Merci beaucoup for all your comments and feedback on my “Five days in Lubéron” article the past week. I am so glad to see many of you already explored this beautiful region, or hoping to do so in the near future.
After publishing it, I received several questions via email and also hosted a Q&A session on my Instagram to gather more questions. So I though it would be helpful to gather all these Questions & Answers in 1 single post - for everyone to see! I hope this will help you plan your trip, or tease your curiosity about this beautiful French region.
If you have any additional tips or questions on visiting Lubéron, feel free to leave a comment!
PS: I’m keeping this Q&A article free, so you can all enjoy it and ask all the questions you may want to ask! The initial “Five Days in Lubéron” article I posted last week is for paid subscribers-only, featuring all the details of our vacation: where we stayed, what we did and of course, where & what we ate!
Summer is definitely the high season, and some popular villages like Gordes and Roussillon get crowded during the afternoon. Summer is also hot in Provence. However, visiting in August, we loved the warm evenings for outdoor dining and sunset hikes. We adopted the Provençal routine to adapt with the heat: visits in the morning, relax by the pool and naps between 2 and 5pm (note that most stores are closed 1-3pm) and more activities in the evening. Summer is also the best for village markets and evening outdoor parties and concerts, hosted in many wineries.
But if you can’t stand heat, I’d strongly recommend to avoid Summer, and aim for spring or autumn instead. Being hot and sweaty can really ruin a trip!
Lavender season in Provence runs from mid-June to mid-July. That makes it peak tourist season, with crowds flocking to the fields for photoshoots. A popular lavender field photo site is the one in front of the Abbaye de Sénanques, in Gordes.
Yes, absolutely. Village hopping is the whole point of this gorgeous region. You’ll want your own wheels to explore. Public transport is nearly non-existent between the small villages and ride-sharing apps like Uber do not operate reliably. Also many villages and rural areas are in “zones blanches” (cellular dead zones), so reaching an app won’t work.
And not just any car! Make sure you get/rent a small car: the roads in the villages are narrow and steep. If you’re looking at renting a car, subscriber FfsBoise said they did the region with a small Dacia and subscriber Sharon Kelly said to “not take the complimentary upgraded larger vehicle….big mistake”. Thanks for these 2 tips!
Although I should add (as mentioned by subscriber Tom Albrecht) that the region is absolutly amazing for biking! We crossed many cyclists during our vacation. But do know distances between villages can vary from 10 to 30kms, and hills can be very difficult to climb and descend - so that could total to lots of kms in a day.
Lubéron is roughly divided into 4 parts, and you’ll need about a day to explore each. That’s 4 days in total, and I’d suggest adding an extra day to relax, shop for souvenirs or do any visits you may have missed.
To discover the whole Luberon region, I’d recommend staying in Lourmarin or Bonnieux: both great villages with central locations.
Lubéron is a tourist destination, so you’ll find plenty of hotels, B&Bs and AirB&Bs. However, as with most tourist towns, accommodations can be fairly pricy, even in small villages. Also, rentals fill up quick so I’d recommend booking 4 to 5 months ahead, minimum.
We found that casual restaurants were a bit pricy too (around 40 to 50 euros/person for a complete meal, a drink included) – which is more than what we’re used to at home in Brittany at least. That said, we’ve only had great dining experiences in the region.
We stayed at La Ressence, a smaller and fantastic Maison d’Hôtes (B&B) run by Françoise, a great host. We had a great backyard to enjoy breakfast in the morning, a pool and a super comfortable room. It is located near the village of Bonnieux. We loved it and it was a central local to explore the area.
Most restaurants and stores have AC, being a tourist destination. Our accommodation didn’t have AC, but the thick stone walls were more than enough to keep our room fairly cool. If you’re worried about heat, do enquire with your accommodation before booking.
Our absolute favorite was the village of Lourmarin! Beautiful streets packed with quaint artisan shops and great food. We also loved the quieter charms of Cucuron and Ansouis. For a dose of nature, hiking through La Forêt des Cèdres at sunset was an absolute highlight.
Yes absolutely. The Luberon is a global travel destination, so English is widely spoken at B&Bs, hotels and wineries. I even found that most restaurant menus are bilingual; which is almost never the case back home in Brittany.
A: Like everywhere in France, dining hours are stricter in France than in the US. Lunch is usually served between 12PM and 2PM. Especially in small villages, you’ll find most kitchens closed after 2:30PM. For dinners, the service starts at 7PM or 7:30PM, not before. Dinner reservations are highly recommended especially during summer.
Now that said, we actually enjoyed 2 dinners at Café Gaby in Lourmarin, a great spot with service that runs all day from 7am-11pm. We saw many people starting their dinners around 6 or 6:30pm - so that’s a great spot to bookmark if you’d like an “early” dinner. Unfortunately, they do not take reservations.
The Luberon is famous for small villages, not big towns. Large nearby cities just outside the region are Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, both an easy one-hour drive away. The city of Arles, about one and half hour away by car, is also worth a visit. We didn’t have time to drive to these cities, but next time we’ll try to allocate one day to explore one of those 3.
Not a big town, more of a medium-sized one, but absolutely worth a stop, is L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, about 30 minutes from the Luberon. We stopped there for about 3 hours just before arriving at our guesthouse on our first day, and absolutely loved it! The town is known as the “Venice of Provence” for its canals, and it has more than 300 antique and brocante shops. I could have easily stayed there for days, ha!
If you have any additional tips or questions on visiting Lubéron, feel free to leave a comment!
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