Driving The Lavender Roads of Provence

These route suggestions are for summer time when the lavender is blooming, but it isn't too early to begin thinking ahead and making plans. We love lavender time in Provence--the air is intoxicating with the heavenly smell of the lavender and the purple color of the fields a feast for the eyes. These routes will take you away from the beaten paths and into villages and regions that are too seldom explored.You can get maps outlining Lavender drives from the Tourist Information Center in Gordes. These, though, take you on a different journey.

Driving Provence’s Lavender Roads

Following the lavender harvest in Provence in the months of July and August offers any lover of rural France a sublime travel experience, one that will drive away the stress of the most dedicated workaholic. Lavender grows in abundance in parks and gardens and along the roadsides, but the commercial fields of lavender grown as a profitable agricultural vocation can only be found by traveling back roads by car. They richly repay the time and effort dedicated to seeking them out.


Lavender grows in an immense area in scattered regions of Provence, a larger and more varied region than the tourist stereotypes suggest. Several directions offer day-long journeys punctuated with visits to colorful villages along the way. You will want to stop alongside of the road, walk into the lavender fields to take photos, marvel at the color and savor the fragrance. Don’t cut it—it is the farmer’s livelihood!--but you will find roadside stands where you can buy bouquets and bundles of lavender or bottles of pure lavender oil from the families that grow and produce it. In nearby villages you will find a princely selection of lavender products: dishes and pottery of all kinds painted with the flowers on them, kitchen, bedroom and bath linens embroidered with lavender flowers, and soap of all sorts to fill your place back home with that wonderful, clean scent. Although lavender only grows in the summer, the villages along the lavender routes are worth visiting at any time of year. Here are suggested routes through areas that provide a rich Provencal experience. If you want to visit the real Provence, these routes will take you into the heartlands and away from the areas usually included in mass-marketed tours.


Our first Lavender Route to follow in next post.