Avignon: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
For most of the 14th century Avignon, not Rome, was the seat of the popes, and they turned a small river town into a capital. Everything on this walk was built for them or because of them: the palace, the cathedral beside it, the garden on the rock and the bridge below. It is short — a little over a kilometre — but with the palace inside, plan half a day. Start early, before the tour groups, and finish in the garden.
A short history of Avignon
Avignon stood on a rock above the Rhône even before the Romans, but its high point began in 1309, when Pope Clement V moved his court here. For almost 70 years seven popes sat in Avignon, and they built the Palace of the Popes, one of the largest Gothic buildings in Europe. In 1348 the Pope bought the city from Joanna, Queen of Naples, and it remained in the hands of the Church until 1791, when it was annexed to France. The Jews of Avignon, the 'Pope's Jews', lived for centuries in an enclosed street, the carrière, as one of the few communities in France that were not expelled. Of the famous 12th-century bridge only four arches remain. Since 1947 the city has hosted the Avignon theatre festival.
The ten best sights in Avignon
1Palace of the PopesTake the tablet guide at the entrance: it shows each empty hall as it looked in the 14th century
2Notre-Dame des Doms CathedralNext door to the palace and free; the gilded Virgin on the tower is visible from all over town
3Petit Palais MuseumItalian paintings from before the Renaissance, at the end of the palace square; usually quiet
4Musée AngladonA small house museum with a real Van Gogh, Degas and Modigliani; an hour is enough
5Musée CalvetFine arts in an 18th-century mansion, with a calm garden courtyard
6Collection LambertContemporary art in two old mansions; the café in the courtyard is a good stop
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7Avignon Synagogue
A round 19th-century synagogue on Place Jérusalem, in the old Jewish quarter; visits by arrangement
8Carpentras Synagogue25 minutes north-east: the oldest synagogue in France still in use
9Chartreuse of VilleneuveA huge empty Carthusian monastery across the river, where a pope is buried
10Tower of Philip the FairClimb it for the classic view of the palace and the broken bridge from across the Rhône
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Avignon →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Avignon:
Free walking tours in Avignon
The popes' city
For most of the 14th century Avignon, not Rome, was the seat of the popes, and they turned a small river town into a capital. Everything on this walk was built for them or because of them: the palace, the cathedral beside it, the garden on the rock and the bridge below. It is short — a little over a kilometre — but with the palace inside, plan half a day. Start early, before the tour groups, and finish in the garden.
- Palace of the Popes · It was built in less than twenty years, mainly under Benedict XII and Clement VI from 1335, and it is the largest Gothic palace in Europe. Clement VI bought the town itself in 1348 from Queen Joanna of Naples for 80,000 florins, and Avignon stayed papal property until the French Revolution.
- Notre-Dame des Doms Cathedral · The cathedral is older than the palace, a Romanesque church of the 12th century. The gilded statue of the Virgin was set on the tower only in 1859, and inside lies Pope John XXII, the first pope to settle in Avignon for good.
- Petit Palais Museum · This was the archbishop's palace, and today it holds Italian painting from the 13th to the 16th century, much of it from the collection of the Marquis Campana. Among the gold-ground altarpieces is a Madonna and Child by the young Botticelli.
- Rocher des Doms · The rock above the palace is where the first settlement of Avignon stood, safe above the floods. On a clear day you can see Mont Ventoux, 1,909 metres high, to the north-east, and straight across the Rhône the towers of Fort Saint-André.
- Pont Saint-Bénezet · Legend says a shepherd boy, Bénezet, was told by an angel to build it in 1177. It once had 22 arches and crossed the whole Rhône; floods kept breaking it, and in the 17th century the town gave up, leaving the four arches you see. In the song people dance 'on' the bridge, but historians think the dancing really happened under it, on the island.
- Place de l'Horloge · In 1947 the actor Jean Vilar staged plays in the palace courtyard, and the Avignon Festival was born. Every July, beside the official programme, the 'Off' festival fills the town's small halls with well over a thousand shows, and their actors hand out flyers on this square.
Behind the palace
The other Avignon lives in the lanes east and south of the palace: the old Jewish quarter, the market, the canal of the dyers and the mansions of rich merchants that are now museums. Under papal rule this town was one of the few places in France where Jews could legally stay, and the square where they lived is still called Place Jérusalem. The walk is about two and a half kilometres on flat streets. Do it on a morning from Tuesday to Sunday, so the market is open.
- Avignon Synagogue · When the kings of France expelled the Jews in 1394, the papal lands around Avignon kept theirs, and they became known as 'the Pope's Jews'. They lived here in a walled street, the carrière, locked at night. The round synagogue standing today was rebuilt in 1846, after the old one burned.
