The squares and streets are filled with stalls selling a wide range of items to suit everyone’s needs and tastes: food, textiles, home decor, local cosmetics, etc.

Fruit and vegetables from the surrounding market gardens add colour to the stalls. You’ll also find goat’s cheeses, aromatic herbs, honey, olive oil, wine, lavender to perfume your cupboards, honey and lavender soaps, Provençal fabrics and many other local nuggets.

In summer, it’s best to visit early in the morning, around 9am, when the car parks are accessible, the streets are still quiet and the merchants are more available to help you discover their products. Afterwards, you can enjoy a coffee on the terrace and watch the hustle and bustle as it rises – it’s quite a sight!

The markets finish at around 12:30-13:00 and are extended in summer depending on the number of people and the weather.

Your 100% Provençal shopping list

Armed with your basket, browse the stands and let your heart and your desires guide you. Choose a concentrate of sunshine to put on your plate!

For the aperitif :

• deliciously moist fougasse
• olives (picholines) or a mixture of olives with Provence herbs
• tapenade and anchoïade for dipping into fougasse or carrots and cucumber, or spread on croutons.

For meals:

• basil, coriander, flat-leaf parsley to flavour your salads and simmered dishes
• Olive oil to pour over your salads and use to pan-fry your vegetables
• goat’s cheeses of different maturities to fully appreciate the terroir
• a loaf of small Sault spelt bread
• local and seasonal fruit and vegetables for tastier dishes.

To take home or give as a gift:

• lavender or garrigue honey for your sandwiches or herbal teas
• olive oil (taste it before you buy, depending on whether you like it fruity or a little bitter).
• Soaps with honey, lavender or donkey’s milk for soft, fragrant skin
• Sachets of Provence herbs to perfume your kitchen all year round
• Crunchy almonds to enjoy with coffee or tea

The must-see markets :

• Velleron agricultural market

From April to the end of September every day except Sunday from 6pm to 7.30pm.
From October to end of March Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4.30pm to 6pm.
Don’t miss the local farmers’ market in Velleron – it’s a real institution! This is a food-only market where farmers offer you the day’s harvest. Fruit, vegetables, fresh herbs, eggs, cheese and honey are all waiting to fill your basket with fresh, healthy local produce.

• L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue market

Thursday and Sunday mornings.
The market in this famous Provencal town, hemmed in by the banks of the River Sorgue, is a lively affair and a firm favourite with tourists, who take the opportunity to visit the town’s second-hand and antique dealers. A word of advice: in summer, come before 9am if you want to escape the crowds and do your shopping in peace.

Tuesday: Bédoin, Lauris, Cadenet from 8am to 1pm

Wednesday: Gordes, Chateauneuf-de-Gadagne from 8am to 1pm

Thursday: Sault, Isle sur la Sorgue from 8am to 1pm

Friday: Ménerbes, Goult from 8am to 1pm

Saturday: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Lourmarin, Bonnieux from 8am to 1pm

Sunday: Isle sur la Sorgue, Coustellet from 8am to 1pm

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Velleron from 6pm to 7.30pm