Hi All,

We'll be staying on Ile de la Barthelasse just outside of Avignon for four nights/three full days from Thursday 5 September, leaving Monday 9 September. I know three days are way too little, but that is what we have. We are three over (or close to) 50s and we have interests in history, art (only Dear Wife), beautiful views and we like to sometimes do something that not all tourists would do.

Please tell me if this is a good way of spending them:

I was thinking that we should do Pont du Gard, Les Baux and maybe Arles or Nimes on Friday. We are reasonably early risers, so we can start our day at 08h00. Which of Arles or Nimes would be the better choice?

Saturday the sixth we would use as an easy day to start a bit later and would be our Avignon day, to visit all the sights and just chill.

Sunday is market day in L'Isle sur la Sorgue, so I think that will be Luberon day, starting there. Which four or five Luberon towns would you suggest we do for the rest of the day? We do not really have anything we want to do or see, except maybe have a picnic somewhere with foodstuffs bought at the market.

Do you think the order in which we want to go is the correct, or would you do it differently?

Thanks in advance.

Ewoud

Your plan generally sounds fine. Different people have different interests, I think you should look at some info as to what is in Arles and Nimes and just decide which interests you most. The problem is it isn't particularly convenient to go to the town last in that schedules as Les Baux and Pont du Gard are different directions from Avignon. Ideally, I'd choose the town for the last stop and then decide how long you want to stay. Otherwise, you could go to Les Baux, then the town and then swing back north to Pont du Gard before getting back to Avignon. That's not really a bad idea, actually, as getting to Pont du Gard late in the day might be nicer than the middle of the day, sun and heatwise. After all, it's open until 10 pm in September.

I do not think you can do 6 towns in the Luberon in one day, half of which perhaps is spent in Isle sur la Sorgue. So you think you can visit 5 more towns in the afternoon? What's the point, you could if you just drive through them, sure. I think the usual suspects are Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux, There are so many others you can pick as next choices, hared to say which you should do. That would be more than enough. There is Goult, Menerbes, Oppede le Vieux, Saignon, etc.

see some ideas
https://www.theluberon.com/places

Thank you for the nice reply and the URL, Christina. We'll probably do four of the Luberon villages as a maximum, but that depends how much time we spend in L'Isle.

Is it worth our while to visit the bories, which seems reasonably close to L'Isle?

Another question: where do we park in Avignon coming from the island? It seems like there is some parking areas to the west, but I am unsure about the best option.

Thank you!

Me, I wouldn't cross the road to see a borie.
They look somewhat like an igloo doghouse.
Seen one, seen them all.

I agree to get in and out of Ile-sur-la-Sorgue early. Never understood its appeal other than the pretty waterworks, but seems everyone has to make a stop there. Pernes-les-Fontaines is more interesting,IMO, but it doesn't have overpriced antiques.

You won't make it to six other Lubéron towns unless most are drive-bys, so choose carefully.

Visit a borie? Sure, just to say you've seen one, I guess. Bunch of stones. Get out, snap a picture if you must, move on.

For parking in just about anywhere in France, the official website of the city/town will have guidance/maps.

Okay, no bories! Everything we have read s far, says get to the market towns early, so we'll duly comply!

One thing I am worried about, is that the Luberon towns may be 'dead' on a Sunday. Should we not do them on the Friday and rather spend Sunday in Avignon?

Thanks for the advice, we appreciate it.

The parking areas become markets from very early in the morning on certain days. From the Isle it is not far to walk, do you need a car for that?

popular tourist towns (eg, Gordes) are never "dead", believe me. Makes no difference, those shops selling to tourists will be open (I presume that's what you mean by dead as there isn't really anything in particular to do in these towns much, anyway). There are certainly going to be some places open to eat. At least Roussillon has a short hike to a park and you can see those ocre cliffs. As I recall, there is nothing of any interest in Gordes, tourists just love it because they think it is attractive. Bonnieux is a bend in the road, also, although I think there is a small bread museum or something there?

this website is very good at telling you about each place
https://www.provenceweb.fr/e/vaucluse/gordes/gordes.htm
https://www.provenceweb.fr/e/vauclus...l/roussill.htm

The Boulangerie museum in Bonnieux is open every day but Tues and Wed.

I think you are forgetting that tourism is a big deal in some of these towns, they are more likely to be closed other days than Sunday, if it's something a tourist wants to do/see (see above museum). Any museum in France is rarely closed on weekends, that's when many people can go. In Apt, that's the day of a huge market, also, which I quite like, also. For outdoors things, day doesn't matter (like the outdoor walk in Roussillon).

here's a museum in Gordes, it is also closed Tuesdays
https://www.gordes-village.com/patri...llons,105.html

Thanks for all the comments.

You are so right, Christina! Being such small towns, I thought there would be nothing going on on Sundays. So that Sunday is now committed as our Luberon day. I think we'll try and do three of the towns, maybe four if time allows. It all depends on the amount of time we spend in L'Isle, of course. The three of us have decided to take things easy on this trip: if we are at a place that we really like, we'll spend more time there and cut out something else. Well, that's the idea now .....

Thank you, geetika, We do not really have these kind of markets where we come from, so we'll probably do as many as we can.

Whenever I read something about the Luberon, it is always about the smaller towns. Must admit, I have never read about Pernes-les-Fontaines but it seems I should do so. Any other gems in the Vaucluse we should consider?

The first time we visited French farmer's markets like l'Isle sur la Sorgue, Carpentras, & Apt - they were fantastic!!! We now own over 60 Provence tablecloths, several leggings for my wife, placemats, pillows made from Provence fabric, dinner plates, herbs de Provence, etc. Now - 25 year and 70-100 markets later - we only go to them to purchase food. But if you have not been to one - GO!!!

Like Christina stated - touristy towns like Gordes & Roussillon will have shops open on Sunday. Not so much in Bonnieux, or Apt. Don't know about Menerbes - it has become more touristy in the past 25 years. Pernes does not have many shops to be open - but if you can grab a map of the fountains from the tourist office on a prior day (closed on Sundays) Pernes is an interesting town to explore.

Stu Dudley

Something not all tourists do and nature lovers will love is to head to the nearby Camargue and take pony rides into the wild to see the famous wild ponies of the Camargue and its many flamingos. There are many such places - we just dropped by one August long ago so nothing that needs be booked far in advance:

https://www.google.com/search?q=imag...w=1280&bih=625

Thanks for all the good advice and comments, Fodorites!

It is always easy to pick things to do or places to visit when doing your planning. The difficult part is what to leave out! But that, of course, leaves a reason for a next trip. PalenQ, the Camargue will be one of those, but thanks for the link. It will certainly come in handy when planning the next one.

Stu, what to buy at the markets will be for the two ladies to decide; I'll only be there for for the food and drink and to keep them from spending too much time there. geetika, like you say, next time!

I think that we'll look at visiting Gordes, Bonnieux, Rousillon and maybe one more.

<<we just dropped by one August long ago so nothing that needs be booked far in advance>

The operative phrase here is "long ago." And I've been countless times and never seen flamingos, either. Anyway, as the OP has wisely decided, it shouldn't be included on this trip.