A day spent discovering the beauty of Luberon, Provence and following in the footsteps of celebrated author, Peter Mayle

The author Peter Mayle fell in love with Luberon in Provence and in turn he made many of us fall in love with Provence. I recall being captivated by his novel ‘A year in Provence’ in 1989, a few years after I’d actually spent 6 months working in Provence, but I learned so much more from his words than from my own experience, about the ‘real’ Provence!

Whilst on a wine tour of southern Rhône wine regions, we couldn’t resist sampling the wines of Luberon and discovering why Peter Mayle loved Luberon, Provence so much!

Said to be the reality of the image we conjure up in our minds when we imagine Provence - lavender fields, vineyards, medieval hilltop villages and the most incredible light, which has so attracted many famous artists over the years, we had great expectations for the day!

Would the reality match up? Read on to find out!

Also see our video:

Where is the Luberon region?

Luberon lies in the South of France in the region of Provence. It actually straddles two Provence départements, Vaucluse to the west, which attracts the most visitors and Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence to the east, where there are fewer tourist sites, but perhaps a more authentic Provençal way of life.

Luberon lies south of the River Durance and approximately 40km east of the Roman cities of Arles and Avignon and to the north of Aix-en-Provence. Although Luberon is located in the Provence region of France, in terms of wine it falls under the Rhône Valley wine region.

The entire Luberon region falls within the boundaries of the Luberon Regional Nature Park based around the Montagne du Lubéron (Luberon Mountain range).

What is Luberon famous for?

The Luberon region of Provence is famous all around the world and attracts many tourists each year. Real estate in this area has sky-rocketed over the past 20 years and there is an abundance of stunning holiday villas, secluded second homes and bijoux, expensive hotels - due in part to the Peter Mayle effect!

People flock to this beautiful part of France and Provence to experience its charm and relaxed lifestyle and the outstanding natural beauty offered by the Luberon Regional Nature Park, with imposing limestone hills, green forest valleys, vineyards, lavender fields and olive groves. However, Luberon Provence is most famous for its beautiful medieval hilltop villages.

The best Luberon Villages

The existence in Luberon of so many amazing medieval hilltop villages, perched on the top of hills and clinging precariously to hillsides, reflects the region’s turbulent past. These villages were created in the Middle Ages, forming originally around castles, which were constructed high up on hilltops to provide a better view of the enemy approaching. The castles attracted trades people and crafts people and the villages steadily urbanised, with fortifications usually being added between the 12th and 14th centuries.

Life in these Provençal villages has been turbulent over the years, but with the benefits that global tourism brings, they are enjoying a rebirth. Buildings have been restored and locals can earn a living from visiting tourists, fascinated by Provençal culture and traditions.

Many of the most spectacular and most visited perched villages are located within a 30km area in the Vaucluse west side of the region, called Petit Luberon. Here you can also find the villages made famous by Peter Mayle in his books, including Ménerbes, Lourmarin, Bonnieux, Gordes and Roussillon. See later for more information about visiting Luberon’s perched villages.

 Luberon wines

The AOC Côtes de Luberon wine appellation was created in 1988 and is now called simply AOC Luberon. On the wine map it sits between the Rhône Valley ‘Ventoux’ AOC and the Provence ‘Côteaux d’Aix-en-Provence’ AOC’ As for many south of France vineyards, vines have been grown in Luberon since Roman times and today there are some 3500 hectares of vineyards.

AOC Luberon vines are grown on both sides of the ‘Montagne de Luberon’ at an altitude of 200-450 metres and they also benefit from the gentle, south-facing slopes that run from the Mont Ventoux foothills to the sea, approximately 60km away.

Luberon enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry Summers, however nights tend to be a bit cooler than in other southern Rhône regions, which goes to explain the relative success Luberon has with the production of white wines. This difference in day and night temperatures also ensures the red wines retain some freshness. 

Luberon is more known for its landscapes and villages than for its wines and in all honesty you will get more superior wines in other Rhône Valley wine regions, however the quality of Luberon wines is on the up.

Luberon grape varieties

Luberon wines consist of whites, rosés and reds and all AOC Luberon wines must be made from a blend of grapes. Rosé wines are dominant, but not as much as in Provence. White and red wines make up about 20% each of total wine production.

Luberon reds and rosés:

Luberon red wines tend to be powerful, full-bodied and herb-scented red wines and they develop reasonably well with age.

The permitted primary grape varieties for Luberon red and rosé wines are Syrah and Grenache noir and some Mourvèdre is also permitted, along with Carignan and Cinsault. White grape varieties can also be blended (10% max for reds and 20% max for rosés). 

Luberon whites:

Luberon is known to produce increasingly good white wines, which show notes of vineyard peach, apricot, lime blossom and honeysuckle and they are floral, lively and well-balanced on the palate.

