Pedal your approach by means of an agricultural patchwork of olive groves, lavender fields and vineyards, the contemporary air perfumed with wild thyme and garrigue.
Tea Luberon Regional Natural Parkwithin the coronary heart of Provence, may need simply been designed for exploring on two wheels. This UNESCO-recognized geopark, with its hilltop villages, sun-soaked valleys, and Mediterranean local weather – plus 300 days of sunshine a yr – carries a novel rural vibrancy that makes it one of many South of France’s most superb locations to plan a biking vacation.
Why Bike?
Thanks to its funding in biking infrastructure, the area’s intensive community of well-signposted routes has choices for each ability stage and journey kind. With loads of bike rent decisions and cyclist-friendly cafés and lodging, exploring from the saddle is an excellent technique to mix breadth, the Luberon alone has over seventy municipalities, with true depth.
Nature lovers can cruise by means of cedar forests or beneath ocher cliffs, whereas adrenaline junkies ought to look no additional than the dramatic Gorges de la Nesque loop. If you are after a gentler tempo, hop between village markets, pausing to attempttapenade or to weigh up a juicy Cavaillon cantaloupe.
My Ride: Hilltop Villages in an Afternoon
On a heat day in May, eager to discover with out a automobile, I employed an e-bike from Coustellet, a village two miles from my base in Maubec. €50 secured the bike for 4 hours, sufficient time to discover three usually Provençal villages: Oppède-le-Vieux, Ménerbes, and at last (after a hasty ascent, as time was operating out) Gordes, nicknamed some of the lovely villages on this planet.
In a single afternoon, I visited Romanesque church buildings and abbeys, saved up on olives from village stalls, and rehydrated at viewpoints overlooking the Calavon valley. The electrical help was a welcome serving to hand: removed from feeling like dishonest, it made the climbs easy, and the journey as much as Gordes doable inside the quick timeframe.
Ambler or Adrenaline Seeker?
The Luberon’s attraction for cyclists lies in its vary. Routes span from leisurely day journeys by means of poppy-speckled meadows, to gravel tracks skirting plunging valleys and difficult mountain bike trails at altitude.
Helpful websites corresponding to France Vélo Tourisme, La Provence à Vélo and Vélo Loisir Provence provide itineraries, route filters, and ‘construct your personal’ planning instruments. Staff at native bike retailers are additionally comfortable to advise. The finest a part of biking in Provence is that you just needn’t carry a motorbike or heaps of biking gear. Depending in your health and plans, you will select between a highway, mountain, youngsters, or e-bike, with the latter more and more in style for steeper climbs. Make 2026 your yr to ditch the automobile and get into gear within the contemporary greenery of the Luberon countryside.
Five villages – Gordes, Ménerbes, Roussillon, Lourmarin, and Ansouis – are formally acknowledged as amongst The Most Beautiful Villages in France ®, and all lie inside a brief biking distance of each other.
Other highlights embody:
Cedar forest: Explore the Petit Luberon in a brief loop within the Forêt des Cèdres close to Bonnieux (6km, 1hr, very simple). Itinerary: Provence by Bike
Ochers by bike: Plunge into the pink world of ‘Provençal Colorado’, passing by means of Apt, Rustrel, Villars, and Roussillon (76km, ~5 hours, intermediate). Itinerary: Provence by Bike
Wine nation driving: Cucuron ↔ Manosque, by way of Pierrevert, a winegrowing area with AOC designation (52km, ~3.5 hours, issue). Itinerary: France Vélo Tourisme
The Perched Villages: A difficult however spectacular loop connecting hilltop villages (59km, ~5 hours, issue), best for assured riders. Start at Coustellet/Bonnieux. Itinerary: Provence by Bike
Around the Luberon: The full 240km loop: a well-signposted, multi-day circuit, simply damaged into sections for informal riders (240km, ~7 days, simple). Start at Cavaillon/Manosque. Itinerary: France Vélo Tourisme
Mont Ventoux: For seasoned highway cyclists, head additional north to the ‘Beast of Provence’, a gruelling climb of Tour de France fame. Every yr, Les Cinglés du Mont Ventoux recruit members who reveal that they will cycle all three routes up the mountain (Bédoin, Malaucène, and Sault) inside 24 hours.
Bike rent: journey gentle and tailor your route
Good choices embody Luberon Bike Rental (Coustellet)Rent Bike Luberon (Bonneieux), Cyclix (Cavaillon), and Luberon Biking (Roussillon). Some provide guided excursions and/or supply. Rates usually begin from half a day (€20–€50) to 2 weeks (€165-€650), with leisure and kids’s bikes essentially the most inexpensive, and electrical mountain bikes on the upper finish.
Look out as nicely for the Home Cycling label: a nationwide marker of cyclist-friendly providers.
Planning made simple
Helpful websites corresponding to France Vélo Tourisme, La Provence à Vélo and Vélo Loisir Provence provide itineraries, route filters, and ‘construct your personal’ planning instruments. Staff at native bike retailers are additionally comfortable to advise. T
NB: From mid-June to the top of August, Provence can get very popular. Check the hearth threat stage earlier than you cycle, utilizing the Destination Luberon web site.
Lead picture credit score: Cycling in Luberon © Destination Luberon ©Limberg
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