Take your pick of our suggested routes, depending on how energetic you're feeling.
The season for this holiday is:
01 April 2020 - 17 July 2020
01 September 2020 - 31 October 2020
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| °C | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 30 | 29 | 25 | 20 | 14 | 11 |
| mm | 60 | 64 | 55 | 53 | 52 | 38 | 22 | 47 | 71 | 114 | 67 | 62 |
We can only accept payment in GBP, but you can use this converter to find out how much the holiday equates to in your own currency.
7 nights: 01 April 2020 - 17 July 2020 & 01 September 2020 - 31 October 2020
Start any day | End by latest date(s) shown above
| Starting | Price | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 1 - 30 Apr 2020 | £945 | £560 |
| 1 - 21 May 2020 | £970 | £570 |
| 22 May - 29 Jun 2020 | £995 | £580 |
| 30 Jun - 10 Jul 2020 | £1040 | £585 |
| 1 - 30 Sep 2020 | £995 | £580 |
| 1 - 24 Oct 2020 | £970 | £570 |
| 3rd & 4th person discount | -£95 to -£125 | |
| Single traveller supplement | £95 to £125 |
Includes accommodation, meals and services integral to the holiday as described, plus walking notes and maps, but no travel from the UK, nor any connecting travel from the airport unless stated below.
Price includes: 7 days' category B car hire (eg Peugeot 208 or similar with manual transmission and air conditioning)
Driving time to the first hotel: Marseille 1h30, Montpellier 1h45
Driving time from the final hotel: Marseille 1h30, Montpellier 1h45
Book your flights through us and we'll find the best route and times to suit you. Please contact us to find out more about our flight booking service. We can also book connecting travel - see below.
7 nights: 01 April 2020 - 17 July 2020 & 01 September 2020 - 31 October 2020
Start any day | End by latest date(s) shown above
| Starting | Price | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 1 - 30 Apr 2020 | £1195 | £560 |
| 1 - 21 May 2020 | £1225 | £570 |
| 22 May - 29 Jun 2020 | £1260 | £580 |
| 30 Jun - 10 Jul 2020 | £1295 | £585 |
| 1 - 30 Sep 2020 | £1260 | £580 |
| 1 - 24 Oct 2020 | £1225 | £570 |
| 3rd & 4th person discount | -£95 to -£125 | |
| Single traveller supplement | £95 to £125 |
Includes all elements in the 'walk price', plus standard-class travel by Eurostar from London St Pancras or Ebbsfleet International to Lille or Paris, with onward travel as described below.
Included travel from the UK: UK-Avignon (Eurostar direct or Eurostar/TGV via Paris), approx duration 6h plus 1h30 drive. Home, Avignon-UK (Eurostar direct or TGV/Eurostar via Paris), approx duration 7h15 plus 1h30 drive.
> More about 'by rail' prices
> The 'rail experience': what to expect
Price includes: 7 days' category B car hire (eg Renault Clio with manual transmission or similar)
If you book your holiday less than 6 months in advance of your travel date, seats may no longer be available at the tariffs on which our prices are based, but we may be able to offer you seats on the same services at a supplement.
7 nights: 01 April 2020 - 17 July 2020 & 01 September 2020 - 31 October 2020
Start any day | End by latest date(s) shown above
| Starting | Price | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 1 - 30 Apr 2020 | £875 | £560 |
| 1 - 21 May 2020 | £895 | £570 |
| 22 May - 29 Jun 2020 | £920 | £580 |
| 30 Jun - 10 Jul 2020 | £920 | £585 |
| 1 - 30 Sep 2020 | £920 | £580 |
| 1 - 24 Oct 2020 | £895 | £570 |
| 3rd & 4th person discount | -£60 | |
| Single traveller supplement | £60 |
Includes all elements in the 'walk price', plus a return ferry crossing between Dover and Calais with P&O Ferries for your party and one car.
A supplement of £35 per car per single journey applies for outward travel on 3-5 & 10-12 April 2020, and for homeward travel on 12-13 April 2020. A supplement of £47 per car per single journey applies outward on Fridays & Saturdays 22-23 May & 10 July-15 August 2020 and homeward on Saturdays & Sundays 30-31 May & 18 July-30 August 2020.
