Things to do in Avignon
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Avignon
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring: mild, markets at their best, palace queue free, Mistral frequent. May is arguably the single best month.
June: lavender starts around Sénanque and the Luberon from late June, long evenings and pre-festival calm early on.
July is the Festival: maximum life, price and heat at 30 to 38 degrees. Come for it or avoid the dates entirely.
August is hot, festival-less and partly closed as restaurants take holidays; the weakest summer month in the city.
Autumn sweet spot: September warmth, harvest in Châteauneuf, October cooling and normalising prices. Intense rain episodes are possible.
Winter: cold bright Mistral days, an empty palace, December Christmas markets, and black truffle season from November to March.
What's on
- Festival d'Avignon (IN) July, three weeks
Major international theatre, dance and music, anchored by the Palais des Papes Cour d'Honneur.
- Festival OFF July, three weeks
Over a thousand shows a day across 100 plus small venues, with troupes flyering every square.
- Chorégies d'Orange late June to July
Opera in Orange's Roman theatre, the regional add-on to a festival trip.
- Ban des Vendanges September
Avignon's celebrations marking the start of the grape harvest across Châteauneuf and the Dentelles.
- Christmas markets and lights December
Markets and lights brighten the cold, quiet palace season.
- Black truffle season, Uzès hunts November to March
Guided truffle hunts with a farmer and his dog near Uzès, followed by tastings with wine.
Best things to do in Avignon
Palais des Papes
The world's largest Gothic palace, made legible by the Histopad tablet that rebuilds its bare halls as they looked in the 1300s.
Pont Saint-Bénézet
Walk the famous half bridge into the Rhône for the palace skyline, the Saint-Nicolas chapel and the Bénézet story.
Rocher des Doms
A free public garden viewpoint over the Rhône to Villeneuve and Fort Saint-André, with Mont Ventoux visible on clear days.
Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms
The Romanesque cathedral beside the palace, topped by a gilded Virgin, worth a quick interior stop on the Rocher climb.
Les Halles d'Avignon
A working covered market of Provençal cheese, charcuterie, olives and fougasse, best for grazing and building a picnic.
Musée du Petit Palais
One of France's finest collections of Italian Gothic and early Renaissance painting, including a celebrated Botticelli Madonna.
Musée Angladon
A compact townhouse museum holding the only Van Gogh on display in Avignon, plus Picasso, Modigliani and Degas.
Collection Lambert
Contemporary art by Twombly, Kiefer and Basquiat across two mansions, Avignon's counterweight to its medieval image.
Where to stay in Avignon
Intra-Muros
first trip, all-round base
Everything is within a 15 minute walk, from the palace and Les Halles to Avignon Centre station.
Villeneuve-lès-Avignon
quiet, repeat visitors and drivers
Village calm, free parking and the palace view across the river, at the cost of a short drive or walk each way.
Île de la Barthelasse
families, campers and green space
Campsites, gîtes and river paths between the two towns, lovely in summer and isolated in winter and after dark.
Avignon TGV station area (Courtine)
one-night rail stop only
Chain hotels by the TGV station for early trains, linked to the centre by shuttle, not a base for Avignon itself.
Le Pontet, Vedène and Morières outskirts
drivers on a budget and golfers
Cheaper chain and golf adjacent hotels with free parking, at the cost of driving in for every meal.
Think twice about
- Outer estates: Monclar, Saint-Chamand and Pont des Deux Eaux
Among France's most deprived districts, with entrenched drug dealing and periodic violent incidents. Implausibly cheap rentals pinned in the south or east estates are cheap for this reason.
- Avignon TGV and Courtine business zone as a base
Not dangerous, just desolate distribution depots with virtually no restaurants. Fine for one night before an early train, a daily commute otherwise.
- Place de l'Horloge and the loudest Rue de la République stretches in July
Festival terraces and street life run past 1 a.m. and rooms carry the steepest festival premium. Two streets back fixes both noise and price.
Best restaurants in Avignon
Restaurant Sevin
Modern Provençal tasting menus in a frescoed 12th century residence beside the palace; lunch is the value door.
Pollen
Avignon's younger starred table: plant forward tasting menus in a calm contemporary room, with softer priced lunches.
La Mirande
The palace hotel's starred gastronomic room, intense and formal, the anniversary booking in Avignon.
Le Mirage
La Mirande's acclaimed Plate tavern in medieval vaults, serving organic market led Provençal cooking at half the starred price.
Hiély Lucullus
A tiny room where French technique meets Peruvian chiles and ceviche in a daily changing six to seven course menu.
La Fourchette
The great-value bistro locals queue for: traditional Provençal cooking at a three course price around 25 to 35 euros.
Fou de Fafa
A small dinner only room cooking a short seasonal menu, with personal service and value travellers and locals both rate.
L'Essentiel
Bistronomy steps from the palace: serious cooking in a casual ancient house, the lunch to book when Sevin is full.
Best bars in Avignon
Bibendum
A wine bar bistro on Rue Joseph Vernet open to 1 a.m., the late night glass in the centre.
Les Péquélets
A natural wine bar run by two brothers from a Vinsobres winemaking family.
