15 Unforgettable Things to Do in Provence for Luberon Virgins

Is it your first time to visit the Luberon in Provence? If you’re tempted to cram eleventy Luberon things to do, see, and sniff, don’t feel bad.

I live here and I know this to be true: Provence is pure vibe. It’s why people dream about visiting (or retiring) here.

So skip the ‘must visit’ checklist. Fire up your senses instead: See. Hear. Feel. Touch. Taste. Smell. It’s how we create memories that stick.

I curated this multi-sensorial list of what to do in the Luberon if it’s your first time—organized around vibe, colors, food & wine, nature, and surprise. Do all, skip some, or mix and match.

In July 2025, my sister and her family visited us in Provence for the first time. I based their 10-day trip on this list, and they loved it!

Give my personal recommendations a try. And you’ll have enough travel memories to annoy people back home about “that time I was in Provence and had the best time.” Please, dear reader, annoy away!

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PROVENÇAL VIBE

1. Visit the Luberon’s 5 Most Beautiful Villages of France

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2. Go to a Luberon open-air market

The market is a window into village life. Come for the marché, stay for people-watching. Save this schedule of weekly Luberon markets to your mobile phone.

Locals gather on a weekly basis. Observe them (especially seniors) huddled in a café, chatting, laughing, often rising from their seats to give friends the customary deux bises. Some may already have a beer or rosé in hand before lunchtime.

So in the summer, wear your comfy linen attire, a straw hat, and a wicker basket in your arm (rarely anyone carries plastic bags). Don’t forget to say “bonjour” to every seller you meet. Dogs on a leash are always welcome.

🤓 If you don’t have a car, you can book a Luberon market tour. Here are my picks if you are based in Aix-en-Provence, , Marseille, and Avignon.

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3. Dine on a terrasse with the sun on your face

In France, always choose to dine on a terrasse , weather permitting.

what is a ter·rasse ?
noun
(in France) a flat, paved area outside a café where people sit to take refreshments.

Source: Oxford Languages

Sure, you can dine outside anywhere in the world. But it feels special to sit at a table along a cobbled street, under plane trees on a sticky summer day. The terrasse is a space where sipping wine and enjoying the sun are as delightful as the fresh dish on your plate.

🇫🇷 Why stop at eavesdropping when you could order your own food in French? Learn useful phrases before your trip. Once you try my favorite language platform, you’ll wonder why you wasted time on that owl app.

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COLORS OF THE LUBERON

4. Stand in a lavender field

You already know Provence is world-famous for its lavender fields.*

Every year, for about two months (June-July), parts of the Luberon turn blue-violet as lavandin flowers bloom. Notice I say “stand in a field,” not stroll in it, or step on plants, or pick flowers.

Lavandiculteurs (lavender farmers) are not the biggest fans when people visit their property, yet they allow us to do so. So all they’re asking for is some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

When it comes to smell, lavender scent peaks during harvest. You’ll still catch whiffs at other blooming stages (such as when you visit), but they won’t be as intense.

So instead of smelling, why not…

*There are differences between lavender and lavandin, such as their elevation and usage. If your priority is to take photos, either field is stunning and you won’t even spot the difference. Most of the Luberon valley grows lavandin.

💜 If you’re visiting Provence without a car, check out these lavender group tours departing from Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, and Marseille (plus, another that leaves right from the port).

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5. Admire the ocher hues of Roussillon

Did you know that Vaucluse* was an important global exporter of ocher from the 1780s to the mid-1900s?
(*The Luberon lies in two departments: Vaucluse and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.)

Today, all the mines are closed, but you can still visit the ocher trail of Roussillon (Le Sentier des Ocres). Just show up – no need to make prior reservations.

Two other “ocher” places that are open to the public are: Mines de Bruoux in Gargas and Colorado Provençal in Rustrel.

🧡 If you’ve decided to not drive, don’t worry, you can always join a Luberon group tour that includes Roussillon in the itinerary. Check out these tours that depart from Marseille (choose Thursday for Roussillon’s market day), Aix-en-Provence, and Avignon.

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6. Enjoy the flowers of Provence besides lavender

Lavender hogs the spotlight. But don’t forget, the Luberon is filled with colorful blooms and plants all year long. Here’s a quick guide:
Mid-Feb to March: almond blossoms
April: cherry blossoms
May: poppies galore! Roses, tons of wildflowers, and even cacti fleurs
June to July: lavender (typically blooms from mid-June to mid-July in the Luberon), sunflowers, wild herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme)
September to November: grapes, olives
December to February: truffle (this elite fungus deserves to gatecrash this flower list). You can even book this truffle-hunting tour, complete with a truffle master and his dogs.