Room upgrades (£ per person per night)
| Hotel du Poète, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse | ||
|---|---|---|
| 'Mélodie': 01 Apr - 17 Jul 2020 | £30 | |
| 'Mélodie': 01 Sep - 31 Oct 2020 | £30 |
Extra nights (£ per person per night) in a double or single room
Prices include extra days' car hire.| Hotel du Poète, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (B&B) | Double room | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Apr - 17 Jul 2020 | £118 | £192 |
| 01 Sep - 31 Oct 2020 | £118 | £192 |
Travelling from the UK
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Birmingham - Marseille (via Paris) | Air France |
| Birmingham - Montpellier (via Paris) | Air France |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Edinburgh - Marseille | Ryanair |
| Edinburgh - Marseille (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Edinburgh - Marseille (via Amsterdam) | Air France |
| Edinburgh - Marseille (via Paris) | Air France |
| Edinburgh - Montpellier (via Amsterdam) | Air France |
| Edinburgh - Montpellier (via Paris CDG) | Air France |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Glasgow - Marseille | easyJet |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Humberside - Marseille (via Amsterdam Schiphol) | KLM |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Heathrow - Marseille | British Airways |
| Heathrow - Montpellier (via Paris) | Air France |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| London Southend - Marseille | Ryanair |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Stansted - Marseille | Ryanair |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Manchester - Marseille | easyJet, Ryanair |
| Manchester - Marseille (via Paris) | Air France |
| Manchester - Montpellier(via Paris) | Air France |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Newcastle - Marseille (via Paris) | Air France |
| Newcastle - Montpellier (via Paris) | Air France |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Southampton - Marseille (via Paris) | Air France |
| Southampton - Montpellier (via Paris CDG) | Air France |
This list of flight options should be used as a guide only, and you should check each airline’s website for current routes, frequency and schedules. Not all flights operate daily, and may not run for the entire season. You should also heed the latest flight arrival time and earliest flight departure time stated in the connecting travel section, as it may not be possible to arrange connecting travel outside these times. Please do not book your flights until we have confirmed your accommodation to you. Alternatively, our expert reservations team will be happy to offer advice and to make flight bookings for you. We charge £35 per person for our flight booking service (£60 for India and Nepal). Your flights are then covered by our package-booking conditions, which give you greater protection in the event of delay or cancellation, as well as providing ATOL cover.
If you've experienced this holiday first hand, why not write a review?
We are keen for as many customers as possible to review their holiday. To make it easier to do so, we include a specific review section on our post-holiday questionnaire, and this is what we publish here, unedited. Read our full review policy >
An excellent holiday using a hotel of unique character as a base. The staff were welcoming, friendly and helpful. The breakfasts were a daily highlight! The location is superb with clear, rushing water everywhere. Fontaine de Vaucluse is set in a spectacular location, set in an amphitheatre surrounded by high cliffs which glow golden in the evening light. The geology is very interesting too.
The selected walks were generally good and varied, many with scope to shorten or lengthen according to inclination. It's well worth going to Mont Ventoux, if only for the drive combined with a short walk along the ridge.
We drove to Avignon, but we should have taken Inntravel's advice and gone by train! They are building a tram system with all the associated roadworks and also the traffic on the inner ring road was exceedingly slow. Parking was not a problem though. One day we went off piste to Arles and Les Baux. Unlike Avignon we found Arles distinctly underwhelming, but Les Baux was well worth the visit. The walking potential around there looks interesting too.
Of the walks we did, numbers 2 and 8 were perhaps the most interesting.
The main roads in the region were generally very busy, as were many of the lesser roads...not really conducive to the "Slow Holiday" tag!
Fontaine is well supplied with restaurants. We used four:
La Pointe Noire. Not gourmet by any means, but good basic food and a very welcoming owner.
Chez Dominique. The best food of the restaurants we ate in, with very generous portions. Again, friendly service.
Petrarque. The food was good but the cavernous dining area lacked atmosphere.
La Vanne Marel. This got the thumbs down from us. The entrees were good, but I couldn't cut my Ongle de Boeuf!
In 30 years of walking holidays in France, this was without doubt the most enjoyable we have experienced, with an excellent base hotel and superb walks through spectacular scenery and intriguing history.
