Travel secret #6: Seillans

23 July 2009 3:47pm

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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.

Comments

24 July 2009 10:19PM fantome Report this comment
Hey, let's not tell TOO many people about our quiet village in France. But if someone would like to rent our home in the heart of Seillans one day, take a look at www.vrbo.com/6624
26 July 2009 5:44AM h44x Report this comment
I am agree with fantome - there should be places about which most people will not know and will not tell too much about them.
I'm collecting interesting places for my Eurotrip, found this one really interesting. I will visit it when we will reach France.
26 July 2009 12:06PM flyguys Report this comment
After watch the Tour de France this month one has to wonder how much time and planning went into all these homes/castles. The landscape is so beautiful. What a different lifestyle the French must live.
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