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LUBERON FOOD AND WINE

7. Eat seasonal produce

Enjoying ~300 days of sunshine, Luberon fruits and vegetables are ah-may-zing.

Thanks to the Mediterranean climate, our food doesn’t travel far from where it was grown (or raised, in the case of goats and sheep). This means no cross-country travel in fridge containers, and there’s little to zero preservatives.

Living in the Luberon has transformed how I view and consume food. Fresh produce is abundant, that there’s really no need to buy processed food from the supermarket anymore.

During your holiday, try to eat only seasonal fruits and vegetables. In a restaurant, ask about the menu du jour (menu of the day), which is often a dish cooked with ingredients available in the market that morning.

Speaking of restaurants, read my Luberon foodie guide if you plan to dine out a lot during your trip.

Here are seasonal must-eats in the Luberon:

• Spring: strawberries of Carpentras, cherries, asparagus
• Summer: tomatoes, Cavaillon melons
• Fall: olives, grapes
• Winter: truffles (Book this tour to experience truffle-hunting with a farmer and his dogs.)

Other local food stars: Luberon lamb (agneau), goat cheese (+ fromage de brebis or sheep cheese), honey, and herbes de Provence

🐑 No disrespect to my vegetarian and vegan readers, but I want to share this with those who eat meat.

Before moving to Provence, I reserved lamb for special occasions. Apart from seafood, turkey, and Normandy sausages (yes, I still think they’re the best in France), meat wasn’t a staple in my diet.

But tasting Luberon lamb changed everything (*cue dramatic music*). Oven-roasted, pan-fried, or slow-cooked, it’s now my go-to source for meat protein.

You can order lamb in local restaurants, or better yet, cook it yourself if you have a kitchen. If possible, avoid buying from supermarket chains and go straight to producers instead. I recommend lamb from Domaine du Couleton, sold at these local spots:

• La Bardane – a producers’ cooperative in Cadenet (see exact location on Google Map)
• Le Moulin de Puyvert – a health food store in Puyvert, a village beside popular Lourmarin (click here for the exact store location)
• Weekly markets – every Tuesday (6-8pm) at Lourmarin’s La Frutière Numerique (see map) and every Sunday (8am-noon) in Saint-Martin-de-la-Brasque. Christophe, the owner of Domaine du Couleton, personally sells the meats.

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8. Go vineyard hopping

Taste Luberon reds, whites, and rosés.

Hop around and learn about Luberon wine history and savoir-faire from chatty winegrowers. Or, go to a wine festival (Jun-Sep) to enjoy music, food trucks, and a festive south of France vibe.

🍷To help you choose which places to add to your wine itinerary, read my guide to Luberon vineyards. And if you don’t want to worry about driving back to your accommodation, consider joining a group wine tour.

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9. Try fine dining in a Michelin restaurant

As of this writing, there are 10 Michelin-starred restaurants in the Luberon. Why not splurge on a special occasion or on the last night of your trip or…just because?

I feel a common misconception is that Michelin equals expensive. It could be but not always. Did you know there are lunch menus for less than 50€?

If you’re on a budget, skip the wine pairing (accords mets et vins) because this costs at least 30€ more on top of the set menu. You can also try Bib Gourmand, a Michelin label for “good quality, good value” restaurants.

To guide you, here’s a list of the Luberon’s Michelin restaurants and Bib Gourmand joints.

Also, remember that Michelin is just a label. There are so many great restaurants in Provence without star ratings.

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LUBERON NATURE

10. Cycle, hike, or walk in nature

In France, there are 9 UNESCO Global Geoparks and one of them is our very own Luberon Regional Nature Park.

It’s 185,000 hectares of biodiversity, spanning 77 municipalities and two departments (Vaucluse and Alpes-de-Haute Provence). It would be a shame to visit the Luberon and not enjoy nature.

Take your pick: massif, big and little mountains, forests, vineyards, rivers, canyons, crags, ocher hills, and more. Seriously, nature is abundant here.

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11. Walk under 100-year-old cedars in Forêt des Cèdres

The Cedar Forest is one of my favorite places to stroll. It’s almost impossible to not feel synced with nature when you’re there.

Back story: In 1860, two foresters had an idea: “Why don’t we plant seeds of cedar trees from the Atlas mountains?” Their initial goal was to use the wood for construction. The first trees started to reproduce in the 1920s and had spread to 60 hectares a decade later.