This was a lovely trip. We found the Hôtel du Poète to be quite magical and welcoming any time of day. There is nothing like eating figs in the morning that were picked off of the trees on site. We were concerned about hordes of tourist in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, and though tourists arrived daily, they left by later in the day and we had a somewhat sleepy French village almost all to ourselves. We had hot and then very windy weather (les mistrals), so much so that the Sentier des Ocres (the Ocre Trail) was closed the day we were there. While we found the "most beautiful villages" quite beautiful indeed, they were filled with tourists, especially on market days. Nevertheless, it was easy to get off the beaten path with the hiking and by exploring perhaps equally beautiful sleepier towns. Like others, we enjoyed the hike to Oppède-le-Vieux.
In terms of meals, we didn't venture out of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse in the evenings. We somewhat alternated between Chez Dominique and La Vanne Marel. Sitting on the river terrace nearby the waterwheel and the church (at the latter) was quite lovely in the evenings. Portions were large and reasonably priced. For lunch, we loved Restaurant Philip, located on the river midway between the town and "the source".
Without saying more, we loved this trip and will most probably return to this area again. Thanks for our 8th or 9th successful trip!!!
An excellent holiday using a hotel of unique character as a base. The staff were welcoming, friendly and helpful. The breakfasts were a daily highlight! The location is superb with clear, rushing water everywhere. Fontaine de Vaucluse is set in a spectacular location, set in an amphitheatre surrounded by high cliffs which glow golden in the evening light. The geology is very interesting too.
The selected walks were generally good and varied, many with scope to shorten or lengthen according to inclination. It's well worth going to Mont Ventoux, if only for the drive combined with a short walk along the ridge.
We drove to Avignon, but we should have taken Inntravel's advice and gone by train! They are building a tram system with all the associated roadworks and also the traffic on the inner ring road was exceedingly slow. Parking was not a problem though. One day we went off piste to Arles and Les Baux. Unlike Avignon we found Arles distinctly underwhelming, but Les Baux was well worth the visit. The walking potential around there looks interesting too.
Of the walks we did, numbers 2 and 8 were perhaps the most interesting.
The main roads in the region were generally very busy, as were many of the lesser roads...not really conducive to the "Slow Holiday" tag!
Fontaine is well supplied with restaurants. We used four:
La Pointe Noire. Not gourmet by any means, but good basic food and a very welcoming owner.
Chez Dominique. The best food of the restaurants we ate in, with very generous portions. Again, friendly service.
Petrarque. The food was good but the cavernous dining area lacked atmosphere.
La Vanne Marel. This got the thumbs down from us. The entrees were good, but I couldn't cut my Ongle de Boeuf!
In 30 years of walking holidays in France, this was without doubt the most enjoyable we have experienced, with an excellent base hotel and superb walks through spectacular scenery and intriguing history.
This was a lovely trip. We found the Hôtel du Poète to be quite magical and welcoming any time of day. There is nothing like eating figs in the morning that were picked off of the trees on site. We were concerned about hordes of tourist in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, and though tourists arrived daily, they left by later in the day and we had a somewhat sleepy French village almost all to ourselves. We had hot and then very windy weather (les mistrals), so much so that the Sentier des Ocres (the Ocre Trail) was closed the day we were there. While we found the "most beautiful villages" quite beautiful indeed, they were filled with tourists, especially on market days. Nevertheless, it was easy to get off the beaten path with the hiking and by exploring perhaps equally beautiful sleepier towns. Like others, we enjoyed the hike to Oppède-le-Vieux.
In terms of meals, we didn't venture out of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse in the evenings. We somewhat alternated between Chez Dominique and La Vanne Marel. Sitting on the river terrace nearby the waterwheel and the church (at the latter) was quite lovely in the evenings. Portions were large and reasonably priced. For lunch, we loved Restaurant Philip, located on the river midway between the town and "the source".
Without saying more, we loved this trip and will most probably return to this area again. Thanks for our 8th or 9th successful trip!!!
Travelling to Provence by train was a pleasure in comparison to flying or driving. Even the Paris metro was part of the adventure. The Hotel du Poete was absolutely superb as was the village Fontaine de Vaucluse. The walking routes were all beautiful and well signed.
Personal highlights - the two walks from the hotel and of course the breakfasts! Fontaine de Vaucluse is a great base for a walking holiday with a great selection of restaurants. La Figuiere was probably our favourite with Chez Dominique coming a close second. The local Boulangerie sold good sandwiches - perfect for taking on our walks.
Highlights were the village of Fontaine de Vaucluse. Hotel du Poete ambience and staff, pool and spa. The canoe trip down the river was a definite highlight.