The white wines are blended from the following grape varieties: Grenache blanc, Clairette blanche, Vermentino, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Ugni blanc and Viognier (Viognier can only make up less than 10% of a white or rosé Luberon wine).

For more information visit Luberon Wines.

Our day trip discovering Luberon, Provence

Whilst we were based in the Vacqueyras Rhône Valley region we decided to visit Luberon for the day. We had booked a wine tasting at Domaine de la Citadelle in Ménerbes in the morning, so planned to do some sightseeing around this.

Visiting L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

Our first stop was in the Luberon village of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. This beautiful Luberon village - or perhaps more correctly, town - came to our attention through the chef James Martin, when he featured it on one of his TV programmes, touring around France. It was the home of infamous chef Keith Floyd, who loved it and established a restaurant here.

The Venice of Provence

The town of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue - ‘Island on the Sorgue’ - is situated between two branches of the beautiful River Sorgue, just a few kilometres from the river's source at Fontaine de Vaucluse. These crystal-clear, emerald, shallow waters flow through the town, giving it its nickname ‘Venice of Provence’. That’s probably stretching it to be honest, but the rivers are really pretty and very relaxing and helped to bring wealth to the town years ago. There are signs of this around the town, with its elegant mansions and water wheels which are testimony to the textile and paper-making industries that thrived in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. 

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue antiques

Today L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is known as the Antiques Capital of France - in fact it is said to be the third largest antiques destination in all of Europe. There are lots of lovely antique shops around the town and a large, busy antiques and flea market is held here each Sunday. 

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue market and café scene

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is a place for foodies - another reason we wanted to visit! We made sure we visited L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue on Sunday, one of 2 market days, the other being Thursdays. The market here is said to be one of the best and most beautiful  in Provence, with lots to tempt those who want to try out local Provençal produce! It’s a shame we weren’t there on the first Sunday in August when the market becomes a ‘floating market’ with stall holders selling their produce from boats on the rivers! Oh well, maybe next time!

We loved our time here. What a peaceful place, despite the crowds on market day and it was lovely to relax by the river and stroll through the beautiful streets. Instead of going to a café for lunch we opted to buy some bread, cheese, ham and olives to enjoy at our next stop!

Visiting Menerbes

Leaving L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue behind it took us just 20 minutes to reach our next destination - the beautiful, perched village of Ménerbes. 

In the 90s it was besieged by tourists wanting to get a glimpse of this lovely village that Peter Mayle wrote about in his books, ‘A Year in Provence’, ‘Toujours Provence’ and ‘Encore Provence’ - and even better to hopefully get to meet some of the real-life characters he wrote so captivatingly about! Peter Mayle fans are less prolific now in Ménerbes, however it is still a very popular village and very much on the tourist trail - so to see it at its best, probably avoid July and August!

We spent a wonderful 2 hours here, simply strolling through the streets, enjoying the views and having our picnic lunch in a delightful park!

Views across the Luberon Valley

Ménerbes in Luberon is a classic Provençal ‘perched’ village and is classified as ‘one of France’s most beautiful villages’. 

‘The Citadelle of Ménerbes is like a ship in an ocean of vines’ said Nostradamus - and indeed the medieval citadelle does look like a ship spread out across the top of the wooded hill, overlooking the Luberon Valley.

Ménerbes offers the most incredible views over the Luberon Valley, ​​whether to the south and the Luberon mountain, or northward over the plain to the Monts de Vaucluse and the white-tipped Mont Ventoux.

Explore the medieval citadelle

There is a large car park at the entrance to the village where you can leave your car and proceed on foot to explore. We were given a map of the village when we entered the car park which allowed us to easily explore the village from one end to the other.

Once you’ve got past the main street with its shops and cafés, you can walk along the top of Ménerbes, up through small alleyways, past beautifully restored 16th and 17th century houses to a small 12th century church and the castle at the higher end of the village.

Halfway through the medieval village you come to a square - Place de l'Horloge (clocktower) - where the town hall is located as well as ‘La Maison de la truffe et du vin’ (House of truffles and wine), created by the owner of Domaine de la Citadelle (see below) in a beautifully restored, grand village house. Once again, there are great views over the Luberon Valley from this square.

At the other end of the village you will find ‘Château du Castellet’, where the expressionist painter Nicolas de Stael lived. Other famous former residents of Ménerbes include Picasso’s mistress Dora Maar and the American artist Jane Eakin.

Our visit to Luberon wine estate, Domaine de la Citadelle, Menerbes

Once we had explored the beautiful medieval village of Ménerbes we drove back down into the valley and headed to Domaine de la Citadelle, just 5 minutes away, for our wine tasting.

