Top 5 Provence Private Tours: Find Your Perfect Escape

Provence! Oh, you know, the very word just conjures up pictures of lavender fields shimmering in the sun, doesn’t it? It almost feels like you can smell the herbs de Provence just thinking about it. This region in the South of France, well, it’s more than just a pretty picture. I mean, it is gorgeous, that’s right, but it’s also stuffed to the gills with so much culture and story. Instead of being stuck on a bus, crammed in with a bunch of other folks, why not think about doing a private tour? You know, you get to make the vacation ‘your’ vacation, go at ‘your’ speed, see exactly what gets you going. Let’s check out some choices that may work for you, alright?

1. Lavender Route Private Tour

Picture yourself in the summertime, when Provence turns into this sea of purple. So, yes, this is the lavender route and if that does not entice you, what will? Imagine that! And honestly, a private tour, well, that’s one solid way to just dive headfirst into the very heart of it. Typically, these kinds of tours whisk you away, right? From wherever you might be holed up—Aix-en-Provence or Avignon, for example—straight into those perfumed fields. In some respects, a lot of the tour guides very often know all the little secrets, little off-the-beaten-path places.

They can take you to some cool distilleries, I’m telling you, little family-run operations, where they make this unbelievably pure essential oil. And that’s the stuff that ends up costing you a small fortune at your local fancy candle shop! And listen to this—the pros in charge can tell you absolutely everything about lavender farming, alright? Like the different types of lavender—there’s more than one!—and exactly when to crop them. You’re going to get a chance to stop at places such as the Valensole Plateau. Just google that for a picture, trust me. Also, little markets brimming with lavender products. A little soap, perhaps? A sachet for grandma? A photograph for the family Christmas card? Now you’re talking. Just saying.

Of course, what makes it all extra special is that you are completely able to tailor things to suit your tastes. Perhaps you’re really into photography, alright? Or perhaps you are not feeling up to anything too adventurous physically. Just let the person running the show know! It tends to be that your schedule can be tweaked, just a little, to make sure you get those photos with absolutely no people in the way or, alternatively, a slightly shorter stroll if needed. What is better than the perfect Instagram post AND having some downtime to really kick back?

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2. Wine Tasting Tour in Châteauneuf-du-Pape

You like wine? Provence may just be your happy place, that is for sure. So, too, you will find Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Just saying the name aloud even, sounds quite fancy, doesn’t it? It typically rolls right off the tongue. I mean, this region makes some wines that many would say are really spectacular. Also, if you take a private tour through here, very very often, what will happen is that you can get deep access into places you might not normally get into.

I’m talking about, just a little, the smaller vineyards. Sometimes, little family estates. These are generally steeped in generation after generation of wine-creating wisdom. So, these are very very often the ones that make the best stories. I bet they do. Your guide? Just a tad likely to have connections! They know the people that are in the business, okay? Typically they’ll make it easy to get in, a bit, for private tastings and chats with the actual winemakers. Imagine how much you could humblebrag about this to the neighborhood wine snobs later? Just joking… mostly.

You get a chance, very much likely, to stroll through the vineyards, too, just a little. Perhaps a pro will explain, just slightly, the very special, unique stuff about the soil in this place that makes all the wine that springs forth from the area unique. You can definitely learn just how this impacts the grapes themselves. In some respects, it might even affect the end taste, you know? What is even cooler, in my estimation anyway, you can taste, firsthand. Many of the wineries give out small goodies that come right from the place. Some cheese? Or, perhaps, some local bread with olives? These things, alright? Just so, to set off the many qualities of the different types of wine they crank out. Okay, a couple of sips of wine plus a piece of smelly cheese with an incredible view? Tell me that is not something to post to Insta?

Remember, that this is a private tour. Then, it can just as easily be tweaked. I mean, if you wanna really get down to brass tacks, so you can request specific wineries or kinds of tasting things to do. Okay, and, here is a possibility. And this is up to you! Let us say that one member of your group only drinks whites! That is okay! The whole experience can, typically, change ever so slightly for them to feel involved, and to drink what they like the most. You want to dive a little deeper still into the history behind it all? Just let your tour director in on it, and he or she will just find some other stops for you as well!

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3. Aix-en-Provence and Cassis Day Tour

Okay, so this very tour combines a tiny bit of city action with the pure joy of being by the coast. Now we’re cooking with gas. Typically, your first port of call on such a tour will prove to be Aix-en-Provence, very much known for its elegance. Just so, it also features a delightful atmosphere. Cours Mirabeau? That’s generally its main drag. Lined? Very specifically so with fancy trees and fountains. Then? Cafés all set outside, just ready for you.

Take just a bit of time to wander through the mazelike streets, like your own, perhaps, just noticing all the spots like Hôtel de Ville. Fancy name, just indicating a city hall, typically. Also, it will likely contain the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, with the coolest, greatest, amazing history. You’ll typically just get a real flavor for the area. It very much combines sophistication along with the local provincial vibes. Oh, and this town? Very well known because Cézanne comes from it. You know, the painter! It will come as no shock that you may well find a location, just a bit, that the man liked a bit more than others!

