Provence is the France of the imagination — lavender fields in July, markets piled with tomatoes and olives, hilltop villages that seem to have grown from the rock, and a light that Cezanne spent his life trying to capture.

The Luberon is the heart of the Provence that most visitors come for: the villages of Gordes, Roussillon, Bonnieux and Lacoste, each perched on a hilltop with views across the valley, each with its own market, its own restaurant and its own particular beauty. The lavender fields of the Valensole plateau are at their best in late June and early July.

The Camargue to the south is a different Provence entirely — a vast wetland of flamingos, white horses and black bulls, where the Rhone meets the Mediterranean in a landscape of extraordinary wildness. The walled city of Aigues-Mortes rises from the marshes like a mirage.

Aix-en-Provence is the most elegant of the Provencal cities — a university town of fountains, plane trees and the Cours Mirabeau, with the Atelier Cezanne on the edge of town and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire rising behind. Bella Via designs Provencal itineraries that combine the villages with the cities and the coast.

Provence rewards those who arrive in the right season and stay long enough to find their own rhythm. We will help you design the journey that does it justice.