PROVENCE TOUR INFORMATION • Questions & Answers
Best Adventures in Provence Tour
By France Off the Beaten Path Tours
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR
Best Adventures in Provence Tours
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Click on the accordion menu below to read more Best Adventures in Provence Tour Information – Answers to our most frequently asked Provence Tour questions. Still need help?
EMAIL US at christy@traveloffthebeatenpath.com
Yes. All tours are conducted in English and designed for English speaking travelers.
The majority of France Off the Beaten Path Tour guests come from the U.S.A., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and England. Guests have also come from the Caribbean, Singapore, Philippines, South Africa, Peru, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, South Korea, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Israel.
Our Provence Tours are intentionally limited to a maximum of 16 guests per Provence Tour date, ensuring a personalized, welcoming, and immersive experience.
– NO HOTEL HOPPING! – We stay 5-nights at CONDE NAST recommended premiere boutique Hotel Gounod located in the historical heart of St. Remy de Provence. Guests enjoy the comfort and convenience of unpacking just once.
Our friend Karine's hotel is the perfect choice for our base to discover the region and experience the very best of Provence. Enjoy stepping into the pedestrian walking streets of the town to explore, shop, and/or discover local sites independently during leisure time.
Yes. All rooms have air conditioning and en-suite private bathrooms; twin beds are available on request.
Rooms also include: Free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen satellite TV, hairdryer, shower gel and shampoo, Nespresso machine.
No. Hôtel Gounod is a historic property without an elevator.
The hotel offers a limited number of lovely ground-floor, garden-level rooms. If this is your preference, we recommend booking your tour as early as possible to provide the best opportunity to accommodate your request.
Yes, absolutely. We welcome solo travelers, couples, and friends to all of our tours (Provence, Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Champagne, Normandy, and 11-Day Signature Tour).
The France Off the Beaten Path 2027 Provence Tour price is US$5,499 per person, based on double or twin occupancy. An US$800 single supplement applies to solo travelers and any guest requesting a room for single occupancy.
A US$800 single supplement applies to solo travelers and any guest requesting a room for single occupancy.
Yes, we accommodate ALL dietary requests (including vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, etc) and ALL food allergies (gluten, shellfish, etc) while ensuring an amazing foodie experience for all tour guests with restrictions and/or allergies.
Please share your requirements when booking.
5 breakfasts, 3 lunches (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday), and 3 dinners (Tuesday, Friday, Saturday), with all wine and non-alcoholic beverages included at group meals.
Our Provence itinerary varies by season, with all visits and excursions led by our professional France Off the Beaten Path Tours guiding team.
2027 Lavender Season: Late May through Late July:
Enjoy guided visits to the villages of Goult and Sault, explore beautiful rolling lavender fields, and visit our friend's lavender farm and distillery to discover how lavender is grown and transformed into essential oil. A couple of special surprises with another of our local lavender farmer friends make the experience even more memorable.
Non-Lavender Season: April, Early May, August, September, and October:
Explore Gordes, Goult, and Roussillon in Provence’s beautiful Luberon Valley. Our team brings these villages to life through their history, artistic heritage, and local traditions, from golden-stone architecture to striking ochre landscapes.
Enjoy 2 immersive, hands-on experiences guided by our professional team. At our friends’ family-owned winery, taste and blend grape varieties to create your own signature cuvée, taking home a bottle as a special souvenir. Then step into our pastry chef friend’s Provençal home to learn the art of making French macarons, with delicious tastings and a box of your creations to enjoy afterward. No wine or baking experience is needed—just curiosity and a sense of fun!
Yes! On Friday, during our day in Cassis, enjoy an included one-hour coastal cruise through the spectacular Calanques, where white limestone cliffs meet the brilliant blue waters of the Mediterranean. Accompanied by our team marine biologist, you’ll discover the area’s coastal environment, marine life, and natural history while taking in the beautiful scenery.
Yes. Guided experiences are balanced with leisure time to explore, shop, or relax.
No experience is necessary—simply bring your curiosity and enthusiasm.
Our Provence tour is an immersive cultural journey that brings you closer to the region’s people, traditions, history, and everyday life. From privately hosted meals and hands-on culinary workshops to wine experiences, village visits, and coastal discoveries, every activity and excursion on the tour is guided by our professional guiding team, whose local knowledge and personal connections make each experience especially meaningful.
Designed for both walkers and non-walkers, the tour offers 1 optional guided countryside walk on Saturday alongside thoughtfully planned, guided cultural excursions and alternatives. Daily sightseeing includes only leisure walking through towns, villages, markets, and historic sites, so guests should be comfortable with everyday walking, including occasional steps and uneven surfaces.
