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7 Days Sample Itinerary from Avignon to Aix en Provence

Day 1/2 Avignon

Avignon is famous as the town to which the Popes fled when leaving the corruption of Rome in the 14th Century. The palace they built, 'Le Palais des Papes,' is the world's largest Gothic cathedral. Still an imposing building, over the centuries it was largely emptied, and its vast stone rooms are filled with little more than old frescos. The walls surrounding the town were erected by the Popes in the 14th Century to keep the plague and invaders out during the turbulent middle ages, when Avignon belonged to the papacy and not the French crown.
Its early history is much older than the popes, however. Avignon occupies a strategic location for several reasons - it is at the confluence of two once-mighty rivers: the Rhône, and Durance. Both were important routes of trade and communication even in prehistoric times. In addition, there is a long island in the Rhône that made it possible to ferry people and goods across, and later bridge the river, more easily than in other places.

Explore the beautiful town of Avignon with its impressive medieval fortress, Papal Palace, Pont de Bezenet and top-notch museums, as well as many pretty tree-lined squares bustling with cafés and restaurants offering mouth-watering Provençal cuisine. Overnight in Avignon.

Best of Nice

Provence Tour

Day 4 Camargue National Park
Take a local bus or car from Arles into the Camargue region and the village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, located right on the edge of the Camargue National Reserve. From here there are many options for walks in the reserve to spot birds and other wildlife in this unique habitat, including the famous flamingos. Hire a bike or go horseback riding, on one of the famous Camargue stallions. Overnight in Arles.

Day 5 Arles
Take some more time to explore Arles. Arles, is a small, quiet and art-oriented town, with a Roman amphitheater and other Roman artifacts as well as endless little curiosities, ancient and modern. The town has many exhibitions and galleries and is a great walking place. Worth visiting are the ancient theatre and amphitheater. Take the bus (or car) to Aix-en-Provence.

Getting There from Paris

Avignon is 2.5hrs from Paris Gare de Lyon and under 1hr from Marseilles St Charles, by high-speed train.

The TGV (high-speed train) station is located outside the city, about 10mins by taxi, costing around €15 with luggage. There is also a “navette” shuttle bus, which will drop you just inside the city walls, opposite the Central Avignon Station, at the Porte du Republique.

Avignon Airport is located 10km from the city.

Day 6 Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence is home and inspiration to the painter Cézanne. It is a classy town, with leafy boulevards and public squares that are lined up with 17th and 18th Century mansions. Explore the city of Aix, with its many museums, galleries and mansions, and a vibrant artistic and cultural scene.

Day 7 Aix-en Provence

For a great day out, take the bus or car to the nearby Saint Victoire Massif mountain range — home to Provence´s very own volcano. Explore its many hiking paths, absorb the beautiful views, and the local bird and wildlife.

Places to visit on French Riviera

French Kiss

Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline  star in this bouncy romantic comedy about life, love and larceny. When her fiancé is smitten by a beautiful Frenchwoman, Kate (Ryan) flies to Paris determined to win him back. However, nothing prepares her for Luc (Kline), a cunning sexy Frenchman with a gift for gab and a fondness for thievery. A self-proclaimed expert on affairs of the heart, Luc promises to help Kate win back her man. But one star-crossed misadventure after another sweeps them across France, ultimately changing them in ways they never dreamed possible.

Classic, timeless, wonderful romantic comedy.

A Good Year

Comedy based on Peter Mayle's best-selling novel about a London-based investment banker who relocates to Provence in hopes of selling a small vineyard he has inherited from his recently-deceased uncle. As a child, Max Skinner (Freddie Highmore) was taught to appreciate the finer things in life while wandering the vineyard estate of his uncle Henry (Albert Finney). 25 years later Max (Russell Crowe) is now a successful businessman and when he learns that Henry has recently passed away and he has been named the sole beneficiary of his late uncle's estate, Max hastily arranges a flight to France in order to assess the value of the old property and get it prepped for sale. However, Max arrives in Provence to discover the vineyard in a crumbling state of disrepair, and his troubles are further compounded by the stubbornness of a gruff estate winemaker M. Duflot (Didier Bourdon) and the unexpected arrival of a determined Californian woman named Christie (Abbie Cornish) who presents herself as a long-lost cousin while making a dubious claim to Henry's estate.

A feel-good movie that highlights the beauty of France and make one want to "be there".

To Catch A Thief

Cary Grant plays John Robie, reformed jewel thief who was once known as "The Cat," in this suspenseful Alfred Hitchcock classic thriller. Robie is suspected of a new rash of gem thefts in the luxury hotels of the French Riviera, and he must set out to clear himself. Meeting pampered heiress Frances (Grace Kelly), he sees a chance to bait the mysterious thief with her mother's (Jessie Royce Landis) fabulous jewels. His plan backfires, however, but France, who believes him guilty, proves her love by helping him escape. In a spine-tingling climax, the real criminal is exposed.

A Year in Provence

In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.

Toujours Provence

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Taking up where his beloved A Year in Provence leaves off, Peter Mayle offers us another funny, beautifully evocative book about life in Provence. With tales only one who lives there could know—of finding gold coins while digging in the garden, of indulging in sumptuous feasts at truck stops—and with characters introduced with great affection and wit—the gendarme fallen from grace, the summer visitors ever trying the patience of even the most genial Provençaux, the straightforward dog "Boy"—Toujours Provence is a heart-warming portrait of a place where, if you can't quite "get away from it all," you can surely have a very good time trying.