Hill-Top Villages of the Luberon

From Roussillon through Gourdes to Fontaine de Vaucluse, we loved this holiday. The villages, hotels and walking routes are all well-chosen. We found the walking notes, though a little out-dated, to be typically comprehensive and easy to follow. The daily walks are mid-range in terms of effort. 

Hotel Les Sables d’Ocre (Roussillon) is very comfortable with pleasant gardens/ swimming pool. Suggest request pool-facing room if possible as the rear facing rooms are a bit dark. Very good buffet breakfast including hot option. We arrived midday and found a good 2.5 hr circular walk for the afternoon, taking in La Coquillade and Les Huguets, returning via the last part of the Day 1, option B walk. 

La Grappe de Raisin (booked for us by the hotel, meal included for our first evening), upstairs on a balcony with a great view, was very pleasant. Quick service, great setting, reasonable choice of dishes. 

Day 1, option A walk is tremendous. A real ice-breaker with great views and diversity of terrain. Our only question was why the prescribed walk doesn’t go quite to the top of the cliff, La Falaise de la Madeleine. We extended by 5 minutes each way - along a well-marked path - to get to the very top. 

Dinner at La Table des Ocres. Although at the opposite end of the village (20 minute walk) we felt it was worth it as you have a quiet setting in a garden. 

Day 2 walk Roussillon to Gourdes. Charming walk finishing in an impressive climb to Gourdes. The Domaine de l’Enclos guest house is very special indeed. Essentially operated as a private house with a great pool and an honesty bar. Good breakfast served by friendly staff. This is a great find - we’d happily go there again. Met some friendly Americans and Dutch too. 

Dinner at La Trinquette, a popular, buzzy place with speedy service and reasonable prices. Must book. 

Day 3 walk around Gourdes. We chose the longer option B (17.1km) and it was great until we got caught half way in the most biblical-level thunderstorm that featured in the French and UK press the following day. We’d still recommend that route. Sénanque Abbey now offers self-guided tours in 11 languages. 

Dinner at L’Outsider in Gordes . A bit more expensive but a higher level of cooking. 

Day 4. Walk to Fontaine de Vaucluse. By now the hillside paths were small rivers, so this trail took us longer than it usually would. We enjoyed the restored village of Bories. Later, we were startled by the sound of a shotgun very close to us on the mountain. French walkers coming the other way didn’t seem too frightened. 

The Hotel du Poète is very different again. As a converted mill, it’s a large old industrial building that was transformed in 2002 with 22 rooms. But in a really quiet, historic setting away from the bustle of Fontaine. We got a warm welcome from Roman. And breakfast was substantial with varied options. Good pool and jacuzzi too. 

Day 5, northern circuit from Fontaine de Vaucluse was long, magical but quite challenging. Lots of rocky ascents. Note that the Bistrot de Saumane, in Saumane de Vaucluse has been replaced by the Haut Perché which is closed Mon-Weds.

Walking aside, it should be noted that the main tourist attraction of Fontaine de Vaucluse, the spring that forms the source of the river Sourge, is currently closed (since June 2025) because of worries about rockfalls. There are plans to provide alternative visitor access but these will take a long time to affect. 

First night dinner in the Bistrot of the Hotel du Poète was excellent (€45pp if we’d had to pay) while La Vanne Marel, near the back entrance to the hotel, provided a very good and interesting meal (€34) on our second night. 

Day 6, southern circuit from Fontaine was a lovely, long walk. Starts with a bit of effort (the largest climb of the day) but well worth it. This walk does in fact include a repeat of two sections of previous walks (day 4, day 5) but it doesn’t matter. And the notes are correct in that neither of the villages en route could provide a drink. 

A comment on the walking notes. They are to the usual excellent standard of detail and we were able to follow them easily. However it was clear to us that they must be a few years old and in need of a refresh. Waymarkers had disappeared (and cairns, strangely) while several of the shops and cafés referred to had gone, too. 

Dinner on the final night at Chateau Olive et Raisin, right by the bridge in Fontaine. Three course menu with three choices each, well cooked. Great view over the river. 

Definitely an excellent holiday experience despite the problems in travelling via CDG airport. Very interesting part of Provence/Vaucluse some of which we had visited before but on different routes. Worth it alone for the wonderful range of birds, particularly swits, but also martins, wagtails, sparrowhawks etc and incredible wealth of butterflies so lacking these days in the UK.

