Provence & French Riviera Gardens
11 days / 10 nights
from 1560 euros / person

There is nothing like entering hidden and private gardens. Provence and the French Riviera are soaked with sun all year around. Follow us away from the mainstream to discover the enchanting gardens of the South. We will take you sightseeing the first 2 days on a regular tour with other visitors, then your private driver-guide will take you to hidden gardens of Provence and finaly to famous gardens of the French Riviera.

Day 1 - Transfer from Avignon TGV station to your hotel in Avignon.

Day 2 - Treasures of Provence - regular full day tour (9.00 am to 7.00 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Itinerary : Orange (market + Roman theatre) + Châteauneuf du Pape (wine-tasting) + St Rémy de Provence (photo stop) + Les Baux de Provence + Arles

Day 3 - Lavender & villages in Luberon - regular morning tour (9.00 am to 1.45 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Itinerary : Gordes (market) + Roussillon + Lavender museum
Roman Sites - regular afternoon tour (2.00 pm to 7.30 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Itinerary : Nîmes (Roman amphitheatre) + Uzès + Pont du Gard

Day 4 - Day at leisure with the City Tour including the tickets for the visit with hearphone in the Popes'Palace and the Pont d'Avignon, and a 45 mn cruise on the Rhône river.

Day 5 - Private garden tour - full day tour (9.00 am to 6.00 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Visit Vallon Raget in St Etienne du Grès : former oliveraie next to a Roman aqueduct at the foot of the Alpilles hill range, private garden created 30 years ago offering 600 species of plants such as arums, micocouliers, almond trees, nymphéas, mimosas, greenhouse, Mediterranean plants and shrubs. Lunch on your own.
Visit of the aquatic garden Aux Fleurs de l'Eau in Graveson : 15,000 square meters of garden, water basins and falls, with aquatic flora and birds.

Day 6 - Private garden tour - full day tour (9.00 am to 6.00 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Visit of the private garden La Louve in Bonnieux : a contemporary garden in a series of terraces. Each terrace has its own specific character with immaculatelyclipped shrubs and a surprising variety of indigenous plants. Lunch on your own.
Continue to Val Joanis in Pertuis, a classic Aix bastide, originally a feudal manor and now anb important wine producing estate. Surrounded by extensive vineyards, the gardens are planted on three terraces, interspersed with flowers, vegetables and fruit trees.
Then, visit of Lourmarin castle, the very first Renaissance castle built in Provence composed of two parts : the old wing of the castle was built in the late 15th century by Foulques d'Agoult, whereas the 16th century Renaissance wing is completely furnished and houses 15th to 19th century art collections.

Day 7 -Private garden tour - full day tour (9.00 am to 6.00 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Visit of the abbey gardens in the massive 14th century Fort St André in Villeneuve les Avignon : the style is very Italianate in its influence, laid out in various terraces planted with roses, iris and many local plants. Lunch on your own.
Then, visit of the Jardin de l'Alchimiste in Eygalières, close to the Renaissance Architecture of the Mas de la Brune, the garden invits its visitors to a blooming evocation on the theme of Alchemy. The contrasts and the lights, the shapes ans the colours, the flowers, the arbs and the stones, invites the visitor to a quiet meditation.

Day 8 - Private garden tour - full day tour (9.00 am to 7.00 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Visit of the Jardin de la Pomme d'Ambre in Fréjus and tasting of an "home" oranges wine : Nicole discovered the French Riviera any child when her parents came to settle in a house of the "Belle époque" surrounded of a plentiful garden from orange trees, climbing rose trees and giant eucalypti. Much later, she planted her memories of childhood in a romantic garden. Nicole is very appreciated by gardeners amateurs like botanists, historians or researchers of the whole world impassioned by the Mediterranean flora. Lunch on your own. (it is possible to organize the picnic in the Jardin de la Pomme d'Ambre if you ask it in advance)
Continue to Cannes, embellished by palmtrees and fine sandy beaches : famous caféterrasses, elegant shops, la Croisette and the film festival center. Stop in Grasse for visit of a perfume factory.
7.00 pm : drop off in The Suisse Hotel in Nice.

Day 9 - Private garden tour - full day tour (9.00 am to 6.00 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel. Visit of Nice, capital and queen of the Riviera : discover the promenade des Anglais, the old town with the flower market, the Castle park overlooking the bay of the angels. Lunch on your own.
Continue to St Jean Cap Ferrat for visit of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild : discover the most beautiful French Riviera Palazzo and its nine wonderful gardens. Through the art dealers and experts she befriended, Baroness Ephrussi de Rothschild sought out artworks all over the world, transforming the Villa at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat into a collector’s paradise. Between sea and sky, overlooking the bay of Villefranche, the nine heavenly gardens are adorned with patios, fountains, ponds, flowered and shaded paths.

Day 10 - Private garden tour - full day tour (9.00 am to 6.00 pm)
Pick-up from the hotel.Visit the exotic gardens in Monaco, one of the most visited gardens in the world. These unusual gardens cascade down a steep rock face with over 6 000 species of cacti and other succulents. See the Prince's palace and the changing of the guard just before midday. Lunch on you own. Continue to Menton to visit the garden of La Serre de la Madone, created in the 1920s and 1930s by Lawrence Johnston, most well known for his design of the gardens of England's Hidcote Manor.

Day 11 - Transfer from your hotel to Nice airport.