Tablet Trips combine expert-led, artisanal travel adventures with elevated stays at some of our most soul-stirring hotels. Here are the places you’ll enjoy on our trip to Provence, France.
Tablet Trips are here. These once-in-a-lifetime journeys immerse you in a destination through excursions and activities rarely available to visitors, while setting aside time so you can relax and enjoy a selection of experiences at unforgettable hotels — all curated through Tablet’s singular lens.
We’re starting with five trips:
Puglia
Provence
Patagonia
Japan
Morocco
What makes our trips special — other than the unique daily itineraries and small groups — are the hotel stays. Tablet Trips features smaller, more exceptional hotels not usually found on these types of travels. These thought-provoking properties are as much a part of the overall story as anything else on the itinerary. Best of all, the trip schedule is never overstuffed. You’ll be busy, but we’ve built in free time at the hotels so you can take a moment to detach, unwind, and explore.
THE PROVENCE TRIP:
Medieval villages, Michelin Star dining, and high-design country house hotels
With stays at beautifully updated country houses in the Lubéron and Les Baux, this trip explores the irresistible pleasures of dining in the Provençal countryside—at charming rural restaurants with Michelin Stars, during vineyard-picnics, and in picturesque medieval villages. An optional trip extension offers the opportunity to explore Marseille and the Mediterranean coast.
In the Lubéron, we’ll drift along with the emerald waters of the Verdon gorge, linger over lunch at Alain Ducasse’s former country house, and go hunting for wild truffles to enjoy with Champagne. In Les Baux-de-Provence, we’ll stay at Baumanière, a legendary hotel run by a long family-line of chefs. For those joining the optional extension, Marseille provides a vibrant base for discovering the joys of the Mediterranean coast.
Learn more about the Tablet Trip to Provence. Learn more about the featured hotels below.
The Domaines de Fontenille collection of small, high-end hotels has grown across France and beyond, but it’s perhaps most at home in Provence, where it was born. Bastide du Mourre is perfectly true to form for these purveyors of south-of-France luxury; here in the Lubéron you’ll find a charmingly weathered 17th-century farmhouse and cottages whose rustic charm remains intact even as it’s been updated with stylish modern interventions. As luxurious as it is, however, it remains delightfully low-key, connected to its landscape and the agricultural tradition.
Les Baux de Provence is perhaps one of the most spectacular and unsettling of nature’s creations. These whitewashed cliffs, dotted with medieval houses, will stun you with their proportion and their sublime beauty. And should it all prove to be a bit overwhelming, it’s always nice to know that you can retreat to the Baumanière, perennial retreat of royals, statesmen and other leading lights since the day it opened for business in 1945. Guests stay in farmhouses, some of them dating back to the sixteenth century. With sun splashed facades wreathed with wisteria and wild roses, they are Provençal paradise.
Les Bords de Mer simply means “the seaside,” and as a name for this particular hotel, it’s perfectly descriptive: it’s set right on Marseille’s waterfront, with all of its 19 rooms facing directly out to sea, so close that you could practically dive into the harbor from your balcony. It’s got, in some ways, the best of two worlds: the ocean views and Mediterranean exposure that make the Côte d’Azur a perennially desirable destination, and close access to Marseille, one of France’s most diverse and vibrant cities — it’s five minutes’ walk from the Vieux-Port and the old town center. The style is light and bright, inspired by the optimistic modernism of the Fifties.
WHAT ARE TABLET TRIPS?
Tablet Trips are curated journeys for boutique hotel lovers. With your specialist trip leader and a small group of Tablet travelers, you’ll meet artisans, insiders, and luminaries to learn about the local culture, with an emphasis on architecture, design, craft, cooking, and cuisine. Then, our unique spin on trips: stays at hotels that tell an essential part of the story, located in the neighborhoods and natural surroundings you came all this way to see.
To stay in the know about this and future Tablet Trips, subscribe to our newsletter.