roussillon.
3:45 arrive in Roussillon, park the car, and explore Roussillon. Visit the Ocre fields. Have an afternoon coffee at a cafe.
5:45 Leave Roussillon. If you still have some energy left, visit Goult - otherwise, call it a day.

Stu Dudley

TDudette

Check with Rendez-Vous Provence (www.rendez-vous-provence.com). We got a wonderful van tour of Luberon with them in September 2008. We were based in Aix and van came to the hotel. Only problem was that they needed a minimum number of people to go. Do check for availability with them in October since it is not high season.

sap

SV: That plan Stu proposed and outlined above was in response to one of my queries several weeks ago. Even I have decided since then to split those Luberon village visits into at least two days. Again: It's technically possible, but is it really desirable?

StuDudley

TDudette's van trip looks OK - but it is a 9 hour trip that departs at 9am from Aix - so it won't fit in after a morning visit to Aix. Also, Fountaine de Vaucluse (1st stop) dries up some time in Spring, so it certainly won't be doing anything in Ocober. There will be no Lavender blooming in October - so the visit to Senanque won't be as interesting (2nd stop).

Stu Dudley

TDudette

I bow to Stu's expertise. Expect OP will find a myriad of opps once there.

Underhill

While there will be no lavender blooming at Sénanque in October, the beautiful Cistercian abbey is the main reason for a visit.

StuDudley

Underhill - the tour was only allowing time for "a pause for a photo".

Stu Dudley

svicious22

Thanks all. I really appreciate you giving this your thought and expertise. Rendez-vous Provence had some interesting looking tours but not on the days I had available. And yes, while there are numerous tours from both Avignon and Aix, they invariably start and end in the same place. I confirmed no public transit to Roussillon, so the bus is out. As for wine tasting, that is a must do for us.

I found a company that will drive us to the hill towns of the Luberon from Aix right after lunch time(we can catch first TGV of day to get there and the morning in Aix at leisure) and return us to Avignon in time for a late dinner, so I am semi-confident my plan will work even if it's more than most would choose to do. But as I am already leaving off so much...I am loathe to ease up on the iteneraries.

TDudette

There are probably other companies as well. We once made a deal with a taxi driver (in Sicily) and it was wonderful.

TDudette

sv22, please let everyone know how it goes.

svicious22

TD, yes I look forward to doing so. The trip is not until September though, so doubtless I'll be trawling about in the meantime for other bits of advice!

fougasse

Let us recommend you Marlene, a really good private chauffeur guide. She tailored the tour to our specific requirements. We got to see a lot, but always at our own pace.
Her Email : [email protected]

Enjoy your time in Provence!