The most beautiful village in the world is in France, according to an American guide. It is a white city outside of time.
The prestigious American travel magazine Travel + Leisure offers each year a real world tour by producing a ranking of the most beautiful villages. Surprise this year, in its selection of the 23 most popular villages in the world where Dutch or Canadian villages mix with Italian or Greek villages, it is a French village which captured the hearts of journalists from the American magazine Travel + Leisure.
It is already classified among the most beautiful villages in France. Perched at the top of Provence, on its rock at an altitude of 300 meters, it offers the visitor an exceptional panorama of the valley and the Luberon mountain, in a dream setting with its white stone houses, its cobbled streets, its massive timeless church and its imposing medieval castle. Among its visitors, many artists have succumbed to its charm, such as Marc Chagall, Victor Vasarely, André Lhote and the Flemish painter Pol Mara who lived there and whose contemporary art museum at the castle pays tribute to him.
Clinging to the slopes of the Vaucluse plateau in the heart of 4,800 hectares of nature, this rural village of 1,670 inhabitants reveals a remarkable historical heritage made famous by its dry stone architecture. Barely 4 kilometers away, there is another village, that of Bories, which will delight archeology enthusiasts with its perfectly preserved dry stone cabins dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Another must-visit during your visit to Gordes is the Senanque Abbey founded by Cistercian monks, which is well recognized by its postcard landscape bathed in lavender fields. Located just a few minutes from Gordes, it is a true place of meditation and contemplation. Finally, the Provençal village offers a more than stunning view from its Bel Air rock. It’s the flagship spot of the entire region! There is no denying it: there are many things to see while passing through this small perched village.
In the Travel + Leisure ranking, Gordes comes first ahead of serious competitors, such as Shirakawa-gō in Japan in second position and Giethoorn in the Netherlands on the 3rd step of the podium. Stepantsminda in Georgia and Oia in Greece follow. Italy is far behind, with Portofino and its white houses in 10th place.
This Provençal village located less than an hour from Marseille is the ultimate embodiment of Provençal charm, offering a splendid bucolic escape to France that you will remember for a long time. It is in this picturesque setting, a mecca of stone, that renowned artists perform each year in July and August during the Summer Evenings Festival.