Provence & the Countryside
Lavender fields, hilltop villages and a country mas with a private chef.
- Slow Luxury
- Ideal length: 7-10 days
- Best time: May through early October, when the Riviera warms, Provence blooms and Paris settles into long, golden evenings.
- Private guiding, access and transfers throughout
- From US$9,000 per traveler — a starting point, tailored to you
- Designed one-to-one by a Forest Travel advisor
- Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels
Lavender fields, hilltop villages and a country mas with a private chef.
France rewards those who slow down, moving from grand boulevards to vineyard cellars and coastal villas with effortless grace.
When to go
May through early October, when the Riviera warms, Provence blooms and Paris settles into long, golden evenings. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
The experiences
A sense of what this journey can hold — each one arranged privately and shaped to you:
- A slow morning among the lavender fields, the air heavy with scent before the day warms.
- A walk through a hilltop village with a local guide, ending at a table with a view over the valley.
- A private chef preparing dinner at your mas from the morning's market baskets.
- An afternoon among the vines, tasting the region's rose where it is made.
A sense of the rhythm
The countryside asks nothing of you but to slow down and settle in. Days are unhurried, built around markets, long lunches and afternoons by the pool at your private mas. A car and driver wait for the villages you wish to see, but there is no need to fill every hour.
A single mas, or moving between villages?
Settling into one country house lets you live like a local, returning each evening to the same welcoming table. Moving between villages reveals more of Provence's variety, from perched hamlets to vineyard valleys. For most, a fixed base with day trips strikes the loveliest balance.
How to do it well
The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:
- Choose a mas with its own chef and gardens so the house itself becomes a destination.
- Time the visit to the lavender in the first weeks of July, when the fields are at their fullest.
- Keep a car and driver on hand rather than self-driving the narrow country lanes.
- Ask your advisor to reserve the smaller village restaurants that do not take direct bookings.
What only your advisor can open
The difference between a good trip and an unrepeatable one is access — and access is a relationship, not a booking. Every guide, room and moment is chosen and sequenced for you.
Who it's for
Travelers who value privacy, time and doing it once — beautifully — and who would rather have one trusted advisor orchestrate every detail than assemble it themselves.
Estimated investment
From US$9,000 per traveler, based on double occupancy — scaled to your dates, party size and level of privacy. A starting point, not a final quote; confirmed once your advisor tailors the itinerary.
Designed entirely around you
Nothing here is a package. A Forest Travel advisor shapes the whole journey and stays one message away before and throughout your trip.
Your Virtuoso privileges
As a Virtuoso member, Forest Travel includes benefits reserved for Virtuoso guests at the finest luxury hotels, at no added cost: a room upgrade on arrival when available, daily breakfast for two, a property credit toward dining or spa, and early check-in with late check-out when the hotel allows.
Continue exploring France
Part of our France travel guide. Related private journeys:
Begin the conversation
Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design Provence & the Countryside around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →
Questions, answered.
France
See the collection →Tell a private advisor how you like to travel — no quotes, no obligation.
Begin Your Private Consultation
