Bird’s eye view of Provence
It was often a joke among tourist guides based in Paris that American tourists would expect to see the whole of the city, one thousand years of history and more, in a day, and with time off for lunch. Now the American venturing south has a chance to beat that record, by seeing Provence in little more than an hour.
Arles Camargue
Provence par avion provides tours in executive aircraft every day of the year when the visibility is good. The opportunity to see the wonderful scenery and exceptional sites such as the Pont-du-Gard or the Roman arena in Arles provides a novel introduction to the region for those short of time.
This new service offers a range of five regular routes, as well as customised tours, ranging from 25 to 80 minutes in length. Each one starts from Avignon airport, just outside the city. They cover, progressively, the Alpilles, Arles and the Pont-du-Gard, the Camargue, the Luberon and Mont-Ventoux and a mountains-to-sea route flying as far as Marseille and the fjord-like calanques to the east.
Prices range from 39 € per passenger, for three people taking the shortest trip, to 171 € for each of two passengers on the longest. The pilots, who are commercial licensed and instrument rated, speak fluent English and provide a running commentary during the flight.
The following 4 tours are 30 minutes in length:
Tour 1 – Pont-du-Gard to the Alpilles
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Les Alpilles
Les Baux-de-Provence
Tarascon
Beaucaire
Le Pont-du-Gard
Avignon
Les Baux-de-Provence
Tour 2 – From Arles via the Baux
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Les Alpilles
Les Baux-de-Provence
Le Moulin de Daudet
L'Abbaye de Montmajour
Arles
Tarascon
Avignon
Avignon
Tour 3 – Around the Dentelles
Vacqueyras
Gigondas
Sablet
Séguret
Vaison-la-Romaine
Le Mont Ventoux
Le Barroux
Carpentras
Le Barroux
Tour 4 – Over the Luberon
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
Fontaine-de-Vaucluse
L'Abbaye de Senanque
Gordes
Roussillon
Bonnieux
Lacoste
Ménerbes
Oppède-le-vieux
Cavaillon
Les Alpilles
Article from our July 2005 E-Newsletter
