Palais des Papes
A monumental Gothic palace at the centre of Avignon's papal history and one of the city's defining sights.
🇫🇷 ProvenceAvignon · Villages · Roman heritageSouthern France
Provence — the France everybody pictures, and then some
Provence is one of those names that creates an image before you've even arrived: sunlight, stone villages, lavender, olive trees and long southern evenings. But the region is far richer than the postcard. Historic Avignon, extraordinary Roman remains, vineyards, hilltop villages and landscapes stretching towards the Mediterranean all belong to the same Provence story.
☀️ SouthLight & landscape
🏰 AvignonCity of the Popes
🏛️ RomanAncient Provence
💜 LavenderThe famous image
Provence road tripAvignonLavenderHilltop villagesRoman France
☀️ Our Provence Story
Southern France has its own rhythm
Provence sits firmly within our much bigger France story, but it feels like a different country from Brittany, Normandy or the volcanic Auvergne. The architecture changes, the light changes and the landscapes open into vineyards, dry hills, olive country and old stone settlements.
It's also a region where trying to reduce everything to a single city misses the point. Provence works through the contrast between historic urban centres, Roman sites, rural villages and open countryside. For us, that's exactly the kind of France that's made repeated road trips worthwhile.
🚗 Made for wandering
Trains work well for some of the major cities, but having a car gives you far more freedom once you want to move between smaller Provençal towns, villages and countryside.
🍷 Don't over-plan it
This is a region where leaving room for a market, a village you hadn't intended to stop in or a long lunch can be every bit as worthwhile as another scheduled attraction.
🏰 Avignon
The City of the Popes
Avignon is one of Provence's great historic cities. Its enormous Palais des Papes recalls the fourteenth century, when the papal court was based here, while the surviving section of the Pont Saint-Bénezet — the famous Pont d'Avignon — reaches out into the Rhône.
The historic centre, Palais des Papes, episcopal ensemble and bridge form a UNESCO World Heritage site, giving Avignon far more weight than simply being a convenient Provence base.
Pont d'Avignon
The Pont Saint-Bénezet is the bridge made famous far beyond France by the song. Only part survives today, projecting into the Rhône below the old city.
Inside the Walls
Avignon's historic core rewards exploring on foot, with medieval streets, churches, squares and grand buildings contained within the old ramparts.
🏛️ Roman Provence
Long before the popes came the Romans
One of Provence's strengths is the sheer depth of its history. Arles, Orange and the Pont du Gard are among the places where the Roman past remains dramatically visible rather than hidden behind a museum case.
Arles
Roman and Romanesque monuments sit within a living Provençal city that later became inseparable from the story of Vincent van Gogh.
Orange
The ancient theatre is one of the great survivals of Roman Gaul and gives another reason to look beyond Provence's better-known villages and lavender fields.
Pont du Gard
This monumental Roman aqueduct bridge is one of the region's most extraordinary pieces of engineering and can be reached from the Avignon area.
💜 The Provence of the Postcards
Lavender, villages and landscapes worth slowing down for
The cliché exists because the scenery really is part of Provence's appeal. Lavender is only seasonal and should never be treated as a year-round guarantee, but the wider landscape — stone villages, olive trees, vineyards and limestone hills — gives Provence its visual identity throughout the year.
Lavender Country
If lavender is a priority, plan specifically around the flowering and harvest period for the area you intend to visit rather than assuming every field will be purple all summer.
Hilltop Villages
Places such as Gordes and Les Baux-de-Provence show another face of the region: old stone settlements positioned dramatically above the surrounding landscape.
Wine & Food
Markets, vineyards and Provençal produce are part of the experience rather than an afterthought. This is a region where eating well can legitimately occupy a chunk of the itinerary.
🗺️ How We'd Plan Provence
Pick an area instead of trying to swallow the whole region
Choose a base
Avignon can work particularly well for western Provence, especially if historic sites and day trips are priorities.
Mix city & countryside
A Provence trip becomes much more interesting when a major historic city is balanced with smaller settlements and rural landscapes.
Allow for distance
Provence is a region, not a theme park. A village that looks close on a map may still involve slow roads, parking and time you actually want to spend there.
Our rule: don't build the trip entirely around lavender photographs. Provence has enough history, food, architecture and scenery to justify the journey in any season.
⚓ Marseille — Provence by the Sea
MarseilleMediterranean Provence
Provence isn't only lavender fields and hilltop villages
Marseille gives the region a completely different personality. France's great Mediterranean port is energetic, multicultural and unmistakably coastal — a brilliant contrast to the quieter villages and countryside elsewhere in Provence.
Vieux-Port
The Old Port is the natural starting point for exploring Marseille, with boats, cafés and the city rising around the harbour.
Notre-Dame de la Garde
The basilica sits high above Marseille and is one of the city's defining landmarks, with sweeping views across the port and Mediterranean.
The Calanques
Between Marseille and Cassis, dramatic limestone inlets bring together cliffs and intensely blue Mediterranean water.
🚗 Explore Marseille from Home
Drive From HomeMarseille
Virtually explore Marseille
Marseille is part of the Drive From Home collection, so we've linked it here as the city companion to our wider Provence guide.
🎟 Plan Your Own Provence Trip
Browse Provence experiences with GetYourGuide
Use the widget below to browse current tours and experiences around Provence. These are planning options and don't imply that we personally took the exact activities shown.
Powered by GetYourGuide
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Common questions
Provence FAQ
Is Provence worth visiting if the lavender isn't in bloom?
Absolutely. Lavender is one famous image of Provence, but the region also has Roman heritage, historic cities, vineyards, hilltop villages, food, markets and dramatic landscapes.
Is Avignon worth visiting?
Yes. The Palais des Papes, Pont Saint-Bénezet and historic walled centre give Avignon major historical importance as well as making it a useful base for part of Provence.
Do you need a car in Provence?
Not for everything. Major cities have rail connections and some regional sites can be reached by public transport, but a car gives much more flexibility for villages and rural areas.
Where can you see Roman sites in Provence?
Arles and Orange have major Roman monuments, while the Pont du Gard is one of the region's most spectacular surviving pieces of Roman engineering.
Is Avignon a good base?
It can be an excellent base for western Provence. Avignon has rail and bus connections to several nearby destinations, while organised excursions can reach villages and countryside that are less convenient by public transport.
🇫🇷 More France
From volcanic Auvergne to the light of Provence
Our France story keeps changing as it moves south. Next comes the Côte d'Azur — Nice, Cannes and the Mediterranean coast.