Discover Provence Custom 4-Night Itinerary

Day One

• Private transfer from Avignon TGV station to your hotel.
• Check-in to your 4-star hotel in central Avignon.
• Time to explore two of Avignon’s most known sites, the Pope’s Palace and St. Benezet Bridge! Your tickets are included, as are a “histopad” and an audioguide.
• Dinner on your own and overnight.

Day Two

• After breakfast, depart for a full-day tour with an English speaking driver/guide on a shared mini-bus (max 8 people). First stop will be the Luberon hill range and picturesque villages, such as Roussilon with its ochre cliffs, and Gordes, completely built with dry stones called ‘lauze’.
• Next stop is Fontaine de Vaucluse, where you will see the cave from which emerges the River Sorgues.
• Free time for lunch on your own in either Gordes or Fontaine de Vaucluse.
• After lunch it is on to the Unesco-rated Pont du Gard, which is the best preserved part of a Roman aqueduct that sent the water from Nimes to Uzes during the Roman civilization. From there head to Les Baux de Provence, a medieval hilltop village in the heart of the Alpilles hill range.
• Return to Avignon for dinner on your own. Overnight.

Day Three

• Breakfast.
• Shared full-day wine tour today featuring an interactive wine-education in a friendly environment with a professional wine expert. Your tour will start with a scenic drive to the foot of the Mont Ventoux through the vineyards of the Ventoux appellation. You will discover an outstanding wine estate and enjoy a guided tour of the cellar.
• Practice wine-tasting (discover your 5 senses, the wine’s aroma also called nose) and learn how to sample to improve your tasting ability and knowledge. To truly taste a wine, the guide will explain how you must use the nose to pick up the flavor scents and the tongue to help discern the tastes. You will taste 4/5 wines (1 white, 1 rosé and 2/3 red wines). After the tasting session, a picnic lunch will be served on the terrace of the chateau, sheltered by centenary plane trees. Taste terroir products (seasonal fruits and vegetables, tapenade, goat cheese) pairing with the wines of the domain.
• In the afternoon, your tour will continue toward the vineyards of Tavel and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
• Visit and taste wines in 2 different appellations : Appellation Tavel : where the rosé wines are dry, crisp and refreshing, perfect on summer day; and Appellation Chateauneuf du Pape : one of the finest wines (Red and white) in the Rhone valley.
• Return to Avignon, dinner on your own and overnight.

Day Four

• Breakfast.
• After visiting the market with the chef, begin your first cooking class in his professional kitchen. Lunch to follow, based on your efforts.
• Afternoon on your own to enjoy Avignon.
• Dinner on your own.

Day Five

• Breakfast.
• Checkout of the hotel and return to the Avignon TGV train station.