Throughout the week, guided experiences are complemented by free time to explore independently, browse local shops, or relax and enjoy the atmosphere of Provence.
Guests who prefer not to join the 1 optional countryside walk enjoy immersive cultural experiences guided by our professional team. On spring and fall departures, explore the surrounding villages of Gordes, Goult, and Roussillon, celebrated for their history, artistic heritage, and distinctive Provençal character. During lavender season, enjoy guided visits to Goult and Sault, along with shuttle access to beautiful lavender fields for photographs and time to appreciate the scenery. Our team shares the region’s stories, traditions, and local culture along the way.
The optional walk is approximately 1½ hours, rated easy to moderate.
Your France Off the Beaten Path Tour Guide(s) will meet you at Avignon TGV train station and Marseille airport – We provide complimentary transfer from Marseille airport at 1 pm and from Avignon TGV rail station at 4 pm. Specific details on where to meet your guides will be included in the tour information package we send out 30 days prior to the tour.
Return transfers to the Avignon TGV rail station and Marseille airport. Complimentary 10 am transfer arrival at AVIGNON TGV Rail Station and a NOON transfer arrival at Marseille airport. We can organize earlier departure transfers for guests taking a flight or early morning train. Please contact us directly to make arrangements for an earlier transfer.
Yes. You may transfer from one trip to another before trip departure's balance payment due date without any penalty (excludes custom designed-private tours), as long as space is available on the tour date requested.
The ground transportation throughout our Best Adventures in Provence Tours is provided by comfortable and discreet Mercedes Sprinter minibus designed and tailored for small group travel.
Our Sprinter is equipped with air-conditioning, and features reclining leather seats, overhead storage, tray tables and cold storage cooler so guides are able to provide guests cold bottled water throughout the day during our outings. The Sprinter accommodates up to 19 persons. We have a dedicated, professional driver who has been driving our groups for years.
Off the Beaten Path is a full service tour operator and it is our pleasure to assist you with all aspects of upcoming travel plans. Whether you are looking for a suggestion for a hotel in Paris or assistance with your rail tickets, simply contact us to request our “extended stay package” by EMAIL at christy@traveloffthebeatenpath.com or CALL 1.717.683.2827 with your tour questions. – Provence Walking Tour Information
Yes, wine is included at all scheduled meals together. We expertly match premium wines from the region with each dish. Meals offer an excellent opportunity to try wines from appellations not available to guests at home, and to introduce guests to some select wines worth a favorable mention or that are exceptionally appreciated by the locals.
Best Adventures in Provence Tours exclude – Airfare/train fare to and from the tour starting point of the tour; choose to arrive at either the Avignon TGV rail station for the 4 pm meet-up or at Marseille airport for the 1 pm meet-up, 1 lunch, 2 dinners, personal purchases, laundry service, gratuities to guides and professional driver.
You will receive a detailed tour information package approximately 30 days before your tour departure date.
Yes. Guests are welcome to opt out of any activity or excursion to explore independently, pursue personal interests, or simply enjoy some quiet time on their own. Our guides are happy to help coordinate where and how to rejoin the group, so you can enjoy the flexibility to spend your time as you wish.
Yes, guests can book additional nights at Hôtel Gounod prior to the start of the Provence tour or following its conclusion. Once your tour is booked, please contact us with your preferred dates and the number of additional nights you would like. We’ll be happy to arrange your extended stay, subject to hotel availability.
Provence enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with mild spring days, warm to hot summers, and a gradual return to cooler weather in autumn. During our April–October tour season, conditions vary by month:
April and May: Pleasant spring weather, with average daytime highs around 66–73°F (19–23°C). Mornings and evenings can be cool, so layers are useful.
June: Warm days and long evenings, with average daytime highs around 82°F (28°C).
July and August: Generally the hottest, driest months, with average daytime highs around 86–88°F (30–31°C). Hotter spells are possible.
September: Often comfortably warm, with average daytime highs around 78°F (26°C) and cooler evenings.
October: Milder days and fresh mornings, with average daytime highs around 68°F (20°C).
These figures are a general guide for inland Provence; temperatures vary between our Saint-Rémy base, hilltop villages, and the coast. Pack comfortable layers, sun protection, and a lightweight waterproof jacket, and check the forecast shortly before departure.
Our Provence Tours are designed for discerning travelers of all ages and backgrounds, from the seasoned traveler and independent traveler to the first time traveler to France. Join any one of the our tours as a solo traveler, a couple, a small group of friends or family, or bring your entire travel club, affinity group, women’s organization, or wine society. No culinary, history or other type of experience is necessary. Join us for the vacation of a lifetime to discover the Best of Provence, as an insider, and make new friends along the way.
