Quick answer
Oppède is about 73 km from Uzès and 1h09 by car according to a route planner, Ménerbes about 77 km and 1h11, Bonnieux about 84 km and 1h17, Lourmarin about 94 km and 1h30. There is no direct bus to any of them: public transport takes from 3h42 to 4h52 with changes, so this is a day for a car. Two or three villages are a day; five are too many.
Good for: slow walking through old stone villages, a Friday market, and views over the valley.
Not for: a short day: from Uzès it is two hours or more of driving there and back.
The Luberon villages sit on both sides of the valley between Cavaillon and Apt, south of Gordes, Roussillon and Sénanque. Lourmarin lies in the valley itself; Bonnieux, Ménerbes, Lacoste and Oppède-le-Vieux are perched villages. For a gentler start, see Carpentras and the Comtat or L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue; Mont Ventoux is on the horizon from the higher villages.
| What | What to know | Check before you go |
|---|---|---|
| Drive from Uzès | Oppède about 73 km and 1h09, Ménerbes about 77 km and 1h11, Bonnieux about 84 km and 1h17 (a route planner, Rome2Rio). Lourmarin, about 94 km and 1h30, is read from the same planner's page for the opposite direction. We found no figure for Lacoste, which lies between these villages. La Valette is five minutes from Uzès. | A live map on the day. |
| Lourmarin | The one village in the valley rather than on a hill. Its Renaissance castle can be visited all year except on 25 December and 1 January, and the Friday morning market, from 8:00 to 13:00, is among the best known in the Vaucluse. Albert Camus lived in the village. | The castle hours differ by month and by source, so we state none; guided visits run daily in July and August and, off season, on reservation for groups of seven or more. |
| Bonnieux | A perched village with a view from the Vieille Église, reached by 86 steps from the Place de la Liberté, over the Monts du Vaucluse, Mont Ventoux and the villages of Gordes and Roussillon. The Friday morning market, 8:00 to 13:00, is on the Place Carnot by one source. A cedar forest planted in 1862 is about 1 km away on foot. | The bakery museum: sources describe it, one traveller found it never open; ask before you plan around it. Confirm the market square locally. |
| Ménerbes | A village on a rock spur. A truffle and wine house occupies a historic town house owned by the town since 1751, with the wine library of the Luberon regional park in its cellars. A corkscrew museum, created in 1993 on a wine estate, shows 1,000 to 1,200 pieces. The painter Nicolas de Staël lived at Le Castellet, at the north end. | Opening days and hours of the truffle house and the museum: none found. Sources differ on the size of the corkscrew collection. |
| Lacoste | A village below a castle where the Marquis de Sade stayed in the 1770s; a music and theatre festival has been held in its courtyard and quarries every year since 2001. No cars go into the village: park in the free car park below and climb the steep paved streets. A campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design is part of village life. | Castle visits: July to August by one source, June to September by another, and by appointment for groups; sources also differ on who owns it, so we say nothing on that. |
| Oppède-le-Vieux | The quietest of the five: an old village you visit on foot, from a paid car park at the bottom. At the top stands the Romanesque church Notre-Dame-d'Alidon of the 12th century, under restoration, and the ruins of a 13th-century castle, mostly fenced off. A guided sunset visit ran in summer 2026. | Visiting days and times for the church and the guided visits: ask the town hall. |
Choosing
Two or three, not five
With two hours or more of driving in the day, pick by what you want: a Friday market and a castle (Lourmarin), views and a short climb (Bonnieux), a quiet old village on foot (Oppède-le-Vieux), museums and a spur village (Ménerbes), or a steep village with a summer festival (Lacoste). Lourmarin and Bonnieux both hold their market on Friday morning, so choose one of them.
Park outside Lacoste and Oppède-le-Vieux and wear shoes for steep, paved streets.
Season
Check what is open in winter
The Lourmarin castle is listed as open all year, but its hours change from month to month; the Lacoste castle is open only in summer by the sources we found; the Friday markets run all year. Walking the villages needs no ticket, which makes the Luberon a fair choice outside the high season too.
Combine
Add Gordes or Aix
Bonnieux looks across to Gordes and Roussillon, which have their own guide: Gordes, Roussillon and Sénanque. For a longer day in the same direction, Aix-en-Provence is a town day to the south.
Frequently asked
A day in the Luberon villages
Oppède is about 73 km and 1h09 by car according to a route planner (Rome2Rio), Ménerbes about 77 km and 1h11, Bonnieux about 84 km and 1h17, Lourmarin about 94 km and 1h30. There is no direct bus to any of them.
Lourmarin and Bonnieux each hold a market on Friday mornings, from 8:00 to 13:00 by the listings we found. We did not find a market day for Ménerbes, Lacoste or Oppède-le-Vieux, so we state none.
The Lourmarin castle is listed as open all year except 25 December and 1 January, with hours that change by month. The Lacoste castle is open in summer (July to August by one source, June to September by another) and by appointment for groups. The Oppède ruins are mostly fenced off. Check each before you drive.
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