Where to stay in Provence to see the lavender fields in July

There are so many spots - with a car it's so easy to get to them. We went this year and spent 4 nights in Salon, then moved to Manosque for 3 nights. Looking at the map, Manosque was centrally situated for what we wanted to see...we stayed in Salon to see things more to the east/north, then in Manosque for more westerly areas/lavender trail. Lots of people have favourite towns and villages. I will say on our travels around the area, Moustiers Sainte Marie (more to the west) was a very pretty town...I would just look for something on the lavender trail, find a place that looks good, and book it.

I guess it depends if you want big/touristy or smaller/less touristy...

A good site for figuring out distances is Rome2rio - plug in from where to where, and it'll tell you approx. driving times, as well as public transport options.

https://www.surfingtheplanet.com/en/lavender-routes-in-provence/ - on this map, we did the trip from Manosque to Forcalquier, then did the trip around Greoux to Moustiers and around to Valensole.

I based in Roussillon when I was there in July. It's small and touristy (during the day) but that didn't matter because I spent the days out driving around the area to see the other towns/villages and lots of lavender. I really enjoyed the small village atmosphere in the evening after the bulk of the tourists left and with the late daylight I was able to explore late into the evening.

Driving time from Chenonceau to the area will depend on where you decide to base - probably 6-8 hours with rest stops. If you use rome2rio.com add times for rest stops and/or lunch to the drive times as they are strictly driving times depending on clear roads and little or no traffic. Viamichelin.com gives a bit more accurate driving times but your time will still depend on traffic and road conditions.

I loved this area in July, enjoy.

Thanks very much