Meals included in Roussillon and Fontaine de Vaucluse were excellent 

If staying in Gordes check what restaurants are open Sundar evenings.

An invigorating and delightful way to explore this area of Provence!  Experiencing the variety of the vineyards, orchards, fields, flowers, hills and woods was a highlight.  Each of the hill towns/villages is unique.  People were friendly and helpful and the accomodations were very comfortable - and welcomed after a day's hike.

We really enjoyed this holiday, all three hotels were to a high standard, Les Mas du Romarins particularly, enjoys a great sunny position overlooking Gordes. Please note that most of the restaurants in Gordes are closed on a Tuesday. In Roussillon we would highly recommend Restaurant Omma which has great food and wine and enjoys a panoramic view out over the ochre cliffs. We found it easy to get provisions for the day's walk at all 3 locations. Our favourite walking areas were the ones around Gordes and Fontaine du Vaucluse. Well worth seeing is the village of Bories - the dry stone huts (although there are plenty of examples still standing that you can see on the walks). Do also the walk along the Le Sentier des Ocre, which is accessed near the main square in Roussillon, there is a small charge at the start of the route (it is very popular) which walks along the ochre cliffs and drops down into the woods, where you will see a most unusual landscape. Our favourite restaurants were the Omma in Roussillon and the Bistro at the Hotel du Poete in Fontaine - we actually ate there twice as it was that good. We went in May and had a couple of thunderstorms on 2 of the days so we would recommend carrying a waterproof jacket when walking. The tracks are quite stony so make sure that your footwear is supportive. A hat and sunscreen is also essential as is taking plenty of water.

Varied terrain of the walks, well chosen village locations, interesting acrhaeology, flora and fauna. Obviously avoid Le Bistro de Coleur. We think we pushed the envelope for "end of season" and would have had more access to museums etc a little earlier.

The walk from Roussillon to Gordes was one of our favourite as Gordes is such a beautiful village and the walk gives you regular views of the village as you go along. It does give you a really hard climb for the last kilometre but it is well worth it. We also really enjoyed the circular walk from Hotel de Poete which went to Saumane le Vaucluse. It was challenging but we were able to have a cup of tea and a wonderful dessert at the cafe in the village, where we were welcomed by a small boy who showed us the way in!

The main holidays are both excellent. The first hotel on the Costa brave walk should be reviewed. Good food, but its a very ordinary property in an odd location. for example the aircond in our room didn't work. Marseille is rea a pretty horrible place and should be deleted from the list.,

The booking process was easy, the holiday documentation was comprehensive and walking instructions/directions very clear and accurate. The walks themselves were all lovely and varied, and also were long enough to feel that we had had a good walk. As for the hotels, all amazing.

Walking between and staying in three very beautiful villages was a joy.

It was lovely to experience Provence at this time of year, when the Spring blossoms, the colours, and fragrances are at their peak. The weather and temperatures were also optimal. The walks were excellent and well within our capabilities (both of us are in our 70s). We chose a 2-3-3 night walk week, since we feel it is important to be able to relax in the middle and not be under a strain of daily packing and moving on.

Travelling in early May we saw a fantastic range of wildlife including birds and butterflies not seen in the UK as well as abundant wildflowers. All the food was good, albeit this part of France is on the expensive side and it is advisable to book in advance. We had a particularly enjoyable meal at the restaurant Omma (formerly David) in Rousillon, fantastic imaginatively prepared food and a table with a view over the ochre cliffs. The Chateau Olive et Raisin was also very good. The hotels were all very welcoming with the private terrace, grounds and spacious public rooms at the Domaine de l'Enclos being especially pleasant. The garden at the Hotel du Poete is also an unusual and lovely place to sit outside for a drink. The walks were varied and we were generally fortunate with the weather (not much rain but not too hot). There are some rough and rocky stretches which were probably at the tougher end of expectations for a grade 2 walk.

We had a fabulous walk through the Luberon. The walks were varied and took in the full variety of terrain and landscapes. The route notes were excellent and we never had any problems navigating. The walks themselves were challenging enough to be enjoyable. You don't need to be uber fit but some preparation is a good idea to be comfortable walking the distances with a light pack over rocky trails with some loose footing. Overall, a great experience that I would strongly recommend to anyone! Personal highlights: Joucas, walking in the rocky forest to the Abbey, stone walls in the olive groves.

