Saignon is a very small and very perched village, looking down onto Apt just 4km away.
Few are those who just stumble across this place on a Provence walking holiday. It’s not on the road to anywhere in particular, you have to know it’s there and that it what adds to the charm. A hidden gem with a discreet elegance, the village is a beautiful labyrinth of steep cobbled streets, derelict old stone farms and beautifully renovated summer houses. The small main square offers a scattering of restaurants and cafes, not always open, from where you can enjoy the colourful flowers in the square, admire the old fountains and people watch as the locals go about their daily business.
This really is a great place to stop off on your walking trip or cycling tour. It’s worth the climb up to the very top of the village from where, on a good weather day (and let’s be honest, there are quite a few of those in Provence!), you have panoramic views over the neighbouring Lubéron villages of Bonnieux and Rustrel, the Mont Ventoux and the roof tops of Avignon! If you head out of the village towards Auribeau on the Plateau de Claparèdes, you can enjoy another picture postcard snippet of Provence with its lubéron lavender fields and old stone huts.
A Provence walking holiday or a Provence cycling holiday on lesser trodden paths.
Book a Provence walking trip with Intura and we’ll take you on an exploration of the Lubéron, from the well-known, frequently visited perched villages of Gordes and Bonnieux, to the hidden gems, walking in the remote wilderness of Provence on roads only accessible on foot, from Sivergues along the base of the Aigubrun canyon where you will experience a real ‘middle of nowhere’ feeling, on to Buoux, the timeless village with little to no Wifi coverage, and then on to Saignon through vast lavender fields and truffle oak plantations.
If you fancy a bit of free wheeling off the tourist radar, then this is the ideal Provence cycling tour for you. Small, winding, back country roads, beautiful scenery dotted with old stone huts and farmhouses, idyllic countryside and plenty of villages for refreshments along the way!
The main town that serves all of these beautiful villages is Apt. And Saturday morning is market morning and has been since the start of the 17th Century! The colours and scents of the Provençal market spread throughout the entire town centre and offer delicious seasonal fruit and veg, local cheeses, flowers, jewellery and fabrics. Saturday market is the time and place where all the locals from the surrounding perched villages gather to meet up, chat, haggle & buy.
