Lavender Tours from Avignon: When the Fields Flower and Where to Go

Lavender is the reason many people come to Provence in summer, and the fields are within a day's reach of Avignon. The window is short and the bloom moves with the altitude, so the date matters more than the tour. This guide covers when the fields flower, which days stop in them and what to do if you arrive late. For a trip built round the fields, the Avignon lavender tour from Hôtel Le Bristol is the one to look at first.

When does the lavender bloom near Avignon?

From mid-June to the end of July, depending on the height. The Routes de la Lavande put the start of flowering in mid-June in the lowest areas, the Rhône Valley, the Luberon and Valensole, and the end in late July on the highest plateaus.

The tours near Avignon narrow it further. One sells its lavender stop from mid-June to mid-July, depending on the blossom. Another offers its abbey photo stop only in the last week of June to mid-July. So aim for late June or early July.

Which Avignon tours stop in lavender?

One day is built round the fields. The Ventourisme lavender day stops at fields in Velleron and Oppède, spends 45 minutes among the abbey's lavender at Sénanque, then adds Roussillon, Gordes and a picnic near Murs. It costs $138 a person for eight to nine hours.

Others add a stop in season. The Provence Panorama full day adds a lavender photo stop in summer. The highlights day and the Luberon half day make a ten-minute stop at the abbey in bloom. The day tours from Avignon list the rest of their stops.

What does the lavender day include?

A picnic lunch of local farm produce, and the fields. The day leaves from outside Hôtel Le Bristol on cours Jean Jaurès, in a black car marked Ventourisme, eight seats at most. Guests staying outside the walls can arrange another point.

You spend about five hours on the ground at seven stops, from 20 minutes in each field to an hour and ten in Gordes. The abbey's admission is extra, and tips are left out. The day is for adults only.

Is the lavender day worth its fare?

If the fields are the point, yes. For $138 you get about 85 minutes among the lavender, two villages, the Gordes viewpoint and a farm picnic, which is the one lunch in any day-out fare here. The highlights day costs $150 and gives the lavender ten minutes out of nine and a half hours.

If you want the villages with a glimpse of the fields, the Luberon half day at $92 is the cheapest way to see both.

Is June or July the better month?

Late June and early July, where the two meet. The low fields start in mid-June, and the highlights day only runs its abbey stop from the last week of June. By late July only the high plateaus are still in flower.

The heat climbs fast. Avignon has about 11.5 days of 30 °C or more in June and 22 in July, so a late-June date is the cooler of the two. The best time to visit page compares the rest of the year.

Is the abbey worth it for lavender?

For the picture, yes: the rows run right up to the walls. Sénanque Abbey was founded in 1148 by Cistercian monks, and it is still a monastery. Visits inside run at set hours, in silence.

No fare includes a visit inside. The lavender day stops 45 minutes outside, and the other days ten. If you want to go in, check the abbey's own times and go on your own.

Is the Valensole plateau reachable from Avignon?

Not on a tour from here. The plateau is one of the low areas that flowers from mid-June, but none of the Avignon days goes there. The fields they visit are in the Luberon and round the abbey, closer to the city.

If Valensole is the picture you want, plan it as a separate trip with a car.

Can you see lavender in August?

Rarely. The Routes de la Lavande put the end of flowering at the end of July, on the highest plateaus, which are the furthest from Avignon. By August the fields near the city are usually over.

In August, book a villages day for the villages themselves. Gordes, Roussillon and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse are worth the trip in any month.

What if the field has been cut?

Then enjoy the day for what else it holds. The lavender day still gives you Roussillon, Gordes and the picnic, and the villages days never depended on the fields. The hilltop views from Gordes and the ochre of Roussillon do not change with the season.

The safest defence is the date. Early July gives you the best chance of flowers in the low fields and the high ones at once.

Which villages go with the lavender?

Gordes and Roussillon, which the lavender days all visit. Both are on the list of the Plus Beaux Villages de France. Roussillon's ochre trail takes 30 or 50 minutes, and the ochre stains pale clothes.

At Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, on the highlights day and the Luberon half day, the Sorgue rises at the foot of a cliff more than 200 m high. The page on the sights the days reach covers each.

What time of day suits the fields?

The morning, because of the heat. June averages 28.7 °C by day at Avignon and July 31.5 °C, with about 22 July days at 30 °C or more. The lavender day's first field, at Velleron, comes early in the day.

Wear a hat, carry water, and keep the longer walks for the villages, where the lanes give you shade between the stops.

How should you behave in a lavender field?

As a guest on a farm, because that is what you are. Walk along the rows, not through them, and do not pick the flowers. Watch for bees, which work the rows all day.

Keep to the edge when you photograph, and leave the gates as you found them.

What should you wear and bring?

A hat, water and sun cream first. Then dark clothes if Roussillon is on your day, because the ochre stains anything pale. At Fontaine-de-Vaucluse the path to the spring is sloping and stony, so wear closed shoes with grip.

Bring a light layer too. The Mistral can blow even in summer, and a gust on an open plateau feels colder than the thermometer says.

Can you pair the lavender with a wine day?

Not on the same day: the lavender day runs eight to nine hours and returns in the evening. Put the wine on the day before or after. The Avignon wine tours leave in the morning, the early afternoon or for a whole day.

The Gigondas half day leaves from the same kerb outside Hôtel Le Bristol, so you only need to learn one meeting point.

Where do the lavender days start?

The lavender day leaves from outside Hôtel Le Bristol at 44 cours Jean Jaurès. The highlights day and the Luberon half day leave the tourist office at 41 cours Jean Jaurès, at 9 am. The Provence Panorama day gives you its meeting point when you book.

None of them collects you from a hotel. The map of the meeting points shows each kerb.

Which lavender stop suits you?

It depends how much of the day you want among the flowers.

If the lavender is the point, take the lavender day. If it is a bonus, take the day whose other stops you want.

Frequently asked questions

Tours for the lavender weeks

A day in the Lavenders and Villages of Provence

Eight to nine hours from Hôtel Le Bristol to the lavender fields, Roussillon and Gordes, with a picnic of farm produce in the fare. Abbey entry extra; adults only.

From $138 per person

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From Avignon: Full-Day Best of Provence Tour

Nine hours from a meeting point given at booking: Gordes, Roussillon, Les Baux, Saint-Rémy and the Roman aqueduct, plus a lavender photo stop in summer.

From $153 per person (minimum 2)

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Luberon, Roussillon & Gordes Half-Day Tour from Avignon

Five hours from the tourist office to a spring below a cliff, Gordes, a short abbey photo stop and an hour in Roussillon. Strollers and infant seats fine.

From $92 per person

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