Give the Palais des Papes its morning with the free Histopad, walk out on what is left of the Pont Saint-Bénézet, then climb the Rocher des Doms for the view over the Rhône. The Petit Palais and the Calvet cost nothing. Spend the afternoon on the Rue des Teinturiers or take the free boat to the Barthelasse, and keep a day for the Pont du Gard or Arles.
Avignon is the city the popes built when they left Rome, and it still sits inside its 14th-century walls on the Rhône. The palace, the broken bridge and the cathedral make one UNESCO site, the city museums are free, and Roman Provence is a short train ride away.
The popes built this fortress-palace between 1335 and 1352, and nothing else in Avignon comes close in scale. The free Histopad tablet rebuilds the bare rooms as they were; buy the combined ticket with the bridge at €19.50.
Four of the original 22 arches survive, so the bridge of the nursery song now stops halfway across the Rhône. Entry is €6 from August 2026, or see it whole and free from the Rocher des Doms above.
The garden on the rock above the palace is free and opens at 7:30 all year. Come for the view over the Rhône, the bridge and Villeneuve, and stay late: it closes at 18:00 in winter and 22:00 in June and July.
The old archbishops’ palace at the end of the square holds medieval and Renaissance painting, Italian primitives above all, with a Botticelli Madonna among them. Entry is free, and it closes on Mondays.
Fine art from the 15th to the 20th century in an 18th-century townhouse by Jean-Baptiste Franque, founded on the bequest of the physician Esprit Calvet. Free, closed Mondays and rarely crowded.
Contemporary art from the dealer Yvon Lambert, who gave his collection to the French State in 2011. Tickets are €12, and outside July and August it opens Wednesday to Sunday only.
The covered market opens Tuesday to Sunday from 6:00 and is winding down by early afternoon. Look up on the way in: Patrick Blanc’s vertical garden covers the facade, 30 metres by 11.5.
The dyers’ street follows a branch of the Sorgue under plane trees. Twenty-three waterwheels drove the printed-fabric mills here in 1817 and four remain, with the Chapelle des Pénitents Gris on the water.
A free electric shuttle crosses the Rhône in about two minutes, from below the Rocher des Doms to the Île de la Barthelasse, mid-February to December. The island path gives the best low view of the bridge and palace.
The cathedral beside the palace is older than it and free to enter. The gilded Virgin on its bell tower, placed in 1859 and weighing about 4.5 tonnes, is the figure you see from every viewpoint in town.
Provençal folk arts and traditions in a family mansion. The permanent collections are free.
The Calvet’s antiquities, Greek, Etruscan and Gallo-Roman stone, in a former Jesuit chapel.
A Michelin star for Mathieu Desmarest and a surprise menu that follows the season. Closed weekends.
Guilhem Sevin cooks in Christian Étienne’s old house beside the palace, a building from around 1200.
Terraced gardens inside the fort walls, on a separate ticket from the fort.
The tower that guarded the French end of the Pont Saint-Bénézet. Climb it for the view.
The popes’ summer-castle ruin above the vines. Its 1936 appellation is often called France’s first.
The papal core: Place du Palais, Place de l’Horloge and the busiest streets. Loudest in July.
The east side of the walled town, along the canal, quieter and cheaper than the centre.
Farms, orchards and campsites on a river island, linked to town by the free boat.
A ruined castle on a crag, and the Carrières des Lumières light shows in the quarry below.
Saturday 8:00 to 13:00, local produce and crafts from Place des Carmes to Place Pie.
Five days of horse shows at the Parc des Expositions. The 40th edition ran 14 to 18 January 2026.
The winter contemporary dance festival. The 2027 edition is set for 7 to 27 February.
Film previews across the city’s cinemas, Utopia among them. The 2026 edition ran 10 to 20 March.
Free concerts in squares and courtyards across the walled town, as everywhere in France.
Jean Vilar’s festival, founded 1947. The 80th edition ran 4 to 25 July 2026, with the Cour d’honneur as its main stage.
The open fringe on the same dates: more than 1,700 shows in 2026, in some 140 theatres.
Jazz in the Cloître des Carmes. The 2026 edition ran 28 July to 2 August.
Chalets on Place de l’Horloge, listed for 27 November 2026 to 2 January 2027.
Direct trains from Paris Gare de Lyon take about 2 hours 40. The Virgule shuttle reaches Avignon Centre, by the walls, in about five minutes.
The nearest airport with scheduled flights; Avignon’s own has had none since 2023. Direct coaches reach Avignon in about an hour.
Tram line T1 and the bus network of Greater Avignon. The walled town itself is best on foot.
Pink chocolate filled with Origan du Comtat, a liqueur of Ventoux herbs.
A slow wine stew, made here with lamb or mutton rather than beef.
Olives, capers and anchovies pounded with olive oil, spread on toast.
Summer vegetables stewed down in olive oil, served warm or cold.
The Vaucluse melon, protected as an EU geographical indication since 2025.
Striped hard sweets from the market town 25 minutes north-east.
Olive-oil and orange-blossom brioche, broken by hand at Christmas.
Almond and candied-melon sweets from Aix, sold in every confiserie here.
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