Things To Do in Apt

The best time to visit Apt is for its Saturday-morning market centered on place de la Bouquerie, voted one of the 100 most appealing village markets in France. The streets are packed with market stalls and temporary shops. Lavender growers, purveyors of goat cheese, potters, local beekeepers, and craftspeople invade the town to peddle their wares. The Tour de l'Horloge, dating from the 1500s and straddling the rue des Marchands, is a particularly active area for the Saturday market. On market days, the town fills with jazz musicians, barrel-organ players, and other street performers.

Outdoors in Luberon Regional Nature Park

Apt is located within the vast Luberon Regional Nature Park, which has been named a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. The area covers 1,200 sq. km (463 sq. miles), encompassing numerous villages, thick forests, and many long-distance walking paths known as sentiers de grandes randonnées, or GRs.

The information office for the park is in an 18th-century house in Apt, La Maison du Parc at 60 place Jean-Jaurès (tel. 04-90-04-42-00). The office provides maps, details of hiking trails in the park, and other outdoor activities in the area, including cycling, which is one of the most popular pursuits in the region. Otherwise, the tourist office in Apt will provide information as well as useful maps. Much of the land in the Luberon area is privately owned, but trails in the park are open to the public. On-site is a small museum of geology. Admission is free, and it's open May to October Monday to Saturday from 8:30am to noon, and the rest of the year Monday to Friday from 1:30 to 6pm. Buses can be sporadic, so it's best to explore the area by car or on foot.