The hotel was lovely. Our room was very comfortable and we enjoyed the seating areas in the gardens and around the pool. The breakfast was first class and the staff friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the walks very much. The scenery was beautiful and the villages very interesting. We would recommend this tour to our friends.
Excellent variety of walks, so easy to combine with sightseeing and market visits on some days. Surprisingly large choice of restaurants in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse but many shut on Sundays and Mondays in early May. Our favourite was Figuiere followed by Chez Dominique. Have a drink in the hotel bar before you go out and Jerome brings platefuls of complementary local nibbles to try. We have never been on a single centre holiday before, doubting that it would be as enjoyable as the hotel to hotel journeys, but we were wrong and would happily do one again.
We were glad we made time to climb up to the castle in Fontaine for excellent views over the town and river. Favourite new village was Oppede le Vieux with its history site and Le Petit cafe. Hardly any other foreign tourists, just a few French and locals. Very happy with this holiday!
This is a really delightful way to spend a week walking in spring - wild flowers in abundance, poppy strewn fields reminiscent of impressionist paintings, wild irises with euphorbia together in a glorious mix of yellowy green and deep purple and rock gardens of thyme, rosemary and cistus in bloom. All the walks provide variety of landscape with quite a number being rocky underfoot. Villages along the way are very pretty but not to be relied on for sustenance. Mt Ventoux is not for the faint-hearted. Restaurants in Fontaine are quite expensive and there is a wider choice in Isle sur le Sorgue which is a lovely place for a stroll and an early evening drink by the river.
Despite the misleading Slow Holiday appellation, Inntravel provides extra fast and efficient service
Superb location and accommodation. Excellent variety of walks in a breathtaking region of Provence.
Congratulations Inntravel on another excellent holiday.
A very enjoyable holiday. The walking was good.
We loved the fact that we were in rural France but the facilities were excellent and the scenery was varied and spectacular.
The Hotel du Poete was an excellent base for us to explore Provence and the hotel staff were extremely helpful and provided good advice and assistance.
We really enjoyed pottering around the market in Isle sur la Sorgue
This was the most delightful and pretty place to stay. Cannot speak too highly about the staff who were all amazing, helpful and attentive. Breakfast was delicious with masses of choice and we loved sitting outside on the patio eating to the sight and sound of running water from the little streams. I would urge people to explore everywhere, not just the popular sights as our favourite hill town was a little place called Venasque - easy to get to by car and a real gem.
This was our first holiday of its type and we enjoyed it greatly. The walks were well chosen, offering a good choice of routes and levels of difficulty. The walking notes were detailed and accurate. The accommodation was excellent.
We thoroughly enjoyed this holiday. The walks were very rewarding - the countryside is beautiful! The Hotel du Poete and the staff were absolutely charming. Vegetarian food was a little scarce but Les Remparts in Venasque had a veggie menu and Mistral Bistro Moderne in Isle sur La Sorgue can be recommended. Also, the Pizza van in the square in Fontaine was great. Would love to do it all over again!
We thought the selection of walks was excellent, and well descibed. We didn't attempt Mont Ventoux and went instead to Gigondas where the tourist office does excellent walks leaflets. We walked in the Dentelles de Montmirail and I think this might appeal more than Mont Ventoux to most people.
A most enjoyable week. We particularly liked the hotel, which was comfortable and welcoming. Excellent breakfast and we loved our room-with-a-view (we upgraded to a Melodie room). We particularly enjoyed Walks 2, 4 and 5, plus the walking tour of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. We decided to give Avignon a miss, as the train times were very inconvenient and we didn't fancy driving.
Some comments about the instructions:
The driving instructions are too incomplete to be helpful. Better to stick to Sat-Nav! In particular the driving instructions to Roussillon (page 15) imply that the D2 goes straight to Roussillon, omitting the vital right turn onto D102. We went a few miles out of our way.
There is quite a difference between the newer walking instructions and the old. The new ones are near perfect; the old ones leave some steps to guesswork.
We would suggest reversing the order of Walks 1 & 2. We did Walk 1 on our first day and it was quite strenuous. Walk 2 would have been a better start. And in fact for us, it was shorter than Walk 1. Certainly less up and down on hard limestone rock fragments.
But all in all, we had a great time and it lived up to our expectations of Inntravel.