Tourist information on the Luberon Regional Park from France For Families

Mountains and Walking in Provence From the seclusion of the Cévennes mountains to the splendour of Mont Ventoux, from the rolling hills of the Luberon to the rocky outcrops of Les Alpilles, from the beauty of the Ardèche river valley to the drama of the Gorge du Verdon, Provence is widely regarded as the most beautiful area of all France. Bettered by the Alps in terms of height, but for quantity and quality of scenery Provence has no equal.

Walking in Provence

The options for walking in the Provence region are endless and could fill a web-site in their own right! Below are a few ideas, which simply skim the surface.

Notre Dame d’Aubune If you fancy doing some walking with your family while on holiday then invest in some good maps (IGN Series Bleue at a scale of 1:25000), sturdy footwear and perhaps a book with a choice of circular walks. We used ‘Holiday Walks in Provence’ by Judy Smith and ‘Western Provence and Languedoc- Rousillon’ part of the Sunflower Landscapes series by John and Pat Underwood.

Tourist Offices will also have booklets of walks for purchase (eg. walks in the Dentelles de Montmirail costs €5 from the Tourist Office in Beaumes de Venise).

Our favourite mountains and walks in Provence:
        - Cévennes National Park
        - Gorge du Verdon
        - Luberon Villages
        - Mont Ventoux
        - Pont d'Arc
        - Provence walks

Further Provence attractions:

          - Provence Caves
          - Canoeing in Provence
          - Roman Attractions
          - The Camargue
          - Provence Attractions

A walk in the beautiful Dentelles de Montmirail (above right), which take their name from the French word ‘lacy’appearance. This is a very popular walk (and rightly so) which you will find in most of the walking books or through the Tourist Offices. It starts at the Col Du Cayron just outside Gigondas. Follow signs to ‘Les Florets’ which has a good car park. The approach road is not tarmac but is passable with care. The Col is the starting point for many different walks, but the one which climbs to the top of the Dentelles is one of the most invigorating. Climbing through the trees the views gradually get better and better and after perhaps 45 minutes you will reach the top. The climb is not difficult but care does need to be exercised particularly if you have young children as there are steep drops. From the ‘summit’ it is possible to extend the walk along the ridge. Otherwise retrace your steps to the car.

Rustrel Colorado. Here, just off the D22 south of Rustrel there are opportunities to do much longer walks than at the Ochre Quarries in Rousillon. The landscape is very similar and with the aid of a walking guide or the map that is available at the car-park it is possible to walk routes of varying distances. None of the walking is particularly strenuous.

Notre Dame d’Aubune (above left), 1km west of Beaumes de Venise (9km north of Carpentras). This lovely old chapel with views south over the plains is the start of a fairly strenuous short circular walk of a couple of kilometres up into the lower slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirail offering wide reaching views south towards The Luberon and Les Alpilles hills. There is not much shade so make sure you are sun-creamed and also have good footwear for the odd bit of scrambling. Get a map from the Tourist Office in nearby Beaumes-de-Venise before you set out.