Towns & Villages in Provence

The home of AOC Rasteau wines, the village of Rasteau is tiny and can be covered quite easily in an hour's walk.

A bustling little village that's worth stopping by.

Vaison la Romaine has it all, Roman ruins, a historic and delightful medieval town centre, a castle on a rock, arts festivals, wonderful vineyards and glorious countryside for hiking and biking.

Buis les Baronnies is a sleepy little place surrounded by fertile land that produces lavender, olives, apricots and limes.

Aups is a typical Provençal market town, that sits in the foothills of the Alps and just to the south of the Verdon National Park.

Banon sits on a hilltop overlooking lots of farm land, and its most famous regional product, lavender.

Cavaillon, as with many towns and villages in Provence, has a diverse cultural heritage and you don't have to walk far to come across its old town, a first century Roman arch, France's oldest Jewish synagogue, or to enjoy the views from the St Jaques hill that overlooks the town.

Saignon is a small village sitting on a cliff band not far from Apt, at the very heart of the Luberon.

Nyons is mainly famous for being the most northerly olive growing region in Europe. Sheltered as it is by its location in the Eygues Valley, it is blessed with many days of sunshine, mild winters and hot summers.

Another medieval town that is dominated by its castle, Suze la Rousse is full of charming cobbled streets and ancient stone buildings.

You shouldn't let the lines of parked cars put you off stopping at Les Baux de Provence. This is one of the loveliest hilltop villages you'll come across, and it's worth the fight through the crowds to take a look. Ideally, don't come in midsummer, otherwise you will be sharing every nook and cranny with a thousand other tourists.

Sospel is a more of a mountain town than a quaint little village; as well as having its fair share of crooked back streets and ancient buildings, it also has quite a large population of residents and attracts lots of hikers and bikers, so it doesn't rely entirely on coachloads of sightseers to get by.

Seillans is a very charming medieval village that has been recognised as one of the 'most beautiful villages in France'.

Châteauneuf du Pape lies in the heart of the Vaucluse region, 19km to the north of Avignon and 10km south of Orange. It is of course, most famous for the wine it produces, but the village itself is also worth a trip, with its pretty medieval lanes and ruined castle.

St Paul Trois Chateaux is located to the north of Provence in the Drome region. It's renowned for the production of black truffles whose quality is strictly controlled.

Digne les Bains lies on the border of the French Alps and Northern Provence, and is the main town in the region of the Alpes de Haute Provence.

Annot combines medieval charm with modern Provençal style in a wonderfully relaxed fashion. It's also a great centre for mountain sports.

Lourmarin has become very popular and chic thanks to its pretty centre, its wonderful Renaissance castle and its proximity to the TGV train in Avignon (for Parisien weekenders of course).