Our first impression was ‘wow!’ - a beautiful château, surrounded by neat vineyards and standing under the shadow of Ménerbes on the hill above. It truly is a stunning and impressive location and site.

Some background about Domaine de la Citadelle

Domaine de la Citadelle was formed in 1990 by Yves Rousset-Rouard, following a successful career in theatre and cinema, along with his 3 sons, Alexis, Gregory and Ivan. Yves had acquired the historic property, along with 8 hectares of farmland, in 1981 and had set about creating a wine estate. In 1992, the cellar and winery were built and the parcels of land extended to reach the 50 hectares of vineyards farmed today across the northern slopes of the Luberon, extending across 11 different locations and 74 plots.

The estate was certified organic in 2016.

Domaine de la Citadelle wines

12 different grape varieties are grown in the vineyards, with Syrah being the dominant red variety and Roussanne the dominant white.

Approximately 50% of wine production is red, 25% white and 25% rosé.

The Domaine produces 3 different ranges of wines, including the ‘Châtaignier’ entry-level range, the ‘Artèmes’ range, which forms almost half of all bottled production, and the ‘Gouverneur Saint Auban’ range in just red and white. 

Our wine tasting at Domaine de la Citadelle

We enjoyed a tasting of 6 wines, 2 of each colour and we particularly liked the Artèmes range. The 2021 white, made from a blend of Vermentino, Marsanne, Roussanne and Clairette, was fresh, but still a bit young and the 2019 red made from 80% Syrah and 20% Grenache was lovely and fruity with good acidity.

Once we had completed our tasting, we were able to discover the rest of the estate:

Winery tour

Wine tours can be booked or you can opt to walk around the winery yourself, which is what we did as we were running behind on time!

• Corkscrew museum

Yves Rousset-Rouard first extended his concept of oenotourism - or wine tourism - in 1993 when he created the first corkscrew museum featuring his own private collection of more than 2000 pieces from around the world.

• Botanical Gardens

Another passion of owner Yves Rousset-Rouard, the extensive botanical gardens were developed on the estate and opened in 2018. The gardens are open to walk around and explore, providing magnificent views of the Luberon, the Monts de Vaucluse and the Ventoux. 

• The wine shop

There is an excellent shop where you can browse and purchase wine as well as wine-related gifts.

We would really recommend visiting Domaine de la Citadelle. They provide a great introduction and representation of Luberon wine, the setting is amazing and the wine tourism activities on offer are really extensive and enjoyable!

Where to find Domaine de la Citadelle

Address: Domaine de la Citadelle, 601, Route de Cavaillon, 84560 Menerbes, France

Where to find domaine de la Citadelle wines

Domaine de la Citadelle wines can be found across Europe, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Asia - see website for details.

The famous Luberon hilltop village Gordes

The final destination for our day in Luberon was the exceptionally pretty hilltop village of Gordes. Built on a huge limestone rock and situated 38km east of Avignon, Gordes is hugely popular and therefore always very busy - and you guessed it, it’s also ‘one of the most beautiful villages in France’!

It is essentially a beautiful Provençal village, with quaint cobbled streets, lovely shops, tempting restaurants and an impressive church and castle, ancient symbols of the fight against invading armies. However, what makes Gordes really spectacular is the views - views from Gordes over the Luberon mountain and the Luberon Valley, but also the view towards Gordes.

We parked in the main car park, just north of the centre and from here walked down to the medieval village. The high points of our visit were the views from the fortifications and also from a great café called ‘Le Cercle Républicain’. We could have looked at that view all day!

Before parking we stopped on the main Avignon road to capture the view looking towards Gordes - you don’t want to miss this!! (See image earlier.)

Sénanque Abbey 

A few kilometres outside of Gordes you will find the beautiful Sénanque Abbey, a monastery since 1148 and today home to Cistercian Monks. This is definitely worth visiting, but especially in June/early July when you can enjoy the fabulous display of lavender fields - but it will be much busier then!

We had a full day discovering the best of France’s Luberon and enjoyed every minute of it. Luberon certainly lived up to our high expectations! 

Luberon Travel Guide

When to visit  Luberon

Late Spring and early Autumn are the most ideal times to visit Luberon. July and August are very hot and VERY busy - be warned!!

Where to stay in Luberon

For ideas on where to stay in Luberon and the wider Vaucluse region try the ProvenceGuide website and The Luberon website. There tends to be more villa rental properties in the Luberon, than hotels. Also of course try Airbnb.

How to get to Luberon

The closest airports to Luberon are Marseille (1 hour), Nimes (1hr 15), and Montpellier (1hr 40). Avignon airport is even closer, 40 minutes, but only has internal flights. The busiest airport in Provence is Nice, which is 2.5 hours drive from Luberon.

