Provence
Provence
A first self-drive through Provence for UK travellers: where to base the hire car (Avignon or Aix), the Luberon hilltop-village loop, real drive times, the lavender-bloom window and whether Pont du Gard is worth the detour.
In short
Provence at a glance
Provence is a hire-car holiday: the headline sights — the Luberon hilltop villages, the Valensole lavender, Pont du Gard, the Roman towns — are scattered across the countryside and the public transport between them is thin. Base yourself in Avignon or Aix-en-Provence, pick the car up there, and loop out on day trips rather than moving hotels every night. A week is comfortable for one base plus the lavender plateaux; five days does the Luberon and Avignon's Roman ring without rushing. The one date that matters is the lavender bloom — roughly late June to mid-July on the Valensole plateau, later up at Sault.
Provence rewards the car. The things you came for — Gordes clinging to its hillside, the red-ochre cliffs of Roussillon, the lavender ranked across the Valensole plateau, the Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard — are scattered across an hour or two of countryside, and the buses between them are thin and slow. So the trick is not to chase them by moving hotels every night; it’s to pick one base, park the car while you’re in town, and run out on day loops. Avignon, walled and central, is the natural choice for the Luberon and the Roman west; Aix-en-Provence, leafier and closer to Marseille airport, suits the lavender, Cézanne country and the coast.
The one decision that can make or break the trip is timing the lavender. It isn’t a “summer” thing — it’s a window, and it shifts with altitude. The low Valensole plateau is usually at its peak from around the last week of June into the second week of July, and in hot years the fields are cut before the mid-July festival even starts. Higher up at Sault, perched at 776 metres, the bloom runs later, through July and into August. Get the dates right and the colour is the reason you’ll remember the trip; get them wrong by a fortnight and you’re photographing green stubble.
The route below assumes the relaxed week from a single base, but Provence flexes easily. Drop the long lavender day and it compresses to five, built around the Luberon loop — Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux, Ménerbes, Lacoste and Goult, about ninety minutes of driving with a village every fifteen — and a half-day out to the Pont du Gard. Hire a small car whatever you do: the Luberon lanes are tight, village parking is tighter, and you’ll be parking below each village and walking up the last stretch on foot.
The route
A relaxed week from a single base — no nightly hotel changes, which is the whole point of doing Provence by car rather than by train. Drive times are toll-road and back-road estimates from Avignon; swap to Aix as your base and the lavender and coast days get shorter, the Luberon days a touch longer.
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Day 1
Arrive & settle in Avignon
Fly into Marseille (about 55 min to Avignon by car) or take the direct seasonal Eurostar from London to Avignon TGV, 6km outside the walls. Pick the car up but leave it parked — Avignon inside the ramparts is walkable. See the Palais des Papes and walk the famous half-bridge, the Pont Saint-Bénézet, this afternoon.
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Day 2
The Luberon hilltop villages
The headline day: a loop of about 90 minutes' total driving from Avignon takes in Gordes (the postcard stone village), Roussillon (built from red-ochre cliffs), then Bonnieux, Lacoste, Ménerbes and Goult. Park below each village and walk up — the lanes are too tight and too steep to drive. Lunch in Bonnieux or Ménerbes.
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Day 3
Pont du Gard & the Roman west
Drive 40 minutes west to the Pont du Gard, the three-tier Roman aqueduct — free to walk to, €9 to park, allow two to three hours. Pair it with Uzès or Nîmes (both under an hour) for a Roman-and-market day, or loop back to Avignon for an easy afternoon.
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Days 4–5
Lavender & Mont Ventoux
If you've timed the bloom (late June–mid July), make the run east: the Valensole plateau is the big, low-altitude lavender country, while Sault (776m) blooms later and is quieter. It's a long but spectacular driving day; the slopes of Mont Ventoux and the village of Sault make a natural loop. Out of lavender season, swap this for Saint-Rémy and the Alpilles.
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Days 6–7
Aix, Arles or the coast
Spend the back end on the southern edge: Aix-en-Provence (about 50 min) for the markets, fountains and Cézanne's studio; Arles (40 min) for the Roman arena and Van Gogh trail; or push to the Camargue or the Marseille calanques if you want sea. Drop the car back where you started and close the loop.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Avignon (inside the walls)
££ mid-rangeThe best all-round base: a walled medieval centre, the Palais des Papes on your doorstep, the direct Eurostar option and the shortest hops to the Luberon and Pont du Gard. Park outside the ramparts or in a hotel garage — the old town is a maze of one-way lanes and ZTL-style restrictions.
Best for: Luberon, Pont du Gard, Roman towns, arriving by train
Aix-en-Provence (Centre / Mazarin)
££ mid-rangeThe smarter, leafier base — elegant streets, daily markets and the closest big town to Marseille airport (about 30 min). Better placed for the Valensole lavender, Cézanne country and the coast, slightly further from the Luberon. The Mazarin quarter is the quiet, handsome side of the centre.
Best for: Valensole lavender, the coast, Cézanne, airport arrivals
A Luberon village (Gordes / Bonnieux / Ménerbes)
£££ premiumStay out in the hills for a slower, more rural week and to be among the villages at dawn and dusk when the day-trip crowds have gone. Lovely but you'll want a car for everything, restaurant choice is limited out of season, and the prettiest properties book up months ahead for the lavender weeks.
Best for: Slow rural stay, photography, second visits
Getting around Provence
Provence is a self-drive region and that's the honest verdict — the great sights are spread across the countryside and the bus network between them is sparse and slow, so a hire car is the difference between seeing two places a day and seeing five. Base it in Avignon or Aix, both of which have car-hire desks at the TGV station and (for Aix) a 30-minute hop from Marseille airport. Keep the car parked while you're in the walled centres, which are walkable and awkward to drive, and take it out for the village loops and lavender runs. Hire a small car — the Luberon lanes are narrow and village parking is tight — and budget for autoroute tolls (the A7/A8) and €9 to park at Pont du Gard. If you genuinely won't drive, you can still do Avignon and Pont du Gard by the seasonal bus, but you'll miss the Luberon and the lavender, which is most of the point.
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