France – Provence Lavender Route Bike Tour

In the early afternoon, arrive on your own to the hotel in Isle sur la Sorgues, a charming village about 35 min east of Avignon. The hotel is located centrally in Isle sur Sorgues, which has a famous market that takes place on Sundays and Thursdays. There will be an orientation this afternoon and bikes will be delivered to you at the hotel. The remainder of the day/evening is yours to explore. Ideally, this is a Saturday so that you can visit the market tomorrow morning.

Meals: N/A
Overnight: Isle sur la Sorgues

Today is your first full ride day after your included breakfast, you can start out at your leisure. If today is a Sunday, you may first wish to visit the local market in Isle s/ Sorgues before starting your ride. The route goes to Lourmarin via the charming towns of Robion and Cavaillon, the latter town most famous for the melons, is a great place for a first stop and visit to the 1st century Roman arch. After Cavaillon you will use a cycling path along the Durance river passing more villages until you reach Lourmarin.

Meals: breakfast
Distances: 46km with 521m elev gain or 61km with +683m
Overnight: Lourmarin

Today your ride will visit the southern part of the Luberon and taking in villages such as Ansouis and its thousand year old castle, La Tour d’Aigues, Grambois and Bastide des Jourdan. A nice break is in Cucuron with great views and then back to Lourmarin.

Meals: breakfast
Distance: 68km +937m or 32km and +416m
Overnight: Lourmarin

After a relaxing start this morning and a good breakfast, depart at your leisure to ride to numerous villages including Saignan, Bonnieux, Lacoste, and on to Roussillon. On your way into Roussillon you will pass over the 2000 year old Roman bridge and then arrive at the ‘ochre’ colored town where you stay. The ochre is in the rocks which are mined and give Roussillon a unique ambiance.

Meals: breakfast
Distance: 39km +626m; or 52km +865m
Overnight: Roussilon

Today you ride in the direction of the “Giant of Provence” – the Mont Ventoux! If it’s a clear day you should have it in sight all of the way, looming in the distance and growing larger as you get closer! We offer 2 routes to reach your destination in Mazan. The shorter ride that is more direct is 34 km and passes through Gordes – one of the most scenic and iconic towns in all of Provence.
The longer ride visits St Saturnin Les Apts and the way to Villes sur Auzon. Along this long route you will get to enjoy the Gorges de la Nesque, a lovely downhill ride along a narrow, fairly quiet, winding road with spectacular views over the 400m deep gorge. Finish at the gorgeous Chateau de Mazan.

Meals: breakfast
Distance: 34km + 593m or 65km +1163m
Overnight: Mazan

Here you are! The Mont Ventoux – one of the legends of the Tour de France for the last 100 years. Mazan is only 10 km away from Bedoin and is the start of the legendary ascent of the Geant – Le Mont Ventoux! The climbing is non-stop and goes up to 15% until you reach Chalet Reynard, then starts again to the summit. The view is incredible and you can be proud of an amazing ride! It may be cold and windy, or blistering hot! Plan for any condition but don’t linger at the top too long. You will descend, carefully, via the lesser-known route to Malaucene, where it is possible to meet up with the other riders doing the shorter version today.

Meals: breakfast
Distance: 30km +370m or 68km +1917m
Overnight: Mazan

For this last ride day, we recommend a nice cruise to Sorgues via the historic town of Fontaine de Vaucluse. This town is historically significant and it’s spring (fountain) is one of the strongest in the world as measured by volume of water that flows from deep in the ground, with an unknown source. Archaeological sites date habitations here to pre-roman times.

The long route takes you to Gordes – so if you missed it before, today it is possible! Coming back down to the town of Isle sur la Sorgue; you finish where you started. We use the same hotel as at the start and you can celebrate in one of the many cafés and we recommend to take a little time to visit this village where river fed canals with waterwheels give the town a unique charm.

Meals: breakfast
Distance: 38km +525m; or 58km +858m
Overnight: Isle sur la Sorgue

Today is departure day, and you can depart after breakfast, on your own time. Trains to Paris or Paris CDG Airport depart all day long. Please let us know in advance if you would like to book additional nights in the area, or if you would like to add on another Pure Adventures tour!

Meals: breakfast