Today, Forêt des Cèdres spans across three communes: Bonnieux, Lacoste, and Ménerbes.

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12. Remember the sound of cicadas before it’s gone

While some dread noisy cicadas (like cicada-geddon in the U.S.), cigales are the soundtrack of summers in Provence.

Emerging in late May or June after years underground, male cicadas sing their hearts tymbals out to attract mates before their short life ends.

But climate change is throwing off their schedule and causing them to move north. Over the past two summers, I’ve noticed cicadas emerging later than usual, instead of their typical early June debut.

French agroclimate expert Serge Zaka warns: “By the end of the century, if global warming continues, the virtual disappearance of cicadas could happen in the south of France, as happened in North Africa.”

It would be very sad if that happens.

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LUBERON SURPRISE

13. Visit some ruins (or a historical site)

The Luberon is often seen as a chic summer escape, but did you know it has a twisty past? From plagues to massacres and World War II (WWII), its history shows how far the Luberon has come.

Mérindol’s Vaudois Memorial honors those massacred in 1545 during the Wars of Religion. Gordes, now the most famous Luberon village, was a WWII resistance hub with its own dark tales (yes, there was bloodshed).

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

If you drive between Roussillon and Bonnieux, you’ll surely see Pont Julien, 2000-year-old Roman bridge from the legendary Via Domitia.

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14. Wander the halls of a French château

The Luberon is no Loire Valley. We do not have 300 castles around here. But there are a few you can visit for a small fee: Gordes Castle, Château d’Ansouis, Château de Lourmarin, and Château du Grand-Pré.

My favorite? Ansouis Castle.

I’ve visited many castles in Europe, and Château d’Ansouis is the only place I’ve been where the owners still reside. Typically, publicly accessible châteaux are either museums or heritage sites without the owners present.

Château d’Ansouis is open to the public from April to October. You need to pre-book your spot/s. Payment is onsite. More details here.

The owner herself, Madame Frédérique Rousset-Rouvière, will personally show you around her home. Her 90-minute guided tour is in French. But don’t worry if you don’t speak French.

I have a fab tip for you: Watch the video below with English subtitles before you experience Ansouis Castle in French.

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15. Drive around in a 2CV

From 1948 to 1990, French car brand Citroën produced the 2CV (Deux Chevaux). It has become an iconic symbol of the French countryside, especially the slow pace and laid-back spirit.

Sure, it’s touristy, but driving a 2CV in Provence is like climbing the Eiffel Tower in Paris—a fun thing to do for first-timers.

In the Luberon, you’ll still spot these quirky cars puttering along, or sometimes, a convoy of 2CV enthusiasts cruising together.

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Sample 4-Day Luberon Itinerary

Mix and match the 15 top experiences above to create your own multi-sensory trip.

Day 1:
Visit the Most Beautiful Villages in the Luberon
Finally know what it feels like to visit the places you’ve seen in photos. Visit at least two.

Day 2:
Go to a morning market
Taste the many food specialties of Provence. Check the weekly marché schedule here. Spend 9am-12nn at the market and explore another place in the afternoon.
Walk Roussillon’s Sentier des Ocres
Enjoy nature in this unique terrain, with the sound of cicadas in the background, if it’s summer.

Day 3:
Go vineyard-hopping
Taste, smell, *hic*! Use my curated list of Luberon vineyards to choose where to go.

Day 4:
Book a 2CV tour
It’s cute, quirky, and fun. Why not?

And lots of terrasse meals in between.

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Ready to Turn This into Your Trip?

This list of the Luberon’s best things to do isn’t a strict itinerary, but it’s a solid starting point for your trip. Remember, we like to take things slow here in the south of France.

So, if you pick at least one sensory experience from each section, you’ll already have five unforgettable memories: Vibe, Colors, Nature, Food & Wine, and Surprise.

To wrap up, here’s a snippet from my journal during my first summer in the Luberon:

I’m now officially a tomato snob. If it hasn’t basked in Provençal sunshine, I don’t want it.

WHAT?! 😂 Who am I?

Since then, I’ve also become an olive oil snob. The turning point was watching olives being pressed and bottled right before I got to hold the bottle in my hands. And the taste? So different from mass-produced brands.

Anyway, my point is: It’s the little details that matter. We always remember what we see, hear, feel, touch, smell, and taste.

Whatever tickles your senses, I wish you a happy trip in the Luberon.