Landlocked Vaucluse includes the Parc Naturel Régional du Lubéron whose limestone range pops up as steep cliffs. Signs of habitation are sparse but the town of Apt with its weekly Saturday market, when cars are banned from the centre, makes a good base for exploring. The area is ideal for VTT -mountain biking - and the park offices in Apt have details. The countryside, full of features such as the Mont Ventoux, has steeply inclined roads offering sweeping views across the land.

The area’s jewel is Avignon, the great city of the Popes with the Palais des Papes, which is more like a citadel than a papal palace as it covers an astonishing 15 km². Nine Popes ruled from here - seven officially – beginning in 1309 when Pope Clement V moved the papal court here from Rome. For a first visit, concentrate on the Palais and although most of the once luxurious trappings have gone, some tapestries, frescoes and ceramic tiles remain.

Gordes

Carpentras with its sweeping boulevards has the oldest synagogue in France, and from November to March, a market that specialises in the gourmet treasure of truffles.

Orange has two great Roman monuments: an extremely well preserved theatre (which makes a dramatic setting for concerts) and a triumphal arch. The area around the 17th century hôtel de ville is the most attractive for wandering, with shady squares and slumbering streets. Orange hit the headlines in the 90s when the extreme right wing party Front National won control of the council.

	Village des Bories

A natural sight worth a diversion is the source of the river Sorgue at Fontaine de Vaucluse. The springs that feed the fast flowing, crystal clear water, are incredibly powerful and it is odd to see so much water coming up through the ground. In spring, visitors are rewarded with the springs in full flow turning the gorge into a river that bursts out of a cave at the foot of the sheer cliff and seems to flow uphill. In summer as you walk up the gorge, the river dwindles to nothing, but the cave is impressive.

Eighteen kilometres east is Gordes perching on the rocks. Approaching this medieval arcaded village, dominated by a 16th century chateau by the winding road is a spectacular sight.

Just to the south is the Village des Bories, a primitive area with tiny beehive-shaped huts constructed from dry stones, while to the north is the Abbaye de Senanque - one of the finest romanesque Cistercian monasteries in France.