Walking in Provence – West: a complete planning guide

What is Walking in Provence: West?

Walking in Provence: West is a Cicerone guidebook to 30 circular day walks across three contrasting regions of southeast France: the Drôme Provençale, the Vaucluse and the Var. The book grew out of an earlier single-volume guide to Provence, split in two so that a new region, the Drôme Provençale, could be added alongside the mountainous Mercantour material.

The walks trace a landscape shaped as much by history as by geology: hilltop villages, Romanesque abbeys, Roman ruins and the drystone bories of the Vaucluse sit alongside olive groves around Nyons, the lavender-covered plateaux of the Baronnies, the wine villages beneath the Dentelles de Montmirail, and the long limestone ridge of the Sainte-Baume massif above Aix-en-Provence.

This planning guide answers the most common questions walkers have before setting out. For complete route descriptions and sketch maps for all 30 walks, see the Cicerone Walking in Provence: West guidebook. 

A companion volume, Walking in Provence: East, covers the Alpes Maritimes, Alpes de Haute-Provence and the Mercantour further east.

The 30 routes at a glance

The walks are grouped by region, each with its own character:

• Drôme Provençale (Walks 1 to 11): the northernmost and sunniest section, based around Nyons and Buis-les-Baronnies. Expect olive groves, lavender fields and the rocky crests and gorges of the Baronnies hills.
• Vaucluse (Walks 12 to 22): centred on Vaison-la-Romaine and Apt, this section takes in the wine villages beneath the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Gorges de la Nesque, the Cistercian Abbaye de Sénanque and the ochre landscape of the Colorado Provençal, with Mont Ventoux visible from many of the ridges.
• Var (Walks 23 to 30): based around St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume and Aix-en-Provence, these walks include Montagne Ste-Victoire, the mountain Cézanne painted almost 80 times, and the long ridge of the Sainte-Baume massif above the Mediterranean coast.

8 walks from the guidebook

Who is Walking in Provence: West suitable for?

The 30 walks are designed for averagely fit walkers rather than specialists. Easy walks are short, on well-marked paths with little ascent, and many can be completed in half a day, making them workable for families and less experienced walkers. Medium walks need most of a day and involve 400 to 700m of ascent on paths that remain well-marked throughout.

Difficult walks are a different proposition: some run to a full day of up to eight hours, either because total ascent exceeds 700m or because the terrain includes rough ground, exposed sections requiring a head for heights, or stretches where route-finding is genuinely tricky, particularly in poor weather. No walk in the book climbs above 1400m, so none require mountaineering experience, but the difficult grade should be taken at face value rather than treated as a formality.

Walkers should also be prepared for solitude. Away from the coastal towns, the hills of Provence are often empty of other people beyond grazing sheep, and there is rarely a refuge or a fellow walker on hand to ask for directions, so route-finding skills matter more here than the modest altitudes might suggest.

When is the best time to walk in Western Provence?

• Spring: widely considered the most pleasant season, with warm sun, blossoming fruit trees, lavender coming into bud and wildflowers across the garrigue.
• Summer: can be intensely hot; walks with shade or at higher altitude are the better choice, and an early start is worthwhile.
• Autumn: another favoured season, often with reliable sunshine and changing leaf colour, though the heaviest rain of the year tends to fall from November onwards.
• Winter: many of the lower and coastal walks remain possible, since the region's climate stays mild here even outside summer, though some hotels close for the season and higher ground can occasionally see snow.
• Watch for the mistral, a cold northerly wind that can strike at any time of year, sometimes lasting for days, followed by exceptionally clear, still weather.

What accommodation is available?

Bases for the three regions include Nyons and Buis-les-Baronnies (Drôme Provençale), Vaison-la-Romaine and Apt (Vaucluse), and St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume and Aix-en-Provence (Var). Accommodation options across the region include:

• Hotels, generally better value than equivalent UK hotels, including the Logis de France chain
• Gîtes de France, self-catering cottages available by the week, and Chambres d'Hôtes (bed and breakfast)
• Gîtes d'étape, simple hostel-style lodging aimed at walkers and cyclists
• Campsites, graded one to five stars, with facilities ranging from basic to full-service

July and August are the busiest and most fully booked months, particularly for campsites; spring and autumn offer more availability and lower prices. Full listings by area are provided in the guidebook's appendices.

Getting there and back

By car, the most direct route from northern France is the A7 Autoroute du Soleil south of Lyon, leaving at Montélimar Sud or Bollène for the Drôme Provençale and northern Vaucluse, or continuing toward Aix-en-Provence for the Var. The nearest airports are Avignon, Marseille and Nice, all served by car hire, and Eurostar connects London to Avignon and Marseille via a change of train (some routes run direct in summer).