Valensole Lavender Fields Provence – Road Trip along the Lavender Route

Lavender Fields Provence. When you hear the words, the purple color of the lavender and the strong scent immediately comes to mind. Visiting the Valensole lavender fields is a unique experience.

In this article you find out where the lavender fields are, when the lavender is blooming, you get the details about the route and the map and tips on what else you can do while traveling around the Provence in France.

Where are the lavender fields?

The lavender fields in the Provence are situated around the town of Valensole. This is the place where you find the most and biggest lavender fields. Most of them next to the road.

When is the best time to see the lavender fields?

The best time to see the lavender fields in bloom is from the beginning/mid June until beginning/mid August. I was there at the end of July / beginning of August and I was able to see a lot of lavender fields.

Map of The Lavender Route

 Größere Kartenansicht

Driving the Lavender Route

Day 1: The Lac de Sainte-Croix and the Verdon Gorge

You can do the whole tour in a couple of hours but we spent 3 days on it. Why? Because it´s soooooooooo beautiful.

After a 13 hours drive from Austria to France we finally arrived at the Lac de Sainte Croix right after sunset. During the night, next to the lake, we had a storm and heavy rain.

In the morning the weather was great again and we took our stuff and walked to the lake to rent a kayak. We put our smartphone and money into a Ziploc bag to prevent it from getting soaked and started paddling to the Canyon of Verdon (Gorges du Verdon).

Especially in July and August you should get up early if you want to kayak along the Verdon Gorge.

Why? If you wait until noon or afternoon to rent a boat, kayak or canoe you might get problems with a) getting a vessel because many people arrive at around 10:30 until 15:00 and b) you can only rent it for a short amount of time instead of a couple of hours because of the queue waiting for a vessel.

 Lac de Sainte-Croix

The next day we headed along the Canyon of Verdon along beautiful villages, the Verdon River, turqouise lakes to the Lac de Castillon 

Day 2: Along the Canyon of Verdon to the Lac de Castillon

The Verdon Canyon

From the Eastern Part of the Lac de Sainte-Croix we took the D 952 (Route Moustiers) to Castellane. The road is on some parts steep and narrow but it provides you with an amazing view.

Leaving the Lac de Sainte-Croix

Along the D 952 we saw many hikers and climbers but hiking around noon  while 34° C. Are you kidding me?

From La-Palud-sur-Verdon we took the D 23 to get a closer look to the canyon which is 20 kilometers long and 700 m deep.

The D 23 is again a narrow road and it´s a one-way-road. On the map it looks like you can drive along the whole D 23 and hit the D952 again.

But that´s not the case. After half of the route you have to turn around following the same way back to La-Palud-sur-Verdon.

1000 Road Curves to the Lac de Castillon. That´s how it felt like from the Lac de Sainte-Croix to the Lac de Castillon. I was impressed by all the turquoise water all the lakes carry and the beauty of the nature.

Later that afternoon we arrived at the Lac de Castillon, where we stayed overnight.

The next day we continued our trip along the Lavender Route from the Lac de Castillon to the Plateau of Valensole.

Day 3: From the Lac de Castillon to Valensole

To the heart of the Lavender Fields

Leaving the Lac de Castillon, we drove to the Heart of the Lavender Route…to the Plateau of Valensole, where all the beautiful and largest lavender fields are.

But not only lavender fields. We saw huge sunflower fields. The colors of the area are overwhelming and you should plan some time to take a rest (have a picknick) and indulge into those colours and the smell of it.

What about a picknick?

Get some baguette, cheese (fromage), lavender honey (miel de lavande) and fruits and have a picknick next to the lavender fields.

Leaving the Plateau of Valensole we wanted to have some fun and left for La Roque sur Ceze to do some cliff jumping and swimming at the Cascades du Sautadet...

Besides the lavender fields and the lavender route there are many other beautiful places and spots in the Provence and the surrounding areas, which I wrote about:

CLIFF JUMPING AT THE CASCADES DU SAUTADET

KAYAKING THE VERDON GORGE

FRANCE

ROAD TRIPS

zuletzt aktualisiert am April 4, 2023