Provence and the Camargue in 7 Days: Avignon, the Luberon and Arles

That is your call, and you make it right on this page. With the private-driver formula, every day of the programme is driven for you, fuel, tolls and parking included. With the rental-car formula, the car is picked up on day two and returned in Arles on the evening of day six; you set your own hours, and fuel, tolls and parking are on you. The first day in Avignon and the last one in Arles are on foot anyway, which is why the car runs five days rather than seven. The price shown adjusts to the formula you select.

Yes, on both counts. Based on 4 travellers, count €2,000 per person with the rental car and €2,375 per person with the private driver. Based on 2, it comes to €2,050 and €2,975 per person, the gap coming from the driver, who is shared between fewer people. Three travellers works perfectly well, and above four we draw up a quote. The "from" price shown corresponds to the rental-car formula based on 4.

Twice: two nights in Avignon, two nights in a mas at the foot of the Luberon, two nights in Arles. That split is what lets you see everything without spending your days on the road. Each base sits in the middle of what you visit the next day, and the mas puts you fifteen minutes from the balloon take-off.

It depends on the weather: it needs light wind and good visibility, and the flight crew confirms the evening before. The programme places it on day four, the first of the two mornings at the mas. If that slot closes, the flight moves to the next morning, before the drive to Arles. If neither opens, it is refunded.

No. It runs roughly from mid-April to the end of September, and only when the level of the Gardon allows: the river runs high in spring and can go short of water in late summer. If it is not viable on your dates, the day is spent on the banks and the Pont du Gard site itself, and the activity is deducted. We confirm this when we send the quote.

Not in the price, and that is deliberate: the sites on this programme work very well on your own, and a guide does not add the same thing everywhere. We add one as an option wherever you want it: a full day, a half-day, or only the Palais des Papes, Saint-Paul-de-Mausole or the arena in Arles.

No. The ride is at walking pace, on Camargue horses used to beginners as much as to the marshes, and a guide from the manade stays with you from start to finish. Tell us if someone has never ridden: the pace and the length adapt. And if horses are not for you, we swap the ride for the Pont de Gau ornithological park, where walkways run just above the lagoons and the flamingo colonies. The price does not change.

Breakfast is included on all six nights, along with the tastings in the programme. Lunches and dinners are on you, and that is deliberate: between the tables of Avignon, the terraces of Saintes-Maries and the addresses of Arles, it is better to keep the choice. Just tell us which meals you want booked, we choose the tables with you and book in your name.

April to October, with a preference for spring and early autumn: the temperature makes walking through hilltop villages pleasant and the Gardon has water for the canoe. July and August still work, but we shift the visits towards the morning and the end of the day. Winter remains possible, with balloons flying all year, often in clearer air. Three things stop, though: the canoe, the Carrières des Lumières, closed from early January to early March, and the ochre trail in Roussillon, also closed for part of the winter. We confirm what is open on your dates when we send the quote, we swap what is not, and anything that cannot take place is deducted.

A reasonable level is enough, but the programme involves walking and slopes: the lanes of Gordes and Les Baux, the ochre trail in Roussillon, the climb to the rocher des Doms in Avignon. The balloon basket also means stepping over a rim about a metre high. Tell us if there is a mobility constraint, several stages can be adapted.

Yes, and several days are built for it: the canoe, the horses and the Carrières des Lumières all work very well with children. Two caveats: the balloon is generally open from around six years old and subject to height, and the horseback ride has its own age limits depending on the manade. Tell us the children’s ages and we adapt those two highlights.