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Walking Tour in Provence - Avignon and Dentelle de Montmirial Mountains
(7 days / 6 nights - $2,190 AUD per person)
A Trail Passing Vineyards
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This walking tour in Provence can be personalised to meet your interests and travel dates.
This magnificent itinerary takes you along well marked paths through spectacular countryside with endless views. It starts with the first night in the gorgeous walled city of Avignon, famous for its vibrant lifestyle and its Papal Palace. The following morning, you will be taken forty kilometres north to Vaucluse, one of the less visited parts of Provence.
The Dentelles de Montmirial, is a range of jagged mountains cloaked in oak and pine forests, which rise dramatically out of a carpet of wheat fields and vineyards and produces some of the finest wines in the Cote de Rhone region. The range is circled by towns and villages, most clustered around the ruins of medieval castles.
Transferred from Avignon on the morning of Day 2, the walk starts and finishes in Vaison-la-Romaine, taking you in a loop around the Dentelles, staying in marvellous hotels, several of which have been in the owners' families for more than two generations. You'll be transferred back to Avignon at the end of the walk.
With small villages concealed within a network of woods and vineyards, the Dentelles offer perfect walking conditions, with clearly marked gravel paths, passing through varied country of unrivalled beauty. It has a rich history, particularly the bustling agricultural town Vaison-La-Romaine, which was a thriving administrative centre in the Roman era, and is now known as the 'Pompei of France' because of its extensive excavations.
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What's included in this walk? |
- six nights accommodation
- all breakfasts and dinners (except on Day 4)
- recommendations for lunch
- reading lists and historical and cultural notes
- maps and detailed walking instructions
- daily transfers of baggage between hotels
- transfer in a private vehicle from Avignon to Vaison on Day 2, and drop off on Day 7 from Vaison to Avignon (which has links to the rest of France and Europe via airport and rail, including the express TGV).
- 24 hour backup from local manager
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How hard are the walks? |
Grade 4 Walk - Good paths, orientation requires more experience, several walks longer than 15 kms, some long and steep climbs.
The walks are from ten to sixteen kilometres per day. The paths are clearly marked and generally follow small gravel roads, although there are some steeper climbs. Orientation requires more experience. Some of the walks are long and require a good level of fitness – a satisfying challenge for experienced walkers.
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What's the accommodation like? |
Accommodation is in excellent, family-run three-star hotels, which are themselves part of the history of the region, and, along with the food and views, is one of the highlights of the trip. Costings are done on a twin share basis. All rooms have an en suite bathroom.
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Tour Cost: |
AUD $2,190 per person (single supplement for a double room for single use $350)
(approx US $2200 - subject to daily exchange rates) |
Tour Snapshots: (click the image for a larger version)
A Trail Passing Vinyards
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Castle at Vaison-La-Romaine
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Hotel in the Dentelles
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Papal Palace Avignon
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Roman Ruins at Viason
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Sunday Markets in Dentelles
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Sunday Markets in Dentelles
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Viason-La-Romaine
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Views to Mt Ventoux
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Vineyards in the Dentelles
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Overnight in Avignon, one of the most poetic cities of southern France. Still surrounded by its medieval walls, with tree-lined boulevards and immaculately maintained lanes and squares, Avignon is a sophisticated city humming with the colour and charm of the Mediterranean.
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In the morning you are transferred north to Vaison-La-Romaine, a busy farming town of Roman origins at the foothills of the Dentelles known as the 'Pompei of France' for its extraordinary excavations. In the afternoon, there is short loop walk out to a tiny hamlet with spectacular views over distant Mont Ventoux. (10 kms; 3 hrs)
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The walk takes you through forest, skirting around the edge of the range to the most celebrated wine town of the region, via the smallest and most perfectly preserved of the villages that surround the range. (14 kms; 3.5 hrs).
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Today's walk takes you around the southern edge of the Dentelle to a little town famous for its irresistible muscat wine, and then on to a tiny village, a classic 'village perche', clustered under the walls of the best preserved castle in the area. (16 kms; 5 hrs).
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This loop walk that starts and finishes at Lafare, taking you into the heart of the Dentelles, via some of the most spectacular scenery in Provence: fortified villages clinging to crags, rolling vineyards pressed against the saw-tooth ridge that gives the range its name. (15 kms; 4 hrs).
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The walk today takes you back to Vaison, skirting around the northern edge of the Dentelles, with enormous views over the interior of the range, Mt Ventoux and south to the plains that lead back to Avignon. (16 kms; 5.5 hrs).
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Morning transfer back to Avignon, which has excellent links to the rest of France and Europe via an international airport and rail links, including the express TGV.
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Contact Us
For more information on this tour or to make a booking, please get in touch with us.
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