Bonnieux

Bonnieux is stacked up a hillside on the north face of the Luberon, in tiers, with a twelfth-century church and a stand of cedars at the top. It looks across the valley at Gordes and Roussillon, and it is markedly less busy than either.

It is a working village of about 1,400 people rather than a museum, which is its chief virtue.

The two churches

Bonnieux has an old church and a new one, and the distinction defines the village.

The Église Vieille sits at the very top, reached by 86 stone steps under a line of enormous cedars planted in the eighteenth century. Twelfth-century, plain, and mostly closed — but the terrace beside it gives the finest view in the Luberon: Gordes and Roussillon opposite, the Vaucluse plateau behind them, Mont Ventoux on the horizon.

The Église Neuve at the bottom was built in 1870 because the villagers had tired of the climb. It holds four painted panels of the late fifteenth century, from the German school, brought down from the old church.

The village

Steep lanes and stairways between the two, with the old ramparts still visible in places, terraces of stone houses, and a Friday market on the Place Carnot. Bonnieux belonged to the popes of Avignon from the thirteenth century until the Revolution, which is why it is larger and better built than its neighbours.

The Musée de la Boulangerie, in an old bakery, covers the history of bread in Provence — small, and better than the premise suggests.

Around the village

• Pont Julien — a Roman bridge of 3 BC over the Calavon, 6 km north-west, in near-perfect condition. It carried traffic on the Via Domitia and, remarkably, carried modern cars until 2005.
• The Forêt des Cèdres — a cedar forest on the ridge above the village, planted from Atlas seed in 1861, with marked walks and shade in summer. The road up is one of the best drives in the Luberon.
• Lacoste — 5 km, with the Marquis de Sade’s ruined castle above it

What to eat

The Luberon AOC vineyards are immediately below the village, and there are growers on the road to Lacoste. Otherwise Provençal cooking, and the Friday market. See Provençal cuisine.

Getting to Bonnieux

• By car — 25 minutes from Cavaillon, 50 from Avignon. Park at the bottom; the upper village is a stairway.
• By bus — a limited service from Cavaillon and Apt; check the return.
• By bicycle — Bonnieux is on the marked Luberon cycle route, and it is a real climb.

See parking in France.

Around Bonnieux

• Ménerbes and Lacoste — west along the same ridge road
• Roussillon and Gordes — across the valley
• Apt — the market town, 12 km, with a big Saturday market
• Abbaye de Sénanque — 25 minutes, for the lavender

When to go

May, June, September and October. The cedar forest is the one place in the Luberon that is pleasant in July — everywhere else on this hillside is treeless and hot. The view from the old church is best in the late afternoon, when the sun is on Gordes opposite.

See when to visit Provence.

Photo credits

Photographs on this page come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences:

• Bonnieux on its hillside — Mathieu Brossais, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
• Bonnieux from the valley — Pmau, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
• Tour Philippe — Mon Œil, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Weather in Bonnieux

Updated: 11 September 2026