Personal highlights included: the ochre cliffs at Roussillon and the market (Thursday), the view of Gordes from the viewpoint, the Caves du Palais Saint Fermin in Gordes and the bories village near Gordes, the park with the ancient trees in Fontaine de Vaucluse accessed through the tunnel by the Petrach museum. We would recommend the following restaurants: L'escalier in Roussillon, Casa Rosario in Gordes and La Vanne Morel in Fontaine de Vaucluse. All served excellent food and had fixed price menus, and 50 cl bottles of local wine. The bakeries in Roussillon and Gordes had a good selection of sandwiches. In Fontaine de Vaucluse the small grocer's shop near the church was able to make up sandwiches (the bakery had closed down), and sandwiches were also available at the Cafe near the Petrach museum on Wednesday when the grocer was closed.

This is a beautiful area and we were absolutely delighted with all the walks, despite the difficulty of walking in the intense September heatwave. We loved the walk from Gordes to Fontaine de Vaucluse with its spectacular gorge, and also the wooded hillsides around Fontaine de Vaucluse. We also liked the very pretty shorter walk to the Abbaye de Senanque. La Falaise de la Madeleine is awesome, and the walk there through vineyards and olive groves makes a wonderful introduction. In Fontaine de Vaucluse where the temperature went even higher we were able to combine a 6km walk which we got from the Office de Tourisme with the Inntravel Option A Via Saumane to make a shorter 9 km walk which still included the abandoned farmhouse in its lovely valley and the amazing views across the plain and Ile de la Sorgue. We had no problems with the very accurate walk instructions and hardly needed to use the GPS. We also thought that Grade 2 was just right, as there are a good few ups and downs each day, and some rough and stoney paths to negotiate. It was not too challenging so we coud really enjoy it, although we had to stop frequently to admire the beautiful views, as well as to cool down! 

The 3 hotels are excellent. Les Sables D'Ocres is such a pretty, peaceful place, and we could not have been given a warmer welcome by the Mas de Romarin where the views of Gordes from the breakfast terrace are breathtaking. The Hotel du Poete provided a very welcome shady and cool retreat frrom the heatwave. Our only problem was eating out on the 5 nights when meals were not provided. Having read the comments from other Inntravellers we felt it essential to book but, despite the fact that we speak good French, we found it very hard to get advance information on prices and menus before making our bookings. In most cases we followed your recommendations or those from other travellers, and had wonderful food but ended up with big bills for just 2 courses. Wine prices were surprisingly high for a wine-growing region. Our favourite restaurants were La Trinquette in Gordes and le Chateaux Olive et Raisin in Fontaine. Beware la Bastide de Pierres in Gordes where the Italian food is cheaper but the wine is a rip-off! Altogether, we loved the whole experience and would thoroughly recommend this holiday. 

We have used Inntravel before for a walking holiday in the Schwarzwald which was excellent ...hence re-booking for this walk in Provence. On the whole the experience was good but the quality of accommodation less good than in Germany and the terrain less beautiful ... We would encourage anyone of ambivalent disposition to go with Inntravel to Germany rather than France.

This was our first holiday with Inntravel. We had an exceptionally enjoyable time! The village locations were splendid and the walking routes between villages (and elsewhere) easily met our expectations. The Luberon is a lovely part of France and having opted to travel there by train instead of flying, it all worked well, being collected at Avignon railway station and then chauffeur driven to our first hotel in Roussillon. We would certainly consider using Innrravel again!

The field of wild poppies were a delight. The paths were very good everywhere in stunning scenery. We did need GPS as 1 or 2 things had changed since the walks were originally described. Be prepared to walk alone without meeting another soul for the majority of the time. The hotels were lovely and the standard of cuisine in the local restaurants was very high.

This was my third walking holiday with Inntravel and again a most enjoyable experience. My dates were 30 April to 6 May. Wall to wall sunshine throughout with slight effects of Mistral down the Rhône valley in the second half. I have lived for some years in very hot countries and wouldn't have wanted to walk later in the year. Le Domaine de L'Enclos was exceptional. I highly recommend Restaurant Le Piquerbaure in Roussillon even though it is the far end of the village! The walks in the valley are lovely. Those along the ridges are very stoney and tough going and I recommend poles. Nevertheless they provide a good sense of achievement when completed.