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Expanding a bit, the most appealing parts of Provence are found in the triangle between Avignon, Arles, and Salon de Provence. Here you can drive your car to practically any small town and find a charming and inexpensive hotel. Well, you can in the off-season at least.

Here are places we find compelling:. Notes: It is an easy 5-mile walk between St. Remy and Les Baux. The Pont du Gard is between Orange and Nimes just off the A9 and is easily visited if you have a car. Provence typically has dry summers and cool, wet winters. May, June, and September are good months to travel to Provence. France's second largest city is hot in June and July but cools rapidly to a comfortable high temperature in September.

Spring has less rain than fall. Summers aren't blistering hot as a rule, but Provence gets quite crowded in July and August. Remy is a reasonable value, although the rooms seem less charming than some hotels in the area. Get a room by the pool to stay away from street noise. A double room is about 60 Euros. The area is one of the best for French olive oil and is central to the places discussed on this page.

The charming little towns of Provence make it a perfect place to explore by car ; thus, it's one of our recommended Rural Self Catering suggestions. HomeAway lists vacation rentals in the area. A week in Provence isn't nearly enough to see everything. If you'd prefer to leave the driving and the planning details to someone else, you may enjoy a coach tour to see the main sites of Provence, like those offered by Viator.

Smaller and focused group tours are offered by such companies as Provence Escapes and The Luberon Experience. You've come, of course, to see the Palais des Papes, the Palace of the Popes, which confronts the visitor with a sort of gray austerity which fails to hide its glorious excess as the world's largest Gothic palace.

A short walk from the palace takes you to the second big attraction: the 12th-century Avignon Bridge called the Saint-Benezet bridge after the young shepherd who heard divine voices instructing him to construct it. By the time you've explored the Palace interior with your audio guide and walked across the bridge a few times, you might feel like sitting a spell and just enjoying some shade in one of the lively cafes. You're in luck. The town's squares are shady and welcoming; have a glass of the famous Tavel or Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Avignon is worth a stay of a few days. The city can be reached via the fast TGV from Paris. You know that Vincent Van Gogh famously lopped his ear off in Arles and that there's a Roman arena there that still hosts events of all kinds. But Arles is a very pleasant town in Provence to spend a few days exploring. Market mavens will love getting gloriously lost in the largest market in Provence held on Saturday mornings.

Arles has a train station, so you don't even have to rent a car to see it. The Abbey of Montmajour is found just outside of Arles on the Fontveille road. The Abbey stands on what was once an island surrounded by marshland and only accessible by boat. The Abbey started out as a fortified Benedictine monastery built between the 10th and 18th centuries.

Provence is a vast part of France, divided up into six large regions from the quiet Luberon and Alpilles to the ever popular Riviera and its coastal destinations.

All of them boast a great selection of hotels, villas and rural retreats. Provence is served by two main airports, Nice and Marseille, as well as a small airport in Avignon which offers seasonal flights. There are also high-speed train connections to most of the Provencal towns. Start Search. Welcome to Provence Fields of lavender, sunflowers and olive trees. Start Planning. News Find out all about what is happening in Provence and how to make the most of your time here.

Events Provence has a busy calendar of events all year round featuring art exhibitions, charming markets, cultural festivals and concerts. Do Well-known as a wine region, there are numerous vineyards to explore as you wind your way through this part of the French countryside. See A trip to Provence unveils an incredible amount of places to see. Things to Do in Provence. Dining in Provence. Nightlife in Provence. Tucked in a lush valley in the Luberon mountain range, it is a place for art lovers and bookworms, home to a handful of galleries as well as the tombs of writers Albert Camus and Henri Bosco.

Roussillon is, along with Gordes, the most popular destination for those visiting the Luberon massif, teetering at the top of a cliff beside an old ochre quarry. It has charming 17th- and 18th-century dwellings painted in shades of the aforementioned local rock, backdropped by vivid mountain vegetation and rugged panoramas that have attracted many an artist over the years.

Not for nothing does Roussillon have an impressive art and gallery scene. The ochre for which the place is celebrated makes for all kinds of activities — cycling tours along the cliff, for instance, and pigment-making workshops.

With medieval walls, ornate fountains and one of the oldest arcs de triomphe in the country, this small mountain community is a must for history and art lovers. It inspired some of the most celebrated works by Van Gogh, who painted The Starry Night while a patient at the local asylum, along with The Wheat Field series — ; numerous depictions of roses, irises and forest trees; and haunting views of the hospital.

These historic sights owe their fine condition to their isolated, rural location, which has escaped the modifying march of centuries. Venasque is famed for its production of cherries and grapes, its farms reputedly producing some of the best to be found under the Mediterranean sun.

Once a centre of the Christian world, Avignon is a stronghold of chapels and churches, crowned by the architectural masterpiece that is the Palais des Papes Palace of the Popes.

What was formerly a nautical village is now a major attraction for antiques lovers, hosting vibrant traditional markets every Sunday. Its annual antiques fair is considered one of the best in the world, drawing hundreds of dealers and making for fascinating browsing for wandering weekenders. The village is renowned for its quality wines and truffles, which attract gourmands in their droves. This island, reached by ferry from Toulon, is relatively unfrequented by tourists, but has masses of appeal: beaches, exotic plants, transparent waters and, crucially, tranquillity — it is a government-protected environment.

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