Home > Avignon > Lavender and Villages in Provence Small Group Day Trip
USD $69.00
Lavender and Villages in Provence Small Group Day Trip
Avignon, France
Venture through Provence’s lavender fields and picturesque villages on this half-day tour from Avignon. Admire the unique red ochre cliffs of Roussillon, spend time in the postcard-worthy Luberon village of Gordes and enjoy a fragrant tour of the Lavender Museum in Coustellet. Choose a morning or afternoon tour, and visit during the summer months to see the lavender fields in bloom!
Numbers are limited to eight people on this small-group tour, ensuring a more personalized experience of Provence.
You’ll be picked up from your Avignon hotel and taken by 8-passenger minivan through the beautiful landscapes of Provence, known for its sprawling lavender fields and hilltop villages. During the summer months, you’ll see these magnificent flower fields in bloom, and will make a stop at Senanque Abbey to take photos of the scenery (depending on the blooming period this will be replaced by a longer stay at the Lavender Museum).
Visit the village of Roussillon in the broad valley between the Vaucluse Mountains and the Petit Luberon region. Known for its unusual natural landscape, Roussillon is full of stunning red and yellow ochre cliffs. Learn about the village’s mining history during your photo, and on Thursdays, visit the local market in town.
Head next to Gordes, a perched drystone village in the Luberon that’s often considered one of the most beautiful villages in France. On your visit here, you'll see why this stony citadel seduced famous artists like Pablo Picasso and Peter Mayle, the British writer who wrote A Year in Provence. If you visit on Tuesday, you’ll have also time to browse the village market.
Your last stop is the Lavender Museum in Coustellet, where you’ll learn all about the symbol of Provence: the lavender flower. Tour the museum to discover how these flowers are transformed into lovely essential oils, fragrances and cosmetic products, and end with a chance to purchase some to take home with you.
Really enjoyed this tour. It lasted about 5 hours, and comprised of a visit to the lavender museum which is filled with various stills and other distillation equipment. A short movie gives you an overview of the lavender industry. Following that, we drove to Roussillon, where we were free to walk around for about an hour, and then over to Gourdes, with similar freedom to meander. Both of these villages are charming and beautiful. Our host, Doreen was very knowledgeable, and gave us good insights on Avignon and the villages as she drove us around in her air-conditioned van. If you do not have the time to do each of these places for a day on your own, this is a very good tour to take.
Review by: John K, October 2016
Tour guide excellent. Enjoyed the tour good variety of visits, unfortunately too late in season to see the lavender fields. Would recommend.
Review by: Kevin B, August 2016
This half day trip was booked for friday 22nd July 2016 my 54th birthday, and my first full day in the Provence countryside. _br/_ My wife and I had paid 102 for this ½ day and we were met by driver Marc as arranged at our hotel we shared this excursion with a couple from Quebec in Canada who like us had eager expectations of seeing some Lavender fields. _br/_ Driver Marc who coincidentally shared his birthday with me took us first to the Lavander Museum_br/_ in Cousetellet where he made arrangements for our small group to have a leisurely look there at the end of the trip. Little did we realise that the only Lavender we would get to photograph would be the displays in the fields right by the museum. It seemed that even by 22nd July the vast majority had been harvested and it was apparently not worth our while to drive to either Sault or the Abbey of Senanque. _br/_ Marc did a great job of highlighting the very pretty villages of Gordes and Roussillon, though it was slightly disappointing that there wasnt enough time to do the Ochre Sentier or footpath. In addition, we drove straight past a lavender field just outside Roussillon, and also enjoyed a fleeting glimpse of the sunflower fields sadly there was nowhere to stop for pictures._br/_ We did thoroughly enjoy the bright vivid colours of Roussillon, but having paid 102 and expected to see fields of lavender our memories will always be tinged with disappointment discounts should be offered or the trip should be marketed differently once lavender has been harvested.
Review by: Claire M, June 2016
I would like to have seen more lavender and had less time in the villages. I think I speak for our group when I say I was disappointed not to be able to spend time in the lavender fields - we had literally five minutes!
Review by: Estrella I, September 2015
The whole exercise was to visit the lavender fields. I think if the lavender field were already harvested you should have informed us so we could decide if we still wanted the tour. Was very disappointed.
Review by: Casper S, September 2015
Great!
Review by: Kelly S, August 2015
Tour was very good. Carole was an excellent guide with very good English and knowledge of local area. Roussillon and Gordes were unbelievably beautiful however it would have been better to have had more time in these villages - especially Gordes as the market was on - and not have visited the museum. Unfortunately there was also no lavender in bloom. It would be great if there was more up to date information about the lavender before booking tours that specify the opportunity to see lavender - saying this, the towns/villages were so beautiful the lavender would have only been a bonus!
