Most people already have an idea of Provence before they arrive.

Vineyards, lavender, pale stone villages and long lunches beneath the sun. It is one of those rare places whose image has travelled almost as widely as the destination itself, and much of what you imagine is genuinely there.

But it doesn't take long on the road to realise that Provence is considerably harder to define.

Drive north from the gentler countryside around Aix and the landscape begins to change. Vineyards and farmland give way to forests, limestone cliffs and enormous gorges. Roads climb, tighten and disappear between rock faces before opening suddenly onto lakes and distant mountains. Head east towards the Alpes-Maritimes and the character changes again, with increasingly dramatic terrain and roads that feel far removed from the Provence of postcards and travel brochures.

That contrast is one of the things we have come to appreciate most about the region.

It would be easy to design a journey here around the obvious highlights. There are enough famous villages, restaurants, vineyards and hotels to fill a week without looking particularly hard. But doing so would miss much of what makes Provence interesting, particularly when you are exploring it by car.

The road reveals the transitions.

You notice when the landscape becomes more rugged because the character of the driving changes with it. A broad, flowing road through open countryside asks something completely different of a car than a sequence climbing through the mountains. A route beside the water creates a different atmosphere again. Over the course of a day, you can move through several versions of the same region without ever feeling as though you have travelled particularly far.

For a multi-car journey, that matters.

A great car is rarely great in only one way, and neither is a great road. There are places where an open-top supercar makes perfect sense, places where something compact and responsive comes alive, and longer stretches where the effortless pace of a grand tourer suddenly becomes the car everyone wants the keys to.

Rotating between them changes your perspective on the road, but the road also changes your perspective on the cars.

And then, inevitably, you stop driving.

This is perhaps where Provence makes its strongest case. The things away from the wheel never feel disconnected from the landscape you've just driven through. Wine is produced in the countryside surrounding you. Menus change with what is grown nearby and with the season. A long lunch doesn't feel like an interruption to the driving day; it feels like another way of understanding where you are.

The same is true of where you stay.

For our 2027 journey, we deliberately chose two properties with very different interpretations of Provence. A historic estate among vineyards bringing together contemporary art, wine and gastronomy. Then, a secluded yet expansive luxury resort, surrounded by the quieter landscape that defines the latter part of the journey.

Neither exists simply as somewhere to sleep between drives. They change the pace of the experience. Which, perhaps, is the point.

Our newly refined 2027 Supercar Tour of Provence has been built around that variety.

Over four nights and three days behind the wheel, the journey moves through dramatic gorges and mountain roads, vineyard-lined countryside, and the foothills of the Alpes-Maritimes, balanced with private wine experiences, Provençal cooking, exceptional dining, and enough time to enjoy the places encountered along the way.

The tour runs from 27 April to 1 May 2027, with places now available.

But whether you join us next April or discover it another way, Provence is worth approaching without too fixed an idea of what you'll find.