Provence

Jul 23, 2009 5:47:56 AM

Travel secret #6: Seillans

Coming in at #6 in Lonely Planet Magazine’s top travel secrets is Seillans, Haut-Var, Provence. It’s a recommendation courtesy of Lonely Planet guidebook author Nicola Williams:

‘I discovered Seillans with jump-for-joy excitement this spring. An exquisite example of the sub-baked hilltop villages for which Provence is too well know, it is just perfect. It has all the Provençal village prerequisites - medieval chateaux, cobbled lanes, dark vaulted passages, secret alleys, a bevy of sculpted stone foutains, bags of flowers and a seductive bird’s-eye view of toy-sized olive groves and vineyards spread like patchwork on the green plain below. But the best bit is that Seillans is hidden deep in the Haut-Var, where few know or go. Horses graze steps from the chateau, French is the only language heard and it has the dreamiest village inn I know: Hôtel des Deux Rocs, which was built for 17^th-century knight Flotte d’Agout (how grand is that?). Its soul is vintage chic, the chef’s style is contemporary and creative, and the summer terrace wrapped around a fountain beneath plane trees is positively bewitching. I sipped a pre-dinner vin d’orange (spiced orange wine) and fell head-over-heels in love.’

Want to see what came in at #7? How about #5 - a place renowned for rivers, castles and…beautiful communist architecture?

Check out the rest, and more besides, in the latest Lonely Planet Magazine.

• 
• 
• Like this? Sign up to get our best articles by email