Review by: Saif Ur R, August 2015
Nice trip, we had been given enough time to visit places. It was more of villages trip as in August, there are no lavender fields to see. Moreover, tour guide was very nice and cheerful. good value of money.
Review by: bluebellpepper, July 2015
Excellent service by Melanie from Provence Reservation. Understanding, helpful, friendly and informative. I would have given 5 stars if the company could arrange this half day tour to be slightly longer for another 15-30 minutes to go to lavender field. After all, that's what lavender tour is about.
Review by: David R W, June 2015
The village of Roussillon is fantastic, lots of mediaeval buildings. We would have really loved to have more time there._br/_
The village of Gordes was also great, and we would have loved more time there too especially as the wqeekly market was operating that day._br/_
The tour of the Lavender Museum was interesting, but too long - better to allocate more time to Roussillon and Gordes and cut back on the time allocated to the lavender museum.
Review by: Olivia Z, August 2014
Great trip to wonderful places. We managed to see a lot in a half a day. The only disadvantage was that we could not stop for 5 minutes to take a picture in the lavender fields (I would prefer to cut time in other places). Overall - a good experience and I would recommend to all
Review by: Barb, July 2013
Wonderful day and wonderful, knowledgeable tour guide. What a lovely tour this is and I highly recommend it. Definitely worth the price.
Review by: Deborah R, July 2013
It was lovely trip and the tour guide did everything she could to expose us to the natural beauty of the area._br/_
If you are looking for a tour that provides you with a brief yet impactful overview of Avignon as well as scenery that offers optimium backdrops for memorable pictures then this is the tour to take.
Review by: Carol C, June 2013
It was a pleasant trip overall but we expected the tour guide would have dropped us around some lavender field and let us hang around the field for some time and take pictures. She only drove around them instead. She spoke French too much and only translated to us in very brief English.
Review by: Paul S, June 2013
The travel guide, Marion, made this a treat. There's a lavender museum where you see distillation design through history, but the best reason for going is the amazing natural and architectural beauty of Rouissilon, with its red cliffs set against green landscape
Review by: Sharon, November 2012
This was a great tour. Very friendly, relaxed guide who knew her stuff and made the trip enjoyable. The two towns we visited were delightful and it was great to have time to wander around them on our own. While the lavender farm wasn't flowering the museum was way more interesting than I expected.
Review by: Chi Chiu L, August 2012
Unluckily, we have no chance to see the Lavender field as it is too late....but the guide is very helpful to bring us a wonderful memory.
Review by: TONY A, August 2012
Guide was excellent, extremely knowledgable, sincere - I would highly recommend this tour again.
Review by: Frank, July 2012
EXCELLENT!!
Review by: TONY A, July 2012
Guide was excellent, extremely knowledgable, sincere - I would highly recommend this tour again.
Review by: andys, June 2012
A lovely half day trip with our guide whose English commentary was informative and clear and communicated with a sense of fun. She engaged with all 8 travellers from UK, Belgium, China, Australia and New Zealand. We were 2 weeks too early to see lavender in bloom but the Lavender museum was interesting. The villages of Rousillon and Gordes were delightful and as picturesque as advertised. We had a 45 minutes in each to explore. An excellent trip.
Review by: Sue R, October 2011
Enter your review here._br/_
Day was very nice however we did not go to all three towns, as advertised.
Review by: Stella, July 2011
The tour guide was lovely and very professional. More time would have been nice in some of the places but otherwise a great tour. I loved the local market.
Review by: Ee Him O, May 2011
Highly recommended as this is a very relaxing country side tour. You will know more about how Lavender is grow and harvest.
Review by: , August 2008
The driver is excellent!!
Review by: , August 2008
It was too much in a rush. Would be better if we could visit fewer villages and spend more time in each.
Review by: Ying-Chi F, August 2008
The driver is excellent!!
Review by: Anonymous, August 2008
It was too much in a rush. Would be better if we could visit fewer villages and spend more time in each.
Review by: Anonymous, United Kingdom, July 2008
The driver is excellent!!
Review by: Ying-Chi F, July 2008
The driver is excellent!!
Review by: Sze R, United Kingdom, August 2006
It was too much in a rush. Would be better if we could visit fewer villages and spend more time in each.
Review by: Anonymous, August 2006
It was too much in a rush. Would be better if we could visit fewer villages and spend more time in each.
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