Updated , by the owners of the villa.
Distances, seasons and crowds
The six destinations opposite are all within an hour of the villa. The driving times are calculated without traffic: in July and August, on the narrow Luberon roads, allow a quarter more.
In the hilltop villages, crowds and heat concentrate between 11 am and 5 pm, when shade is scarce and the parking already taken.
The villages themselves are open to walk into. Three sites need booking or a set amount of time, listed below; they are the only ones to plan ahead.
The villages
Gordes, Roussillon and Ménerbes are the busiest; Bonnieux, Lacoste, Oppède-le-Vieux and Saignon markedly less so. All are free to visit; what separates them is the parking.
- Gordes, 18 km: stop at the viewpoint before entering the village. Parking is paid everywhere, 30 minutes free and then an indivisible four-hour flat rate.
- Roussillon, 26 km: the village and, just outside it, the Sentier des Ocres, two loops of 30 and 50 minutes, around €3.50 per adult.
- Ménerbes, 19 km: less busy than Gordes, with free parking at the entrance to the village.
- Bonnieux, 26 km: panoramic views from the upper church, and free parking, which has become rare in the Luberon.
- Lacoste and its château, then Oppède-le-Vieux, 19 km: park at Sainte-Cécile, then walk up to the partly ruined village.
- Saignon, a quarter of an hour from Apt: its rock and its view over the Apt basin. Growers’ market on Thursday mornings, April to October.
Booking and visit times
The durations given are for the visit itself, excluding driving and parking.
- Sénanque Abbey, 40 minutes from the villa: visits by advance booking, around €8 per adult, free car park five minutes’ walk away. Closed on Sunday mornings.
- Colorado Provençal at Rustrel, 50 minutes away: two marked trails, 45 minutes or 1 hr 30. Online booking is required for morning visits from May to August, and the site closes in December and January.
- Village des Bories, ten minutes from Gordes: some twenty dry-stone huts, allow an hour, entry is charged.
Worth checking before you go
Five constraints to check the day before:
- The road between Gordes and Sénanque is one-way from 15 March to 30 September. The return runs via Venasque, and satnavs still miss it.
- At Gordes, parking is charged as a flat rate: 30 free minutes, then four indivisible hours.
- The Sentier des Ocres and the Colorado Provençal can close overnight for fire risk or heavy rain. The decision lands the evening before.
- Access to the Vaucluse forest massifs is regulated from 15 June to 15 September, with a full ban on red-risk days. That affects hiking, not village visits.
- A market day fills a village and saturates its parking: Tuesday in Gordes, Thursday in Roussillon, Friday in Bonnieux and Lourmarin.
