Your guides will meet you at the train station in Avignon.

En route to your hotel in Orange, visit the vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with a short stop at the village that produces this famous full-bodied red wine.

Lavender in provence

Roman theater in Orange

Lunch in Brantes

Roussillon

Bonnieux

Arles festival

Arles festival

Roman bath in Arles

Roman aquaduc "Pont du Gard"

Camargue

Market in Arles

Place of the Popes in Avignon

Last dinner in provence

Arrive in Orange, settle into your hotel, rest.

Meet for apéritif and orientation.

Morning

Drive through the foothills of the Dentelles de Montmirail ("Montmirail Lace") to the the terraced village of Beaumes-de-Venise and taste the sweet apéritif wine named for the village.

Visit the wine village of Gigondas; if you want, we can take you for a gentle walk in the beautiful hills of the Dentelles de Montmirail for panoramic views of the region.

Afternoon

Visit Orange and its immense Roman theater, a huge amphitheater built to hold 10,000 spectators, still used today for special outdoor music performances.

Morning

Explore Vaison-la-Romaine, often called "the four-in-one city." It is a medieval town built on a prehistoric settlement; and a modern agricultural center built on a ancient Roman city, where excavations progressively reveal vestiges of the rich culture of the Gallo-Romans.

For lunch, stop in the hamlet of Brantes at the foot of Mont Ventoux.

Afternoon

Pass through fields of lavender and picturesque provençal villages and stop at Ferrassière to visit a small lavender production.

Check hotel in the animated town of Apt.

This is your day to discover some of the fascinating hilltop villages of Provence that Peter Mayle found so attractive.

Morning

Start with a visit of beautiful Roussillon, where every structure features a different shade of ocher, from yellow to brown to rust to bright red.. We can also walk the Ocher Trail, a fantasy walk through slopes of brilliant color.

In late morning explore and walk in other fascinating villages in the Lubéron that Peter Mayle described so vividly: tiny Oppède-le-Vieux; Lacoste, site of the Marquis de Sade's château; Ménerbes and Bonnieux, both villages clinging to craggy hillsides.

Lunch at the Café de la Gare in Bonnieux

Late afternoon

Visit Gordes. With its panoramic view of the countryside and its long history, Gordes is classified one of the "most beautiful villages of France," As we leave Gordes, we will visit the beautiful 12th-century Abbey of Sénanque, nestled among surrounding lavender fields.

Dinner in one of the favorite sites described in "A Year in Provence."

Morning

En route to Arles, we will stop to discover Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, birthplace of physician-astrologer Nostradamus and of the poet Frédéric Mistral.

Discover the hillside fortress of Les Baux-de-Provence, built into bare rock and perched on top of an outcrop of the Alpilles. It is one of the most impressive sites in France, and one whose history is the most violent. Richelieu had it destroyed in the 17th century, but it prospered again in the 19th with the discovery of bauxite, the mineral which gave the town its name

Nearby, we will stop by the Roman settlement of Glanum and visit St-Paul-de-Mausole, a tranquil and beautiful convalescent center that was home to Vincent Van Gogh during the last year of his life.

Late afternoon

Arrive in Arles in time for a guided visit of this colorful town, one of the oldest in Provence. Arles had already been settled by Celtic-Ligurians before it was colonized by ancient Greeks. In Roman times it was the metropolis of Roman Gaul. In the Middle Ages it functioned as a religious center. Today it is an important cultural, governmental and commercial center.

Morning

Visit the spectacular Pont-du-Gard, a Roman aqueduct dating from 19 BCE. This well-preserved structure, a key element in a 31-mile-long system to bring water to the city of Nîmes, bears witness to the engineering genius of the ancient Romans.

Lunch

Visit Nîmes, as thriving a town today as it was when the Emperor Augustus made it a showplace of the Roman Empire.

Free time to explore Arles. Our guides will recommend some of their favorite sites, including the Musée de l'Arles Antique, the Musée Arlaten, etc.

Late afternoon

Discover the Camargue in the delta of the Rhône River, a nature sanctuary where you can see the special wild white horses of the area, great flocks of pink flamingos and other birds, and the black bulls raised for fighting in the Camargue-style bullfights, where the object is simply to remove ribbons tied to the bull's horns.

Morning

The Saturday market in Arles is a spectacle not to be missed. Stalls featuring local wares wind along the Boulevard des Lices and up the hillside towards the Roman arena. You will delight in the assortment of Provençal specialties--spices, flowers, brightly colored fabrics in traditional patterns, fresh vegetables, olives of all kinds--and so much more.

Afternoon

Leave for Avignon and a tour of the city, followed by a visit to the 14th-century Palace of the Popes, a magnificent setting for the 4 French popes who lived the 14th century.

Evenning

Dinner, then possibly, at 9:00 PM see the "Pegoulado" -- night parade with traditional costumes.

Morning

Fête du costume: A unique opportunity to see some of Provence's most colorful and beautiful folk costumes.

Late morning

Au revoir to Provence. We will drive you to Avignon, where you can take the TGV (bullet train) to Paris. Or to your next destination.