Please suggest day trips in Provence
 

Hello everyone...we have an apartment for eight full days in May in Lourmarin. We will have a car and GPS. Can you please suggest day trips for us. We probably would not want to get more than 1 1/2 hours from Lourmarin. We like beautiful places, historic sites, markets, etc. We don't mind making multiple stops during a day. Thank you so much.
Joe and Jan Hill
Louisville, Ky.

We spent a week there last July and just loved it - we stayed in Bonnieux. You can see our pics here:

https://flickr.com/photos/[email protected]

Some places we liked were:

Gordes (for pics from the outskirts - town is quite touristy)
Sault
Bonnieux
La Coste
Menerbes (there is a good wine tasting place in town)
Rousillon (quite touristy)

We enjoyed just driving around, stopping in random places that advertised wine tastings.

Enjoy your trip!

We also enjoyed Saignon...

Do you have my 30+ page itinerary for Provence & Cote d'Azur. It has many day-trips in it and many start from the Luberon. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] & I'll attach one to the reply e-mail.

Stu Dudley

Lourmarin is a lovely town with multiple opportunities to enjoy cafe life. As a hub however it presents a bit of a challenge in that you will drive a rather narrow and circuitous road anytime you want to head north to say Bonnieux or Saigon. About the time you have traveled it for the fourth or fifth time after a long day of touring it is daunting. That's not to say its undoable, just tiring to traverse the tight two lane highway.

To give yourself a change of pace consider visits to Cucuron, Ansouis and Aix which are all on the south side of the mountains and avoid the narrow highway through them. The Friday market in Lourmarin is a must on our frequent visits to Provence but so also is a visit to Cucuron on market day(Tues)--something about that big pool (bassin) and those huge surrounding plane trees blowing in the frequent winds.
Enjoy!

There is a beautiful abbey
Notre-Dame de Senanque is a Cistercian abbey near the village of Gordes
this is a great place to wander the labander fields and visit the abbey and its closer than Sault.
Sault is great too they have a nice market filled with lavander items but
I think the abbey is special and the town of Gordes is a wonderful place to walk around. .. I think the bories a small village made of stone is near Gordes as well- from there you are within striking distance to many wonderful hilltop villages.. Iacoste /bonnieux/ menerbes/
We found the hike through Roussillon to be great fun... with its orange house and orange clay grounds

I've stayed in Lourmarin a couple of times, each time for two weeks. My go-to guide for almost everything (and especially day trips) is this guide-

http://www.provencebyways.com/Guides.htm

So much to do, so many choices. For some pictorial information, check my Provence phototravelogues at https://goo.gl/photos/MFMqTG5KsFpWED388 and https://goo.gl/photos/4XBytnAmGJcbibjt8

I love Lourmarin (we used it as a three week base for the area), and agree with all the above suggestions! Also, if you're into art, in Aix (or just on its outskirts) is the atelier of Paul Cezanne. Everything is still there in the studio, just as he left them, including some of the items he used in his still lifes. It doesn't take long to visit, but I found it quite evocative and peaceful.

Have you looked at Cassis? Grab a car and enjoy the drive and beach. Don't miss out on the Cassis Seafood soup....to die for. You are driving around south of France and then out of no where you see this body of water. It is so relaxing.

The times won't be accurate since they are from St. Saturnin les Apt, but this is a great list of places to visit. On our first stay in 2012 (2 weeks) we did almos everything on the list.

http://www.accommodationinprovence.com/what-to-do/

This is a suggestion for daytrip, devoted to Roman archeology and the middle ages:

- Drive to Arles (1 hour) and see the Roman arena, the theatre and the cathedral St. Trophime. And have a look at this charming little town that had been painted by van Gogh.

- From Arles, drive northwards to Les Baux and visit this ruined medieval village on top of a hill. Enjoy the scenic drives through the Alpilles.

- From Les Baux, drive to St. Remy and see the impressive roadside Roman monuments Les Antiques just south of town.

- In St. Remy, get an impression of the town where van Gogh spend his difficult days.

You will probably be ready to drive back to Lourmarin again (50 minutes).

Another spectacular daytrip:

- Drive to Pont du Gard (1:15) and admire this spectacular Roman aquaeduct.

- You may even drive zu Uzes (0:20) and see this perfect example of a historic town with a most beautiful market square.

- Then drive back to Avignon, visit the medieval Palace of the Popes and stroll through the Old Town.

Drive back to Lourmarin (1 hour).

I also think Provence Byways would be a fantastic resource for you. This book was written by a couple who used to have an apartment in Lourmarin and lived there part-time, and they return on a regular basis to update their book. Much of the book is a series of recommended day trip loops from Lourmarin, with all sorts of background information. They also present suggested day trips to Arles and Aix, information on wineries, guidance on eating out and more. Bob was a history and English professor, so the book has lots of detail and is very well written.

I bought my first copy in 2004 and just downloaded the newest version. You can order online and have a copy mailed to you or download a pdf. www.provencebyways.com

This is the best resource for the Luberon. You can read it through and choose the day trips and activities that most appeal to you. I'd suggest mixing up longer trips and close-by trips, and planning some days around market day. Lourmarin has an excellent market on Friday morning.

Enjoy our beautiful area!

Kathy

>> Provence Byways <<

That book's been around awhile. We used it in 1999. Glad they kept updating it.

Stu Dudley

Hello everyone,
Many thanks for all of your wonderful and thoughtful advice. You all have given us the direction we needed. We can't wait to go. Thanks again to all of you.
Regards,
Joe and Jan Hill

All the suggesions are good but
I'm going to suggest a day first in
Arles to visit the museum to learn about Provencal life
(created by Mistral) then to see the Carmargue unlike any other part of Provence.