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Provence in Fall or Spring

We want to join the region and have been watching videos. Seeing the lavender fields would be nice, but we avoid the busy season and would forgo lavender to dodge the hordes of tourists.

I started checking on going in the shoulder seasons, either Fall or Spring. However, I've found articles that say that is the peak time for cruise ship tourists. Has anyone found that to be true? If so, are they concentrated in Avignon and Aix-en-Provence and don't venture out to the smaller towns? For me, the only thing worse than summer tourists are cruise ship tourists.

Posted by
1700 posts

I have been traveling to Provence for 10 years and frequently come in the spring and fall. I have not encountered cruise ship tourists in the small villages or in Aix. There are tourists but I have not seen large groups with a tour guide holding signs.

Posted by
7301 posts

Lavender season starts in mid-June, and mid-June to early July is actually not that busy. It will be very busy around the most famous lavender fields, but very reasonable elsewhere - as long as you go to Avignon before the Avignon theater festival, which takes place in July.