First time posting.
We have 4 adults staying in Aix for just 3 days during the 3rd week of June. One day in Aix, half day to lavender fields, one day to hilltop village(s). Most hilltop village tours appear to stop at 4-5 villages and you spend very little time in each one. I don’t care to be held hostage to a specific itinerary, especially if it restricts our having a relaxing experience. As an alternative, we are thinking of renting a car for a day to explore. We’d would like to focus on just 1 or 2 towns and try to depart from Aix early enough to beat some of the tours. We’re just looking to get a feel for an old world village, without feeling overrun by other tourists. Is there one town that someone can recommend we visit that will provide the old world flavor, but avoid some of the crowds? Or if you had to pick just one, which would it be?
Posted by
Copenhagen, Denmark
971 posts
I liked the village of Saignon in the Luberon. The nearby villages of Gordes and Roussillion seemed to be filled with tour groups, but Saignon was very quite, but just as pretty as the more famous villages.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
Roussillion is filled with tourists, but it is so beautiful that I would consider it anyway. If you get there early, you can enjoy the town without the hordes. The ocre attractions are quite interesting to tour, and the conservatory is out of town, so you could go there if the crowds get too thick.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7036 posts
I stayed in Roussillon and I agree that mornings or later in the afternoon are best times to visit to lessen the effect of crowds. I can tell you that with a car I had no problem seeing 2, 3 and sometimes even 4 towns in one day. Some require more time than others. One of my favorite days I went to Joucas, Bonnieux, and Gordes. Gordes was very crowded but I loved it anyway. Joucas and Bonnieux were two of my favorites and a couple of hours in each can be sufficient depending on what you want to see and if you want to spend the time to have lunch there. So, you could visit Roussillon first in the morning and then do a couple of other towns in the afternoon. I don't know where your lavender field tour will be going but just driving around that area (Roussillon, Bonnieux, Joucas, Gordes, Sault, Gargas, etc) you will likely see many lavender fields there also. If you won't see the Abbaye de Senanque on your lavender tour, then you could also see that as it's very near Joucas.
Posted by
NSW Australia
703 posts
we were there a couple of years ago, in early june and visited a number of villages ( we had a car) including Gordes and Roussillion, we did not find too many people and it was market day in Gordes.
if you do decide to rent a car there are so many interesting places to visit in that immediate area.and you should be able to fit in a number of them in one day.
have you checked that the lavender will be out at that time?
try doing a search ( top of screen) for previous posts about things to see and do
hope this helps
Posted by
OP
San Diego, CA
45 posts
Thank you for all these wonderful comments! They are so helpful! We will arrive in Aix by train in the afternoon of June 19 and depart by train the morning of June 23. So I’m not sure if the lavender fields will be in bloom and I have not yet made arrangements for a tour. I had read that the timing of the bloom depends on the amount of rain earlier in the year. The tour I was looking into is a half day, leaving from Aix at 9am and goes to the Valensole Plateau. It includes a stop at a lavender farm, which I thought might be interesting. Is this something we should consider doing on our own if we have a car or do the more popular tour companies add any value if we go that route? Maybe it's not worth doing the fields as a separate trip?
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7036 posts
The lavender is weather dependent but your dates will fall within the normal bloom period, which is normally early/mid June through mid August, with the peak usually between late June and mid July. I was there in early July and already it had peaked and they were harvesting a lot of it. Different varieties of lavender bloom and get harvested at different times so it's really around for quite a long time. I found that driving around the area that I mentioned in my other post gave me plenty of lavender to walk through, enjoy the scent, and photograph. I didn't visit a lavender museum or processing facility but I think you can do that fine without taking a tour. That's if you're planning on renting a car anyway. this website is a good source that I have recommended before and found very useful when I was researching my trip.