Provence Tours & Trips

Top operators in Provence

Both Explore and Backroads shine when it comes to cycling through Provence, with each bringing something unique to the experience. Our travelers who've gone with Explore talk a lot about their guide Erwin - he gets a lot of praise for making everyone feel at ease and paying attention to individual needs throughout the journey. The way Explore plans their routes really works well; they've clearly put thought into balancing the cycling with cultural stops and rest breaks. While there aren't tons of reviews yet, the ones we have are consistently positive, especially about how smoothly everything runs. Backroads also impresses with their organizational skills and eye for detail. They're particularly good at selecting accommodations that give you a proper taste of Provençal life, and they weave in meaningful cultural activities between rides. Their tours tend to hit that sweet spot between active cycling and really getting to know the region, which makes them ideal if you're planning your first bike tour in Provence. Both companies excel at the essentials - maintaining bikes, planning scenic routes and making sure you're well taken care of. The main difference comes down to their individual styles and specific itineraries, so it's worth looking closely at the daily plans to see which better matches what you're after.

• Explore!

  
  4.5 (13,567 reviews)

  "Both my husband and I loved this bike tour! This was the first one we have done, and it exceeded our expectations. Our tour guide Erwin was amazing, very knowledgeable & accommodating and did a tremendous job! The tour itself was absolutely incredible, with village after village of beautiful rolling landscape of the Provence region. The highlight of the trip was our bike to Gordes, with breathtaking views of the village! The only recommendation I have is unless you’re an avid biker, I highly recommend an e-bike option! I am a fairly fit individual, but having the e-bike was a huge help and absolutely made the trip much more enjoyable.

  Excellent - by Alison F.

  Tours

  1 tours

  Age range

  16 to 85 years old

  Adventure type

  Bicycle

  Response time

  19h

  Response rate

  76%

  Average price

  $337

  Explore! is an expert in:

  • Bicycle
• CroisiEurope River Cruises

  
  4.5 (399 reviews)

  "Rooms very small and bathroom tiny. No choice of meals. Loud announcements early each morning whether you were going on an excursion or not. No chance to sleep in if you wanted to. No advance notice of the final destination port until the day before the end consequently all the direct trains to Paris we're booked out. It cost is an €80 taxi fare.

  Average - by Kevin B.

  Tours

  14 tours

  Age range

  1 to 99 years old

  Adventure type

  River Cruise

  Response time

  25h

  Response rate

  72%

  Average price

  $353

  CroisiEurope River Cruises is an expert in:

  • River Cruise
• Exodus Adventure Travels

  
  4.5 (13,295 reviews)

  "Regarding our cycling tour - Hilltop Villages of Provence: Cons: 1. We were not provided with information on how to get from the train station to our hotel once we arrived in Carpentras. We had provided the train arrival time and destination and expected some information from the tour operator on either being picked up or details on how to get to the hotel. Instead we sat at the train station for ages and had to make our own way to the hotel. 2. There should have been some information provided on dealing with the extreme heat that we encountered during our tour. We were at serious risk of heat stroke, biking for almost 8 hours and having elevation gain of over 1,000 meters (as recorded by my Fitbit) on the first day of our trip. We took the initiative on the second and third days to map out alternate routes to get to our destinations, that involved biking on very busy roadways, but we felt the risk of competing with the traffic was less than the risk of heat stroke. 3. On the day that we returned to the hotel where we started, we were told that dinner was included, but there was no information provided to us on where, when or how we would get to wherever we were supposed to go. We had to make several calls to get this information from the tour contact person. 4. The bell was broken off one of the bikes we had, and there were times when it was necessary for us to alert pedestrians and other cyclists with the bell - but there was no bell! Pros: 1. Having the Headwater GPS application was very beneficial for determining the routes we were to follow, however a backup map should have been provided, as we had to change our routes due to the extreme heat. Also, our phone battery did not last the whole day, so having a backup map would have been helpful. 2. Baggage arrived in the right hotels every day! 3. The hotels were fantastic, really enjoyed our stays at l'Hotel Hermitage, Hotel Les Sables D'Ocre, and Hotel du Poete. Comments: The holder on the handlebars for the cell phone to allow us to use the Headwater navigation app did not work for us, as it was so hot that our phone overheated while it was stored in the holder. My travelling partner felt that the self-guided tour did not provide enough support, especially with the extreme heat that we encountered, and said that she would not take another self-guided tour.

  Average - by Mary W.

  Tours

  4 tours

  Age range

  16 to 80 years old

  Adventure type

  Bicycle

  Response time

  33h

  Response rate

  76%

  Average price

  $419

  Exodus Adventure Travels is an expert in:

  • Bicycle
  • Hiking & Trekking
  • Explorer