You will need a car to explore Luberon, so if you’re flying or perhaps taking the train (TGV link from Paris), you will need to hire a car and pick it up in Avignon.

Other Luberon villages to explore

We’ve already mentioned a few of the most popular Luberon villages, but a few others are definitely worth a visit:

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

The source of the River Sorgue and a beautiful medieval, Provençal village situated at the sharp end of a narrow valley, surrounded by cliffs. It takes its name from the beautiful and mysterious spring feeding the river Sorgue, which comes from deep underground - and nobody knows how deep. 

This is a really pretty village, with the emerald green River Sorgue the focus. There’s lots of restaurants, shops and also the opportunity to do some kayaking. Make sure you walk up to the source of the spring, the scenery is spectacular. For most of the year all you can see is a deep blue pool of water at the bottom of towering cliffs, but in the Spring water gushes out at 200m3 (52,000 gallons) every second - this is one of the largest springs in the world.

Roussillon

Roussillon is another of the most famous Luberon, Provence ‘perched villages’ - in fact it is second to Gordes in terms of the most visited Luberon village and another one of France’s ‘most beautiful villages’.

The most significant thing to mention about Roussillon is ‘ochre’ - all of the buildings in the village are painted various different shades of ochre and it makes for an absolutely stunning spectacle! 

Roussillon used to be one of the most important centres in the world for producing the ochre pigment used in paints and produced up to 20 different shades of it. You can visit the disused ochre quarry just outside of Roussillon and marvel at this geological phenomenon. The quarry is also a starting point for a footpath that continues for 15km to the Colorado de Rustrel quarry, which is similarly spectacular and ‘other worldly’! It is nicknamed  the Colorado of Provence for obvious reasons! 

The village is a joy to visit, with lots of quaint streets and alleyways to explore, a great choice of restaurants and shops and there are excellent views across the valley to the Mountain of Luberon, the slopes of Mont Ventoux and the plateau of the Vaucluse.

Lourmarin

Not a typical ‘perched’ village, but once again a designated ‘beautiful village of France’! 

Lourmarin is known for its restaurant scene as well as its Friday morning market! In fact several of Peter Mayle’s favourite restaurants were located in the lovely village of Lourmarin!

Take time to visit the Château de Lourmarin, just outside the village. There is also a wine shop and cellars here, where you can apparently purchase some good value Luberon wines!

Other things to do in Luberon 

Luberon, Provence is a great place to spend a holiday, there’s so much to see and do. In addition to learning about wine and visiting its famous villages, there’s the whole Luberon Regional Nature Park to explore. 

You can also go in search of Luberon lavender - only at certain times of year though! Spend days on the Mediterranean coast, visit the Luberon markets (my favourite!) or take in some culture! Visit these websites for more ideas for spending time in beautiful Luberon!

• The Luberon

• ProvenceGuide

• France this Way

• Luberon Coeur de Provence

Other wineries to visit in Luberon

• Château la Canorgue - the location for the 2016 movie, starring Russell Crowe ‘A Good Year’- a mile outside Bonnieux. On the tourist route for this reason but worth a visit for its wines - organic too!

• Château Fontvert - Lourmarin - organic and biodynamic

• Château Val-Joanis - near Pertuis in the south of the region - a shop and lovely landscaped gardens.

See a full list of Luberon wine producers here.

Other Rhone valley wine regions to explore

The beauty of spending time in the southern Rhône region is that you can combine several distinct wine appellations in one trip. We did just this and were able to visit many well-known Rhône Valley vineyards and regions in the space of a week. Places like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Cairanne, Rasteau, Beaumes-les-Venise are all within easy reach of Luberon.

Provençal gastronomy

The cuisine of Provence is world-famous for its variety and flavour. It is based on Mediterranean influences and superb local ingredients such as fresh fish, shellfish and anchovies, amazing vegetables: garlic, capers, olives, tomatoes, red peppers, zucchini, aubergines /eggplants, sumptuous fruits including melons, apricots, strawberries and peaches, meats especially lamb and goat, pork and wild boar dried sausages (saucissons) and flavoursome herbs, such as thyme, lavender and rosemary.

Luberon is famous for its Cavaillon melons, its truffles and its olives and olive oil. See here how you can experience these wonderful local products in Luberon!

Best restaurants in Luberon

There is a huge choice! See here for some ideas.

Conclusion and personal highlights

We had the most amazing day in Luberon! It’s easy to see a lot in one day as the beautiful Luberon villages are all closely situated to each other. It really didn’t disappoint - in fact it more than lived up to expectations. Peter Mayle and his wife lived in a really beautiful part of the world and it was wonderful he got to share it with us! Even though it can get very crowded, we would really recommend you take time to see the amazing scenery and villages and of course try the wines!

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