01
Rocher Bel-Air
The village on its rock, the view everyone knows. In the morning the tour buses stop there; after 6 pm the stone catches the light and the lookout quiets down.
Journal · the guide
Gordes and the Luberon, as we tell them over breakfast.
The notebook we leave in the rooms: the Tuesday market, the hour when the village empties, the estates we call for you, and what each season brings to the garden.
Download the guide (PDF, 8 pages, in French) Free, no sign-up.
From the house
Everything within easy reach.
- 15 minSénanque Abbeythe Cistercian abbey and its lavender fields
- 20 minRoussillonthe ocher cliffs
- 25 minL’Isle-sur-la-Sorguecanals and antique dealers
- 25 minFontaine-de-Vauclusethe spring where the Sorgue river rises
- 35 minLourmarinone of the most beautiful villages in the Luberon
- 50 minAvignonthe Palais des Papes
- 1 hr 15Mont Ventouxfor hikers and cyclists
01 · Villages
Gordes on foot, the others late in the day.
Gordes is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France. Perched on the foothills of the Vaucluse mountains, facing the Luberon, it is best explored on foot around the château: cobbled lanes, narrow passages, stone houses. Allow two to four hours for the center, a full day if you add Sénanque Abbey, fifteen minutes from the house, or the Village des Bories.
Roussillon and its ochers, Lourmarin, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue: we suggest seeing them late in the day, when the light skims the stone and the tour buses have gone.
02 · Market
Tuesday, 8 am to 1 pm.
On Tuesday mornings, the market sets up at the foot of the château, from 8 am to 1 pm. Our tip: come before 9 am. The village is waking up, the growers take time to chat, and you can wander between the stalls before the crowds.
A goat’s cheese, a few olives, a tapenade, sun-ripened fruit from the Luberon… The basket fills up as you please, with a jar of honey to take home and, in season, a little lavender. Enough to make the pleasure last over lunch in the garden, back at the house.
03 · Viewpoints
Three views we love.
02
The lanes, toward the valley
Inside the village, openings look out over the Calavon valley and the Luberon. You find them by walking, not with a map.
03
The grounds of the house
Ours: the chestnut trees, the seventeen-meter pool, and Gordes in the distance from the terrace. Included in the night.
04 · On foot
The village, by the path from the house.
A path leaves the property and reaches the center of Gordes in about ten minutes. Downhill on the way there, uphill on the way back. At night, the stretch up to the road is unlit: bring your phone flashlight, and look up, the sky is dark.
For a marked trail, the tourist office in the château hands out its walking map. For a full day in Gordes, our version, with times and lunch, is online.
05 · Wine
Five estates, we call them for you.
Opening times are those the estates publish; a harvest or a public holiday can shift them. Tell us which one tempts you and we will let them know you are coming.
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Domaine Trélus
1825 route de l’Isle, Saumane-de-Vaucluse
Tasting room October to March, Monday to Saturday, 11 am–6 pm; April to September, daily, 11 am–7 pm. Groups of more than eight: email ahead.
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Domaine de la Citadelle
Below Ménerbes, organic
Open daily 10 am–7 pm, with the corkscrew museum and the botanical garden.
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Domaine Les Davids
Route de Banon, Viens
Tasting room Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am–6 pm, and Sunday, 11 am–5 pm.
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Château La Canorgue
Luberon Regional Nature Park
A family estate for over two hundred years, organic since the 1970s; Nathalie Margan is the fifth generation.
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Mas des Infermières
In the Luberon
The fifth estate on our list: tell us when you would like to go and we will call for you.
06 · Seasons
What each season brings to the garden.
May
The roses
The grounds bloom, Chambre Fleurs lives up to its name, and the lanes are not yet crowded.
Read →
Summer
Lavender, early
Sénanque is fifteen minutes away. The secret is not the address, it is the hour.
Read →
October
The late season
Cool mornings, the fire lit in the pool house, the village given back to those who live there.
Read →07 · Practical
Parking, eating, getting back.
Parking
Free on the property. In the village, paid parking every day from 8 am to 7 pm: thirty minutes free with a ticket, then €8 up to 4 hours, €10 up to 11 hours (as of October 2026; the tourist office page is the reference).
Eating
Continental breakfast is included. Lunches, some dinners and evening barbecues are offered at the house; a private chef can be arranged on request. In the village, about ten minutes on foot, our three tables: La Trinquette, the bistro; Beefbar, the summer terrace; La Table de la Bastide, the grand table. We book for you.
Getting back
Check-in 4–8 pm, check-out at 11 am, and the garden is yours until 4 pm on your last day. A day that ends at the house spares you country roads at night.
The PDF
The guide, in your bag.
Eight pages (in French), the same addresses, to print or keep on your phone. A question about your stay? Jean-François replies, usually within two hours.
Download the guide (PDF, 8 pages, in French) Message us on WhatsApp
Questions
Before you set off with the guide.
Is the Gordes guide free?
Yes. You can read it in full on this page, and the PDF downloads with no sign-up and no email address.
What day is the Gordes market?
Tuesday, 8 am to 1 pm, all year round, at the foot of the château. From Villa Hautvallon it is about a ten-minute walk.
Do I need a car to follow this guide?
Not for Gordes: the center is walkable and the house is about ten minutes away on foot. For Roussillon, Lourmarin, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue or a winery, yes; the times given are from the villa.
To choose your room after reading: the five rooms.
Villa Hautvallon
Sleep ten minutes from this guide.
Five rooms, breakfast included, best price guaranteed when you book direct.