Cassis? Okay, after Aix, it will probably be on to the beach. The seaside. I’m very much suggesting, perhaps, a tiny jaunt. Then again, maybe a bigger jaunt! See, it’s a fishing port! Oh so picturesque! Generally, it is very much bounded on different sides. Specifically, you’re going to get to find some towering cliffs, right? And even very beautiful vineyards, with their toes so close to the water it’s almost scary. Typically, folks say there’s one spot, Cap Canaille, and so that very spot is usually considered one of France’s highest sea cliffs, alright? This will likely get you great views, from any place along there. Oh, that is for sure Instagram material for any person.

While in Cassis? Maybe, just a little, think about taking a boat. I think, and I might add that they sometimes go out towards those Calanques! Rocky inlets along that area, very famously picturesque. Do you maybe wish to laze about the harbor and eat some food, instead? The freshly grabbed, freshly caught stuff of the sea variety. Just a thought. I very much guarantee, on account of its personalized style of doing stuff, then you very much are in for quite the varied tour. One bit filled with culture, one little bit full of scenic charm. And? Well? That’s Provence.

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4. Luberon Villages Private Tour

The Luberon, I’m sure you already know, just teems with the most beautiful, little smallish villages you could possibly imagine, actually. Some are up high, perched, or leaning along hilltops. Just so, that tends to make the tour a favorite of very many people. Your guide, very typically, will make sure to ferry you all about some absolute spots. One must imagine, I for one certainly do, that there is something very amazing awaiting the individual here. Typically, they manage that whole perfect blend. Charm meets some local history, maybe a cool story about the area. Something like that!

Gordes? Roussillon? Oh, they can only make people scream because they are very often so picturesque. Gordes tends to sit up so high that all people can usually see around are the views for days and days. That will take the proverbial breath away! And? Its stone architecture! Just wonderful. All of it. That tends to make everyone love snapping some pictures! Roussillon? Maybe most know this, but! This also sits right on the top of some ochre cliffs! Its buildings? These often show colors of a wide variety! Then this creates just a bright picture to behold!

Another little possible spot, just here? That one might exist in Bonnieux! Which is more or less likely known for its church. A bit? Built way back! And it almost tends to act as the ultimate perfect viewing location from its spot up high on a hill! Lourmarin? What can anyone say? Well. Typically it does very much claim a vibe as one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages! It looks quite proud of this! Not to say they shouldn’t be! Just so! What a brag, eh? Anyway, they do feature a cool château in addition to an even cooler vibe.

Your Luberon tour! That is, I will argue this fact here! That is a flexible gig to begin with, that is for real, okay? So, depending if any member of your party really feels like checking out some local art, alright, your guide has to, usually, suggest. The guide should suggest, at any rate, making stops to admire work by the people from the community there. As a rule. Or perhaps? Someone likes castles or is interested in the older structures and ruins of such places? Okay! The day might get adjusted, possibly slightly, and so your tour shows that as well!

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5. Van Gogh in Provence Tour

Are you just the teensiest bit inclined, so, very nearly, to the slightly arty kind of mindset? In that case, you are totally going to go ape over the trip following along the same spots Van Gogh, in very specific moments, lived! Typically speaking, any type of private tour with this aim likely can whisk you away. But from Avignon! Or the location you feel closest to that might be convenient for all travelers concerned, okay? To many places. It should be of little surprise that these spots tended to really shape, to really fashion Van Gogh. Yes! As the very one that everybody does now usually seem to already know him as!

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence! Are you really really wanting to check this out in particular? What? Just very simply known to us all as? Home base! Well! During the period the very same Van Gogh was going to voluntarily enter the asylum there! The very Saint-Paul-de-Mausole monastery! Is that not something? Anyway! At present? That very site does continue on for showing its place in history! Oh! And one should be really careful to just take one teeny glance about at all the grounds! Well just to admire those lovely views that, actually and frankly, really fueled a very famous one. That of course we all have learned, right? His work there!

You could stop by Arles! Well in many of his periods, he tended to work there very very closely, that is true. In Arles! The location known these days to possibly make its living off art lovers like maybe yourself now, actually, right this moment? Okay! A famous café could also still be right about there where you see it on one great canvas, even the famous “Café Terrace at Night.”! What could that potentially say! Yes! That would mean all about maybe seeing it or any view through all Van Gogh’s literal human peepers! I dare I say literally!

You’d actually manage! Very totally by this personalized deal I am getting at so you will definitely see for thyself such key elements in what did give old Van, well those thoughts about being quite very artsy. Oh! The very landscapes in fact! You do see, of those times! This would be also what one would do while he himself worked there. It must show you all you had imagined he saw for yourself. What is the world coming to anyway. To sum all of this right on down this private guided tour you get. And, oh yeah!, you get also the pure real version with no interruption in those real spots where one might guess old Van thought! All that is correct.

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