Visit Avignon in one day: what to see and do in Avignon?
Avignon and the Palais des Papes were the perfect end to my enchanting getaway in the Luberon. The stopover wasn’t planned, but this historic city and its festival really appealed to me! It was too good an opportunity to get a first glimpse of Avignon, and I must say that the city left a very good first impression on me.
So let me take you on a one-day tour to visit Avignon! You’ll see that the streets of Avignon’s historic center, so lively during the festival, have plenty of surprises in store for us!
VISIT AVIGNON IN ONE DAY – PRACTICAL TIPS
How to get to Avignon ?
By car, Avignon is located 45 minutes east of Nîmes, 1 hour 15 minutes northeast of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, and 2 hours 15 minutes south of Lyon.
Please note that during the festival, access to Avignon is particularly difficult by car. You can park in one of the park-and-ride car parks that offer shuttle services or on the Île de Piot, if you are lucky enough to find a space.
Avignon is also very well connected by train thanks to the Avignon TGV station, located just a few kilometers south of Avignon. Marseille is 40 minutes away, Lyon is 1 hour away, and Paris is 2 hours and 40 minutes away.
If you also want to visit the area around Avignon, you will need a car.
Compare car rentals to find the best price!
Where to stay to visit Avignon?
Here are several accommodation suggestions, ranked according to your budget.
Find your accommodation in Avignon!
3 best places to stay when visiting Avignon
HÔTEL LE MAS DES AMANDIERS
- 10 minutes from Avignon
- With a swimming pool
- From 100€
MAS DE CAPELOU
- 9,5/10 on booking.com
- Charming 17th-century gem
- From 200€
STUDIO DE L’ATELIER D’ARTISTE
- Fully equipped, city center
- Great value for money
- From 90€
How much time to visit Avignon ?
A day is enough to visit Avignon and to get a first glimpse of the city and the Palais des Papes. The city center is compact, and everything can be done on foot in the cobbled streets, which is particularly pleasant! This will give you time to explore before extending your stay with a few plays at the Festival d’Avignon if the season is right (in July).
What to bring back from Avignon?
There is no shortage of Provençal specialties, and you can of course find them in Avignon. Oils, olives, Provençal herbs, lavender products…
But the specialty of Avignon par excellence remains the Papaline. Created in homage to the popes, this pink candy is made up of two layers of chocolate enclosing Comtat oregano liqueur. This alcohol is obtained by macerating dozens of plants from the region. And the red color of the candy is supposed to recall the robes of the cardinals! A surprising sweet treat that is well worth a taste!
And let’s not forget that Avignon is also the capital of Côtes du Rhône wines!
VISIT AVIGNON DURING THE FESTIVAL
I think my experience in Avignon would have been very different if the festival hadn’t been taking place at that time. During the festival, the heart of the city beats faster. Lively, committed, colorful, the atmosphere is incredible, carried by the largest performing arts event in the world!
The historic streets of Avignon are certainly more crowded than usual, but the excitement that the festival brings is truly special. As the heat of the Provençal summer descends on the city, the diversity of the plays shines out in every corner of Avignon. Here, people talk about theater, they promote open-mindedness, and they spread good cheer like a contagious disease. So even though I didn’t have time to see a play, I’ve made up my mind: I’ll be back, that’s for sure!
Because while the city is buzzing with activity, I also really enjoyed the festival of colors that spreads through the white streets of Avignon. Everywhere, posters for shows cover lampposts and walls and decorate dark passageways. Avignon is covered with colorful dots like a multicolored ladybug! Costumes also enliven the streets, as many artists parade through them every day to promote their shows. You come across street pianists, clowns, and tightrope walkers on stilts… And impromptu concerts spring up on every street corner!
The “in” and “off” festivals blend together cheerfully, with street performances forming a huge theater fair where several hundred shows come together each year.
VISIT AVIGNON : THE PALAIS DES PAPES
Practical information – Palais des Papes in Avignon: the Palais des Papes opens at 9 a.m. (9:30 a.m. in winter) but closing times vary depending on the season (until 8:30 p.m. in August). To check the opening times, visit the Palais des Papes website.
Admission: €12 (reduced rates available). There is also a combined ticket with the Pont Saint Bénezet.
Réservez votre billet pour le palais des papes !
Outside the Palais des Papes
Let’s start our tour of Avignon with the Palais des Papes, the city’s masterpiece. In the middle of the Place du Palais stands the result of the largest construction project in the Western world in the 14th century, which left me speechless! Its size seems enormous, contrasting sharply with the pretty little streets of Avignon.
From the outside, the Palais des Papes looks like a real fortress, flanked by numerous towers and surrounded by high crenellated walls that protect its occupants. However, the huge construction project took less than 20 years and was completed in 1352.
At the time, Avignon was a small state belonging to the Church, lost in the middle of the French kingdom. At the time, the popes moved between the different cities of their kingdoms, from Rome to Avignon. A succession of French popes then settled permanently in Avignon once their palace was built, which also contributed to its fame.
Visiting Palais des Papes
A visit to the Palais des Papes reveals a veritable city within a city, as a huge army of workers bustles around the pope! Just imagine: the papal curia had between 450 and 650 members on average! There are chamberlains who watch over him all night long, guards, doctors, chaplains, but also cooks and even wine stewards who ensure that the wine supply is replenished…
The visit is free but fascinating! The Histopad included in the admission price provides excellent explanations and makes the visit interactive. It takes us straight back to the Middle Ages and brings to life the daily life of the first popes of Avignon. I’m not usually very enthusiastic about combining historical visits with technology, but I must say that this experience was really successful and added a real bonus to the visit to the Palais des Papes!
