Tailormade tour Lavender and sunflower fields of Provence tour France

7 nights/8 days

Crillon-le-Brave • Joucas • Luberon • Moustiers Ste Marie

This 7-night lavender and sunflowers fly-drive touring holiday of Provence is a celebration of summer and all things of the south of France. You will experience the dramatic beauty of the landscape with its golden yellows and hues of blues, its vineyards, the perched villages, and the Gorges du Verdon. You can visit festivals, museums, distilleries and enjoy the flavours of life in Provence, whilst staying a three luxurious hotels.

Holiday price guide

Available year-round subject to the opening period of the hotels, from £2,310 per person.

Luxury fly-drive tailormade touring holiday to the lavender and sunflower fields of Provence

Highlights

Crillon-le-Brave • Joucas • Luberon • Visit Senanque • Visit Sault • Visit Valensole • Visit Gorges du Verdon • Moustiers Ste Marie

Day by day

Your fly-drive touring holiday of the lavender and sunflower fields of Provence starts when you arrive in Marseille, collect your hire-car and drive for about an hour and a half to the pretty village of Crillon-le-Brave, situated in gently undulating countryside of fields and orchards, with magnificent views of Mont Ventoux in the near distance. The village is very attractive with houses of golden stone, small squares and narrow streets. It is in the Cotes du Ventoux wine region. You stay here for two nights.

It is a drive of about 40 minutes from Crillon-le-Brave to the village of Sault, in the high Vaucluse. Sault is located at about 778 metres above sea level and sits on the border of a wooded plateau that blooms with lavender in season. Around the village the fields are a sea of purple and yellow where the wheat alternates with the lavender. There are lavender festivals, the main one being on 15 August, lavender distilleries and visits of the lavender fields. In the village itself is a Romanesque church and a museum with a collection of prehistory, Gallo-Roman and mediaeval items. Other villages in the region that are centres of lavender production are Bedouin, Morieux, Saint Trinit and Aurel.

Today is a glorious, gentle drive into some of the most beautiful countryside of Provence as you enter the Luberon, a gentle landscape of vineyards, orchards, rolling hills and home to the famous lavender and sunflowers, associated greatly with Provence. Your destination in this region is the village of Joucas where you spend three nights.

You have two days to explore this beautiful area of Provence. There are plenty of lavender-related visits including to the lavender museum at Coustellet, with its still and lavender cutting displays. Near Gordes is Senanque Abbey, famous for its picturesque lavender beds. Gordes itself is well-worth exploring as is the Village des Bories. At Lagarde d’Apt, about 40 minutes’ drive away, there are more fields and two distilleries. This is quite a remote ‘village’ but renowned for its lavender production. It’s worth combining a day here with the village of Roussillon, situated at the foot of the Monts de Vaucluse, and renowned as one of the prettiest villages in the Luberon.

Your journey today takes you eastwards out of the Luberon towards Manosque and then through yet more lavender growing areas at Valensole to Riez (also known for its truffles and honey) and on to Moustiers Sainte Marie. This village where you stay for two nights is situated at the entrance to the Gorges du Verdon, the deepest gorge in France, with a lake and quite exceptional geographic location.

There are plenty of opportunities today to explore the area, perhaps on foot as there are numerous walks, or drive to the Lac de Sainte Croix, as well as driving through the dramatic Gorges du Verdon. The village is renowned for its earthenware tiles and there are several workshops and sales outlets for the tiles. There is also a pottery museum.

Today you return to Nice for your flight back to London.

Special offers for this holiday>

All arrangements passed off promptly and smoothly. The hotels were perfect - and your advice at booking was efficient and helpful. Thank you.
Mr B, July 2016

Holiday price guide Prices from £2,310 per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room.

Holiday Code FRFD09

Luxury fly-drive tailormade touring holiday to the lavender and sunflower fields of Provence

Special offers for this holiday>

All arrangements passed off promptly and smoothly. The hotels were perfect - and your advice at booking was efficient and helpful. Thank you.
Mr B, July 2016

Holiday price guide Prices from £2,310 per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room.

Holiday Code FRFD09

Our prices include ● Scheduled flights with British Airways London to Marseille, Nice to London
● Hire of a group B car for the duration of your holiday
● 2 nights’ bed and breakfast in a Standard room at Hôtel Crillon le Brave, Crillon-le-Brave
● 3 nights’ bed and breakfast in a Garrigue room at Le Phebus, Joucas
● 2 nights’ bed and breakfast in a Superior room at the Bastide de Moustiers, Moustiers Sainte Marie
● Concierge service and Expressions Holidays regional helpful hints

Our prices do not include ● Early check-in or late check-out at any hotels (although we can arrange this on request at additional cost)
● Any other services not mentioned above, such as transfers and meals except breakfast at hotels
● Personal holiday insurance. This is essential and cover should be in place from when you book the holiday.
● Local tourist tax, usually between Euros 1 and 3 per person per night, and payable locally to the hotel

Additional information Driving times for this fly-drive touring holiday
Marseille to Crillon-le-Brave 1 hr 25 minutes
Crillon-le-Brave to Joucas 50 minutes
Joucas to Moustiers Sainte Marie 2 hrs
Moustiers Sainte Marie to Nice 2 hrs 10 minutes

Luxury fly-drive tailormade touring holiday to the lavender and sunflower fields of Provence

Expressions Holidays includes these hotels in this touring holiday as suggestions, but they can be substituted by others in the same region, if you have a preference to stay elsewhere.
Hotels included in this tour

Special offers

Call to make your booking and save an extra £50 per adult Call us instead of emailing us when you are thinking of booking a holiday and save an extra £50 per adult (in addition to any special offers that might be available). We want to talk to you to discuss your requirements and a phone call is usually the best way for you to define what you want enabling us to respond more accurately. We want to talk to you and you save an extra £50 per adult.

All arrangements passed off promptly and smoothly. The hotels were perfect - and your advice at booking was efficient and helpful. Thank you.
Mr B, July 2016

Holiday price guide Prices from £2,310 per person based on two people sharing a double or twin room.

Holiday Code FRFD09

Luxury fly-drive tailormade touring holiday to the lavender and sunflower fields of Provence

Highlights of Provence

Cultural highlights include santons, Souleiado Provençal fabrics, herbs and lavender, wine and olive oil, melons and pastis, boules and berets.

Provence Climate

Average air temperatures in Centigrade: January: 12.2, February: 11.9, March: 14.2, April: 18.5, May: 20.8, June: 26.6, July: 28.1, August: 28.4, September: 25.2, October: 22.1, November: 16.8, December: 14.1. Source: Direction de la Meteorologique de France.

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