Vinotage
A floating wine barge on the Rhône by Île Piot, with 250 plus wines and cheese boards at sunset.
Outdoor things to do in Avignon
Pont du Gard
The tallest preserved Roman aqueduct bridge, also a swim spot, best experienced by kayaking the Gardon under it with Kayak Vert.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Southern Rhône wine tasting among the galets roulés vineyards, best as a small group tour so nobody has to drive and spit.
The Luberon
The classic Provençal road loop: Gordes, Sénanque's lavender, Roussillon's Ochre Trail and the spring at Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.
Les Baux-de-Provence and Carrières des Lumières
Alpilles ridge hiking, the Van Gogh walk at Saint-Rémy and the immersive projection show inside a cool quarried cavern.
Camargue
A flat wetland of flamingos, white horses and black bulls, explored by 4x4, horseback or bike from Saintes-Maries.
Vélopop
City bike share for the Barthelasse loop and Villeneuve ride, with full day e-bike tours solving the Luberon hills.
UGolf Avignon Châteaublanc
Avignon's main round: a flat, technical 18 hole course between lakes and trees, plus a 9 hole course and 50 bay range.
Golf Grand Avignon
A pleasant 18 hole course in Rhône side greenery at Vedène, a notch below Châteaublanc but well liked by repeat players.
Best hotels in Avignon
La Mirande
A cardinal's palace turned mansion at the palace's feet, with a garden terrace, starred restaurant and famous cooking school.
Hôtel d'Europe
The grand dame since 1799, a 16th century mansion with courtyard garden and old school service between palace and bridge.
Hôtel de Cambis
A wine themed hotel with a barrel vaulted wine bar in the calm Vernet quarter, at below grande dame prices.
Hôtel de l'Horloge
The reliable central four star on Place de l'Horloge itself; ask for a courtyard room in July for quiet.
Garlande Hôtel
A charming 18th century townhouse on a quiet pedestrian lane, with Provençal rooms and a homemade breakfast reviewers rave about.
Hôtel Le Médiéval
A traditional character three star giving you the palace quarter location at three star prices.
Kyriad Palais des Papes
A central three star on Place de l'Horloge, two minutes from the palace, with some rooms sleeping four for families.
HO36 Avignon
A modern design hostel with dorms and privates, a bar and communal spaces, and the festival's best value bed if booked early.
Is Avignon expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €70 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €165 a person |
| Splurge | €350 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Palais des Papes: a few days ahead
- Festival d'Avignon: months ahead
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape: a few days ahead
- Les Baux-de-Provence and Carrières des Lumières: a few days ahead
- Truffle hunting, Uzès: a few days ahead
- Restaurant Sevin: weeks ahead
- Pollen: weeks ahead
- La Mirande: weeks ahead
- Festival IN shows in the Cour d'Honneur sell from the day the spring programme drops; the OFF mostly needs no advance booking.
- La Mirande, Sevin, Pollen, Hiély and Fou de Fafa dinners need days to weeks ahead in season; Hiély and Fou de Fafa are tiny.
- Palais des Papes timed entry in July and August: buy online the day before and take the first slot.
- Châteauneuf and Luberon small group tours and truffle hunts fill 3 to 7 days ahead; hotels for July need months.
- Carrières des Lumières timed tickets sell out by midday in summer; book the day before.
Is Avignon safe?
- Pickpockets work festival crowds, the palace queue, Centre station and Place Pie on market mornings; keep phones off café tables and bags zipped.
- Walk lit intra-muros routes at night; the rampart edges and station frontage are thinner and quieter.
- The Mistral is a violent cold northerly in winter and spring; expect cycling misery and slower trains in extreme gusts.
- Summer heat regularly exceeds 35 degrees in July; the palace, Pont du Gard banks and Luberon trails are shadeless at midday, so carry water and schedule interiors for 1 to 4 p.m.
- Mosquitoes at dawn and dusk in the Camargue in summer are serious; repellent is equipment, not advice.
Avignon travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Palace square terraces on Place du Palais and Place de l'Horloge charge for the postcard; have one coffee there, eat elsewhere.
- Paying full price twice for palace and bridge when a combined ticket exists.
- Treating Avignon as a one night TGV stopover; the excursions and evenings are the destination.
- The long Rhône lunch cruises rate far below the one hour scenic cruise; eat in town and cruise short.
- Châteauneuf DIY without a plan: tasting rooms close for lunch, many domaines are appointment only, and the driver cannot taste.
- Driving into the Luberon at 11 a.m. in July, when Gordes car parks fill; start at 8 or take the tour.
Getting around Avignon: public transport and more
- Do not confuse Avignon Centre station at the ramparts with Avignon TGV 4 km out in Courtine; a shuttle links them in 5 to 10 minutes.
- Walk intra-muros, about 15 minutes end to end. Cars help only for Luberon, Camargue and Ventoux days; rent by the day.
- Buses cover Pont du Gard on route 115, Châteauneuf and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, cheaply but infrequently on Sundays. Check Zou timetables the day before.
- Vélopop bike share and the free seasonal Barthelasse ferry cover the river. From Marseille Airport, direct trains reach Avignon in about an hour.
Who Avignon suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Avignon your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store