Before entering the palace, I invite you to make a first stop in the two beautiful courtyards. The cour d’honneur is huge and enclosed, surrounded on all sides by the high walls of the palace. The cour du cloître is more intimate and resembles an abbey garden surrounded by arcades.
Inside the Palais des Papes
Here we are inside the palace! During the tour, several things struck me. First, the immensity of the rooms, which seem disproportionate. And the preservation of the period decorations, particularly the murals and ceilings. An invaluable treasure that dates back to the 14th century!
Speaking of immensity… Welcome to the Grand Tinel, which is no less than 48 meters long! Can you imagine the feasts and grand gatherings that took place in this room? Right next door, the kitchen of Clement VI is no less impressive. Although the room itself is not large, its hood is 18 meters high!
A little further on, you’ll discover the Grande Audience hall with its Gothic vaults, the Grande Chapelle du Pape, and the private apartments. It is in this series of rooms that the jewels of the Popes’ Palace are found: the Pope’s Chamber and the Stag Room, which was used as a study by Pope Clement VI. These two rooms remain unchanged today, with their floors covered in small colored tiles and their priceless frescoes covering all the walls.
For me, the Pope’s Chamber is the most beautiful room in the palace, as I was fascinated by the colors and history contained within its walls. The Saint Martial Chapel, covered in blue frescoes, is also a true colorful masterpiece.
At the end of your visit, don’t forget to climb up to the terraces of the Palais des Papes. They offer a superb view of the palace’s main courtyard, as well as the entire city of Avignon and the Rhône River!
VISIT AVIGNON : THE HISTORICAL CENTER
Visit Avignon: the ramparts and the Pont d’Avignon
I loved wandering through the pretty streets of Avignon! This city has a crazy charm, sunny and typically Provençal.
To start our walk through Avignon, I suggest we head to the Palais des Papes, on the Rocher des Doms. It is on this hill overlooking the city and the Rhône that you will find the pretty Jardin des Doms. Here you can enjoy a magnificent view of the Rhône, the Pont d’Avignon and the ramparts that stand proudly around the historic center of Avignon.
You can also walk down from the garden to the ramparts to visit the Pont d’Avignon or return directly to the Place du Palais. The ramparts immediately strike anyone venturing into the center of Avignon. When you drive along the Rhône, the wall seems endless! And with good reason, as Avignon is one of the only French cities to have preserved all of its ancient ramparts…
It is also from these ramparts that the famous Pont d’Avignon, or Pont Bénezet, begins. Only a small part of the original bridge, which was begun in 1177, remains today. Only four of the original 22 arches remain… Yet at the time, the bridge was of vital importance: it linked the Palais des Papes and the States of the Church with the Kingdom of France!
Visit Avignon and its historic streets
Let’s now return to the historic center of Avignon by passing through the Porte de l’Oulle. The charming Place Crillon welcomes you, like a Provençal village square. In the shade of the plane trees, you will certainly want to sit down and sip a drink while taking a break in the heart of summer.
Continuing our stroll, the pretty facades of old Avignon reveal their Provençal charm. At the corner of a street, I invite you to head towards the Palais du Roure, hidden between two narrow streets. This 15th-century mansion is now the Museum of Provençal Culture. It’s worth a visit for its pretty inner courtyard and collections—and it’s free.
Right next door is the beginning of Rue de la République and the Place de l’Horloge with Avignon City Hall.
From there, you can explore all the lively streets of Avignon! Look up and you’ll see lots of signs, facade sculptures, and old wrought-iron balconies. And at the corner of the streets, you’re sure to come across a small, lively square where you can stop for a moment. Especially to enjoy the performances of artists scattered throughout the city during the festival!
Two streets not to be missed in the old town: the impressive Rue de la Peyrolerie, a passageway carved into the rock against the Palais des Papes, and the picturesque Rue des Teinturiers with its cobblestones, canal, and lively atmosphere during the festival.
VISIT AVIGNON – WHAT TO DO IN THE SURROUNDING AREA?
Fort Saint André (10 min): just across the Rhône, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon is home to Fort Saint André, which you may have spotted from the Jardin des Doms. You can visit this former medieval sentinel, which offers a magnificent view of Avignon, Mont Ventoux, and the Alpilles.
The Pont du Gard (30 min): a Roman masterpiece, this is the oldest ancient bridge in the world! The three levels of the aqueduct tower 50 meters above the Gardon River! A must-see if you’re in the area.
Pernes-les-Fontaines (35 min): known for its forty or so fountains that decorate the town center, this pretty village is well worth a visit! You can discover them during a stroll in the shade of the plane trees.
Uzès (45 min): a little further along the road to the Pont du Gard is the charming town of Uzès, which welcomes you with its pretty, sunny medieval streets. This former episcopal city is also home to the Haribo candy museum!
Gordes and its region (45 min): I truly fell in love with this part of the Luberon, which is full of picture-postcard villages, sunshine, and tranquility. You can find my ideas for exploring the Gordes region on the blog!
Nîmes (50 min): the Roman capital has many other assets up its sleeve! Street art, nature, hidden mansions… a city not to be missed! Find my guide Visit Nîmes : a Local’s Itinerary
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