WE HAVE ONE REMAINING SPACE FOR A WOMAN SHARING ON THIS TRIP

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Dates: 20 September - 4 October 2025 (14 nights / 15 days)

Price: US$7,175 (shared accommodation)

 

Are you interested in our 2026 trip?    Be the first to know when details are published by signing up to our advance notification service.

We expect the price to be in the US$8,500 range (per person, shared).  

 

 

 

 

The itinerary below is indicative - the order of the visit may vary. 

DAY 1 (20 September):  Arrive in the Luberon

Settle into your comfortable villa.  Have a dip in the heated pool. Apéritif awaits at 6PM and an al fresco dinner (prepared by our chef-at-home) will be served at 7PM.  

 

 

DAYS 2-5 (21 - 24 September):  Exploring the Luberon

Roussilon, Gordes, Ménerbes, Saignon... these are some of the picturesque villages we'll have a chance to explore on foot. We'll experience a village market day, we'll witness the grape harvest underway and then taste some "Côteaux du Luberon" wines.  What is a lavender distillery? We'll find out and we'll also get an idea of the frenzied exploitation of ochre that happened here 150 years ago.     

 

 

DAY 6 (25 September): Moving to Les Alpilles by way of Avignon

We transfer to our next comfortable villa in Les Alpilles.  On the way, we enjoy a thorough visit of Avignon - where we'll have a guided visit to the popes' palace (they set up shop here in the 1200's - now a UNESCO World Heritage site).  Enjoy some free time - and perhaps go for a dance on the famous "Pont d'Avigon".  Arrive at our villa with plenty of time to settle in.  

 

DAYS 7-10 (26 -29 September): Exploring les Alpilles

So much is easily accessible from our home base.  We'll spend at day at Arles - a UNESCO World Heritage site - and marvel at the Roman history here.  Van Gogh will figure prominently (he spent a very productive year and half in this region).  There's no avoiding Les Baux de Provence village and the marvellous "Carrières de Lumières" limestone mines, now transformed into a magical sound and light show celebrating Van Gogh's works along with those of others.  Would you like to help launch a projectile using a reconstructed Roman era catapult? It can be done.  Gentle hikes and more picturesque villages will also be on the local menu.

 

DAY 11: (30 September):  Moving to the Comtat Venaissin via le Pont du Gard

We head out to our next villa by way of the Pont du Gard - the tallest of all Roman aqueduct bridges as well as one of the best preserved. It was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in 1985 because of its exceptional preservation, historical importance, and architectural ingenuity. 

DAYS 12 - 14 (1-3 October): Exploring the Comtat Venaissin

This is prime wine country and we'll be sure you experience the harvest, the vinification and of course the tasting.  The Côtes-du-Rhône appelation is here, along with the more prestigious Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  We'll spend a day at Orange (another World Heitage site), enjoy free time in Séguret (on the official list of the most beautiful villages in France), explore the busy market at Carpentras and spend some time wandering the streets of Vaison-la-Romaine - the former capital of the Vocontii - the Celtic tribe that occupied these lands before the Romans came along.  

DAY 15: 4 October:  Our trip ends...

You'll have time for breakfast and a last dip in the villa's heated pool.  We can help with transfers to airports or train stations (not included).  Check out is at 10AM.

 

 

 

 

 

CNH Tours has gone to great lengths to find ideally suited luxury villas located in such a way as to ensure you minimize the amount of time you spend in transport while on the tour.  Our criteria included the following:

• At least eight comfortable rooms with ensuite bathrooms (you tour leader will also be spending the night)
• Architecture and interior design / decor reflecting traditional Provençal vernacular
• Heated pool
• Al fresco and indoor dining options
• Generous and diverse common areas
• Full kitchen facilities to support a "chef at home", who prepares the nightly meals
• Quiet environs - away from the noise of traffic / urban areas
• Strategically located to facilitate easy access to the various sites on our itinerary

PLEASE NOTE: These are not hotels, but villas. There will be no daily cleaning service in your bedrooms - you'll need to hang your towels, and make your beds (if you like to come back to a room with beds made and towels hung...). There will be a cleaning service for all common areas every day (3 hours / day).  Pictures below do not show all rooms but are a representative sample of what you can expect.  Not all bedrooms are identical - some will be bigger than others, some will have a bathtub and/or shower.  By signing up to our trip, you understand that rooms will be assigned in a random fashion and will accept the room assigned to you. 

ROOM ASSIGNATION:  Not all rooms in the villas are identidal - but they are all very comfortable.  They will differ in many regards, such as:

• Size
• Decor / character / location on the villa grounds
• Bathroom (with or without a tub)
• Window sizes 
• Orientation
• Ground / 1st / 2nd floor 

We will do our best to ensure that, as you move from villa to villa, you are assigned a variety of rooms, ensure as much as possible a fair assignment.  Sometimes you might be assigned a smaller room, sometimes a larger one. By booking this trip, you understand this situation and accept rooms you will be assigned to.   

Scroll down to see more villa pictures.  Please note - bedroooms and bathrooms design vary from room to room.  Not all rooms are pictured.

