Fontaine de Vaucluse: a practical guide

A few useful pointers before heading off to visit Fontaine de Vaucluse.

Fontaine de Vaucluse is one of those day trips our guests often pick. Here is what we usually share with them before they set off, the kind of things you tend to discover only once you are there.

What you rarely learn before going

Fontaine de Vaucluse refers to both the village and the spring. The spring lies 500 metres from the main car park, at the end of a touristy lane lined with shops and restaurants. It is one of the most powerful resurgences in Europe, but only if you visit at the right time. In summer the flow drops noticeably and the sight can throw you off if no one has warned you. The ideal window runs from March to May, or in the weeks following heavy autumn rains.

How to get there from Bédarrides

Allow 40 minutes via the D942, passing through L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. In peak season the village car park becomes paid and often fills up before 10am. Our usual tip: leave the car in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and finish by bike on the greenway that follows the Sorgue, around 8 km each way. It is quieter, you ride upstream against the current, and you avoid the parking stress.

What is genuinely worth the detour

The Pétrarque museum, set on the bank of the Sorgue, is modest but carefully done. The poet stayed in Fontaine de Vaucluse and wrote part of his Canzoniere here. Plan on 45 minutes for the visit. To head back, take the path that follows the shaded side of the river rather than the shop-lined lane. And if you are there on a Sunday, extend the trip with L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue for its antiques market.

• Distance from Bédarrides: 40 min via the D942
• Free parking outside the village, a 200 m walk away
• Best time: March to May, or after the rains
• Cycling option: start from L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, 8 km greenway