Crillon le Brave is a small and elegant village with lovely stonework houses, perched high above most other villages. From Crillon-le-Brave you can get away from the crowds and yet have the delights of Provence at your feet.

Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols ~ 2 km
Modène ~ 3 km
Bédoin ~ 4 km
Caromb ~ 4 km
Le Barroux ~ 6 km
Malaucène ~ 6 km
Mazan ~ 7 km
Mormoiron ~ 7 km
Beaumont-du-Ventoux ~ 8 km
Saint-Hippolyte-le-Graveyron ~ 8 km
La Roque-Alric ~ 9 km
Flassan ~ 10 km
Suzette ~ 10 km
Malemort-du-Comtat ~ 11 km
Lafare ~ 11 km

The classy, tiny village of Crillon-le-Brave is located in the Ventoux region of Provence, an area rich in culture and history. For travellers weary of crowded tourist villages and sites, Crillon-le-Brave is a sublime location. Somewhat removed geographically from the rest of Provence, it retains its unspoiled country feel and ancient charms.

Though the village is small, it has an épicerie (small grocery) for basics, plus several good-to-excellent restaurants, all with panoramic views of Mont Ventoux. The centrepiece of the village is the five-star Relais & Châteaux hotel and restaurant Crillon-le-Brave, where you’ll certainly want to dine at least once during your stay.

Nearby, you’ll find other preserved medieval hilltop villages with narrow cobblestone streets and beautifully maintained stone houses with flowers tumbling from window boxes and tiny mom-and-pop bistros.

Nearby Bedoin, known by cyclists as the start of the toughest ascent of Mont Ventoux, is only five km away: a five-minute drive or 30-minute walk. Here you will find lots of shops, bakeries, groceries and restaurants. Bedoin has a well-known and popular Monday morning market. Caromb, also close by, has a bakery, excellent butcher, grocers...as well as a stunning 14th- century Romanesque church and steeple towering over the village. The medieval village within the ramparts is definitely worth a visit.

This bronze statue of Captain Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, known as "Le Brave Crillon" (Crillon the brave), is in the middle of the village and honours it's most famous son. Although a subject of the pope he served under five different French kings.

The reader may find it amusing to learn that another Just Provence destination, Ménerbes, was besieged by le Brave Crillon in 1577, which shows how intense local history can be.

Although the locality was inhabited since the neolithic it is mainly during the wars of the 15th and 16th century that Crillon was disturbed from its tranquil agricultural life, caught in a struggle between the Pope and local lords.

At the end of the 19th century the village Council decided to honour their heroic lord, Louis de Balbe de Crillon, also known as "le brave des braves" (brave among the brave) by naming the village "Crillon le Brave".

Crillon-le-brave is ideally located to explore and enjoy the department of Vaucluse. The Luberon, with its picture postcard beauty and perched, hilltop villages is a 40 minute drive. Historic towns such as Avignon (with its amazing papal palace), Vaison la Romaine (with its Roman ruins) and Orange (with its complex history) are all within an easy drive.

From wine visits of the Ventoux to Chateauneuf-du-Papes to cycling up the Mont Ventoux or just a wander through the ochre streets of nearby Bedoin on market day, Crillon le Brave is a wonderful summit lair from which to plan your summer excursions.

The spectacular view from Crillon-le-Brave.