What to do in the Vaucluse with kids: 5 Family-Friendly ideas

Five stops fit comfortably into a few days in the Vaucluse with children in tow, and at least three of them work as a single day if the timing lines up. None require much advance planning. Good weather helps, but isn't strictly necessary either.

1. The Musée de la Lavande in Cabrières-d'Avignon

The Lincelé family has spent several generations growing and distilling fine lavender on the Domaine du Château du Bois, and their museum now sits in Cabrières-d'Avignon — thirty minutes from Avignon along the D900, five from Gordes. Inside, the focus stays on the history and particular character of fine lavender. None of the stills on display are decorative; every one of them was once put to actual use.

The lavender sachet workshop welcomes children from age two. Each child picks their own fabric, fills it by hand, and ties it closed, then leaves with a small certificate naming them an honorary young lavender grower. An interactive digital space rounds out the visit with games built for younger ages.

Through July and August, traditional distillation happens right in the garden. The still itself dates back to the nineteenth century — an open flame under copper, armfuls of fresh lavender packed into the vat, steam rising steadily. About thirty minutes in, the first drops of oil appear on the surface of the collection vessel.

A separate sensory workshop introduces Provence's aromatic plants through touch, smell, and taste, and it has a way of putting names to scents people have recognised for years without ever placing them. Another option, a scented watercolour workshop led by a professional painter, folds the sense of smell into the act of painting itself — visitors leave with a finished page and the lingering scent of fine lavender still in the air around them.

The boutique sells what the domaine produces directly: AOP-certified essential oils, organic lavender-based cosmetics, floral waters. Plan for around two hours on site, and parking costs nothing.

Tickets and current opening hours are available online.

2. The ochre cliffs of Roussillon

Roussillon sits on the largest ochre deposit in Europe, and the cliffs ringing the village shift colour through the day — dark at dawn, a clear orange by midday, edging toward gold in the late afternoon light depending on the angle of the sun. The Sentier des Ocres splits into two loops, a short one running about thirty minutes and a longer one closer to fifty. Both pass directly beneath the rock formations and suit young children well.

Closed shoes, something to cover the head, and water are worth bringing along. Roussillon sits twenty minutes from Gordes.

3. Gordes: the Village des Bories and the Renaissance château

Gordes sits at 373 metres, perched on a limestone ridge above the Luberon, and from several kilometres out across the plain, the village is still visible. The square at its centre is overlooked by a Renaissance château dating from 1541.

Two kilometres further out, past the village edge, stands the Village des Bories — one of the stranger sights anywhere in the Vaucluse. About twenty structures here, all built dry, no mortar involved, just stone stacked and corbelled until the vaulted roofs hold themselves up by their own weight.

Archaeologists generally place most of them in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, though the building method itself predates that by a long way. Specialists still disagree on what these structures were originally for. Children tend to work out the construction logic fast once a cross-section wall is in front of them. Forty minutes is enough time on site.

From Cabrières-d'Avignon, Gordes is about thirty minutes away. Both stops fit into the same day without much trouble.

4. L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and its tourist train

Five separate branches of the Sorgue cut through L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and along the banks, waterwheels left over from seventeenth-century mills and dye houses keep turning even now. There's nothing complicated about getting around the centre on foot — flat ground throughout, the canals as a natural guide.

A small tourist train loops the town in roughly forty minutes, and it tends to be the very first thing children ask for once they're standing in the main square. It also happens to be a quick way to take in what locals call the Venice of Provence. Come Sunday morning, several hundred antique dealers line the quays, their stalls running for hundreds of metres in either direction. Driving in from Cabrières-d'Avignon takes around forty-five minutes; from Avignon, the trip is closer to twenty.

5. Electric bikes through the Luberon

Come July, the back roads between Gordes and Coustellet run alongside lavandin fields for kilometre after kilometre, and the scent settles in by early morning. That's the moment to get the bikes out.

Electric bikes are available to rent locally, including models fitted for children.

Common questions about visiting with children

The right age to bring children

Workshops at the Musée de la Lavande start from age two. On the Sentier des Ocres, the short loop works fine with an all-terrain stroller — no real difficulty there. Most preschool-age children handle everything on this list without trouble.

Visiting outside the peak summer months

The museum stays open all year. For Fontaine de Vaucluse, spring is hard to beat — the underground spring runs at its strongest sometime between March and May. Come autumn, the villages take on a particular light, and crowds tend to thin out once September arrives. Garden distillation at the museum, though, sticks strictly to July and August.

Fitting it all into one day

The museum in Cabrières-d'Avignon, the Bories near Gordes, and Roussillon all sit within thirty minutes of one another — close enough to make a full day genuinely workable. Coming from Avignon, the museum itself sits about forty-five minutes away via the D900.

Free things to do nearby

Some things cost nothing. Strolling Gordes' lanes. Following the canals through L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Walking out to the spring at Fontaine de Vaucluse. Browsing the Sunday market in Coustellet. Admission applies at the Sentier des Ocres and the Musée de la Lavande, both priced with families in mind.

Where to base a longer stay

Avignon, Gordes, and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue each work fine as a base for a stay of two or three days. Beginning with the Musée de la Lavande in Cabrières-d'Avignon often shapes the rest of the trip in a good way — children come away with something they made themselves, and the dry-stone walls and lavender fields seen afterward carry a bit more weight once their origin makes sense.