No, not at all. The idea is to learn about French culture, traditions, wine, daily life, artisan lives and culinary practices in a fun and relaxing environment. Our tours offer great learning opportunities for everyone. France Off the Beaten Path Tour guides are very skilled at adapting their discussions to the general level of knowledge of the group, providing good introductory information for novices, and more advanced discussions for those who have more experience or a specialty interest. It’s vacation and our tours are all about having fun, enjoying new experiences, and being active together!
No. However France is a country of walkers. Our Provence tours are thoughtfully designed to be enjoyed by both walkers and non-walkers, with a delightful balance of activities, cultural experiences, and excursions. Guests need to be comfortable with a reasonable amount of daily leisure walking throughout the tour, including strolling through picturesque villages and towns, exploring historic sites and monuments, and navigating stairs at museums and other cultural attractions.
PLEASE NOTE – Any scheduled walking options offered in the itinerary are nature walks that include walking through vineyards, forests, olive orchards, flower fields, a truffle farm, and other such landscapes in nature. These are country walks, enjoying the scenic backroads and natural landscapes of Provence. Walking options feature walking through the Provence countryside on trails where loose gravel, pebbles, rocks and dirt are the norm. Appropriate walking shoes are recommended for these walks. We enjoy the “slow road” taking in the beautiful scenery of the countryside and local villages daily.
Celebrating 33 years in 2027 in the France tour travel industry, specifically with small group touring, we have found that our guests are generally more interested in active and immersive experiences, culture, people to people experiences and guided tours of historic sites.
Our guests like to visit private homes, and pursue their hobbies when they travel. Our guests enjoy being able to shop locally for items, such as, collectibles, art and local products. Our guests tend to do more homework and want a meatier trip, but also want to enjoy down time or leisure time to explore independently.
All of our trips are designed based on these factors. Each trip offers organized activities and excursions daily combined with periods of leisure time each day. Our tours encourage individual approach and pursuit of your interests, as well as introducing you to new experiences and people during each trip.
A typical French breakfast is very simple and comprised of all or any combination of the following — traditional home-made French bread called “baguette”, “viennoiserie” known in English as pastries, such as croissants, pain au chocolate (a croissant with chocolate in it — yum!) or pain au raisins (croissant type pastry with custard and raisins in it), cereal and/or yoghurt or a fresh white cheese of the same consistency as yoghurt called “fromage blanc”, fresh fruits and jams, fruit juices and coffee, tea or hot chocolate. When in the heart of “farm” country, one might be offered a small selection of local cheese and French charcuterie.
A traditional French picnic consists of the following : a large selection of cheeses, a couple of varieties of “saucisson” (a cured sausage made from pork and sometimes seasoned with herbs), traditional home-made French bread called “baguette”, sometimes grain or nut based breads (as the custom and preference is that cheeses be accompanied by a nut or grain bread), pates and other potted meat spreads, such as foie gras, country pate or meatier spreads called “terrine” where the meat has been slow cooked in its fat then pulled and canned or sealed in a jar, French style sandwiches, olives or “cornichons” (small tart pickles), condiments including French mustards and butter, a selection of fresh vegetables such as, tomatoes, radishes and/or melon (depending on the season), a choice fresh fruit from the season and a selection of local wines. Our picnics include all of these fabulous specialty foods and each picnic is designed to reflect the regional food culture and the local growing season.
Pack comfortable light weight, casual clothing. It’s vacation and we want you to feel and be as comfortable as possible during our daily activities. We recommend comfortable pants, shorts, or capris that breath. Unlike Paris which has a much more formal dress code, Provence is in the countryside, and different rules apply. It is acceptable to wear casual outdoor clothes and sneakers during day-time activities. Our dinners together include Michelin-star and bistro style gourmet restaurants. For men we suggest a business casual ensemble (no tie or jacket necessary unless it’s your personal preference) and for women we recommend a casual dress for dinners. We also classify our dinner dress code as “resort chic”.
Please limit your luggage to a size that you can easily manage while traveling around France through the airport(s) and on the French rail system. Try not to over pack; you will not wear all your clothing, and laundry service is available at our Provence hotel, and in town! A suggested packing list will be enclosed in your tour information package.
All travelers to France are required to have a valid passport. Please make 2 copies of your passport and personal identification before you depart. Keep one set of copies with you in a separate location from your travel documents, and leave the other set of copies with a contact at home before you depart. If you are not a U.S. citizen, please check with your consulate general for entry requirements.
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