1) Luberon villa

 

 

 

 

2) Comtat Venaissin villa

 

 

 

 

 

3) Les Alpilles villa

 

YOUR TRIP INCLUDES

• Accommodations (total 14 nights) in each of three very comfortable villas with heated pools.  Rooms with private ensuite bathrooms (showers, and sometimes with a bathtub) 
• 14 breakfasts and 14 "chef-at-home" dinners (selection of local wines with dinner)
• A fluently bilingual tour leader
• Local transport in a comfortable, air conditioned mini-bus for our daily explorations
• Entrance to sites, museums
• Services of specialized local guides
• US$200,000 emergency medical evacuation insurance
• Carbon offsets

NOT INCLUDED:

• Flights / travel to France and to your villa (we can help arrange local transfers - we recommend flying to Marseille or via Paris with a train to Avignon)
• Lunches
• Tips for the tour leader and bus driver (we recommend EUR200/person for the tour leader and EUR25 for the bus driver, more or less, according to your degree of satisfaction).
• Any visa fees or other fees for travel related purposes, including any health testing fees should these be necessary
• Emergency medical insurance, other travel insurance
• Anything else not mentioned in the "included" section

 

We are still finalizing the details of this trip.  We expect to have the final prices and details on villas posted by mid-Aprll 2024, at which point we will open the trip up for bookings.   

If you'd like to be among the first to be notified the moment we open the trip up for bookings, please let us know by signing up here to our "advance notification" form. 

RATES

Published voyage rates are quoted in US dollars and are based on passengers sharing accommodations. Once a deposit is received, your rate is locked in. 

RESERVATIONS

To confirm a booking a US$750 deposit per person is required. A second deposit of US$2,000  will be due 6 months prior to the travel date (20 Feb 2025).  The final payment is due 90 days prior to departure. Within 90 days of departure, full payment is required to confirm your booking.

CANCELLATIONS / PAYMENTS

The 1st deposit is 50% reimbursable in case of cancellation before 20 January 2025.  Other payments are not reimbursable once the deadline for that payment has passed. In cases where payment is late, we reserve the right to treat the booking as canceled by you.  All payments may be made via cheque, direct deposit or wire transfer.  Consider acquiring appropriate cancellation insurance.  

ELIGIBILITY / PHYSICAL FITNESS

Our trip will have you spending several hours a day on your feet on a regular basis - walking and exploring.  You will have regular opportunities for the most part to sit down at a local café, in public benches, on our mini-bus and more.  The trip also includes a few optional moderate hikes through footpaths that will be usually well-worn, but on occasion may be over loose rocks / roots. These will not be longer than 5kms/3miles. If you feel that a walking stick would be useful, do not hesitate to bring one.  Your tour leader reserve the right to deny a guest participation in an activity if he/she feels that the guest would be at undue risk to him/herself or to others. 

COVID / COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

CNH Tours strongly urges its guests to be fully vaccinated for any common communicable diseases such as COVID and the flu.  Should you come down with symptoms of such diseases in the two weeks prior to the trip date, we ask that you inform us and keep us posted on the situation.  Should you come down with such symptoms while on the trip. we will require that you see a doctor (at your expense) for an examination.  Your tour leader will help to arrange a visit.  

INSURANCE

All CNH Tours guests on this trip will benefit from a US$200,000 emergency medical evacuation coverage.  Any additional insurance, such as emergency medical to cover medical costs related to accidents or sudden illness while on the trip is recommended.  You may also want to consider acquiring trip cancellation / interruption insurance, which would reimburse all or part of your trip costs under certain circumstances.  There are other insurance products sold by travel insurance providers that you may want to consider.  

ITINERARY CHANGES

The itinerary as described on this website is indicative. The order of villas used for the trip may change.  While the intention is to visit the sites explicitly mentioned in the indicative itinerary (along with many others not listed - a final daily itinerary will be provided no later than 6 months prior to the trip date), circumstances such as extreme weather events, labour strife etc. make make that impossible.  In such circumstances, the tour leader will be responsible for making alternative arrangements. In the event of such a change no refunds or price adjustments are possible. Placement of a booking with CNH Tours amounts to an acknowledgement that itinerary changes are possible.

VOYAGE CANCELLATION

In the unlikely event that a trip is cancelled by CNH Tours for any reason, CNH Tour's liability will be limited to the payments it will have received by the participants.  This will not include any costs assumed by our guests that are not invoiced by us (for example, airfare).  

TRIP LANGUAGE

Our trip will be conducted in English. Our tour leader and local guides are fluently bilingual (English/French).  

AUTHORITY

All guests are subject to instructions or regulations given by the tour leader.

SMOKING

Smoking is not allowed inside any of the villas nor in the transport.

RESPONSIBILITY

CNH Tours, the tour leader and participating local service providers shall not be held liable for (A) any damage to, or loss of, property or injury to, or death of, persons occasioned directly or indirectly by an act or omission of any other provider, including but not limited to any defect in any vehicle operated or provided by such other provider; and (B) any loss or damage due to delay, cancellation, or disruption in any manner caused by the laws, regulations, acts or failures to act, demands, orders, or interpositions of any government or any subdivision or agent thereof, or by acts of God, strikes, fire, flood, war, rebellion, terrorism, insurrection, sickness, quarantine, epidemics, theft, or any other cause(s) beyond their control. The participant waives any claim against CNH Tours or its service providers for any such loss, damage, injury, or death. 

By participating on a CNH Tours trip, the participant acknowledges these terms and conditions and certifies that he/she does not have any mental, physical, or other condition or disability that would create a hazard for him/herself or other participants. CNH Tours and its designated representatives reserve the right in their sole discretion to accept, decline to accept, or remove any participant from a voyage or daily activity.  CNH Tours and its representatives / tour leader / service providers reserve the right, without penalty, to make changes in the published itinerary whenever, in their judgment, conditions warrant, or if they deem it necessary for the comfort, convenience, or safety of participants. The tour leader has the right to restrict the activities of any guest whose behaviour results in a loss of enjoyment or the safety of other guests. 

Neither CNH Tours, nor its service providers shall be liable for any air carrier’s cancellation penalty incurred by the purchase of a non – refundable ticket to or from the participant’s departure city. Baggage and personal effects are at all times the sole responsibility of the participant.

 

Terms and Conditions subject to change. 9 April 2024