- Basilica of Saint-Pierre · Look at the doors before going in: the walnut panels were carved in 1551 and are among the finest Renaissance woodwork in Provence. The church sits on its own small square, a minute from the noise of the main street.
- Les Halles · The façade is a vertical garden designed by the botanist Patrick Blanc, the man who made plant walls famous. Inside are about forty stalls of Provençal cheese, olives, fish and vegetables; the market opens early and closes at lunchtime.
- Rue des Teinturiers · The canal is a branch of the Sorgue, and its water wheels once drove the workshops that dyed and printed cotton — the bright 'indiennes' fabrics that became the classic Provençal print. The street takes its name, 'the dyers', from them.
- Musée Angladon · The collection belonged to the Paris couturier Jacques Doucet, and his heirs turned their Avignon home into a museum. It holds 'Railway Carriages' of 1888, the only Van Gogh painting on permanent show in Provence, where he painted most of his famous works.
- Collection Lambert · The Paris art dealer Yvon Lambert gave his collection of contemporary art to the French state in 2012, on condition that it stay in Avignon. It fills an 18th-century mansion, so Basquiat and Cy Twombly hang under stucco ceilings.
The Vaucluse loop
East of Avignon the plain rises into the hills of the Vaucluse: stone villages, lavender, a river that comes out of a mountain, and the towns where the Pope's Jews lived. This is a car day of about 130 km in a loop, with short walks at each stop. Lavender is at its best from late June to mid-July; on summer weekends, reach Gordes and Sénanque before ten. Sunday morning is the time to be in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
- Carpentras Synagogue · Founded in 1367, it is the oldest synagogue in France still in use. Carpentras was one of the four papal communities, with Avignon, Cavaillon and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and in its basement you can still see the baths and the oven for baking matzah.
- L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue · The Sorgue splits here into canals that circle the old town, and the moss-covered wheels on them once powered silk and paper mills. Today the town is the antiques capital of the south, with dealers' villages along the river and a big flea market on Sundays.
- Fontaine-de-Vaucluse · The Sorgue rises from a cave at the foot of a cliff, one of the deepest springs in the world: in 1985 a robot went down to 308 metres without finding the bottom. The poet Petrarch, who first saw his Laura in an Avignon church, lived here for about sixteen years.
- Sénanque Abbey · Cistercian monks founded it in 1148 in a narrow valley, far from any town, and monks still live here. The lavender field in front of the plain stone church is the picture on half the postcards of Provence; it flowers from late June.
- Gordes · The village climbs a rock around its castle, and the best view of it is from the road coming in from the south. In 1940-41 Marc Chagall lived here with his family before escaping occupied France for New York.
- Roussillon · The houses are painted in the colour of the hill they stand on: ochre, mined here in many shades from red to yellow. During the war the writer Samuel Beckett hid in this village, and Roussillon is mentioned in 'Waiting for Godot'.
Getting to Avignon and getting around
- Avignon TGV Station · High-speed trains from Paris and Marseille stop here, 4 km south of the walls; the car hire desks are here too
- Avignon Centre Station · Right outside the walls; a short shuttle train links it to the TGV station in about five minutes
- Bus Station · Regional buses to Carpentras, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and the Pont du Gard leave next to the train station
Cheap eats in Avignon
Avignon eats like Provence: olive oil, tomatoes, herbs, goat cheese and the wines of the Rhône valley, grown within half an hour of town. Lunch is the main meal and the formule — a starter and main, or main and dessert, at a fixed price — is the cheap way to have it. Kitchens close by two, so the market counters and the bakeries are the answer for a late lunch. Prices inside the walls are higher than outside them.
- Maison Violette, Place Pie · Bakery beside the market; a croissant about €1.50, a sandwich about €5-7
- Les Halles counters · Olives, tapenade, cheese and a glass of wine at a stall, about €8-15
- Fougasse from Au Panier Provençal · A fougasse with olives or anchovies, about €3-5
- Le Goéland · Corner café on Rue Saint-Agricol; coffee about €2-3, breakfast about €8-12
- Brasserie La Civette · On Place de l'Horloge; a plat du jour about €14-18
- Au Palais des Glaces · Ice cream on the palace square; a scoop about €3-4
Museums in Avignon
- Petit Palais Museum · Italian gold-ground painting; a Botticelli among them
- Musée Angladon · Van Gogh, Degas, Picasso in a private house
- Musée Calvet · Paintings and sculpture from five centuries; quiet rooms
- Collection Lambert · Contemporary art; check the season's exhibition
- Chartreuse of Villeneuve · Cloisters, monks' cells and the tomb of Innocent VI
Holy places in Avignon
- Avignon Synagogue · Place Jérusalem; call ahead to visit
- Carpentras Synagogue · Guided visits on weekdays; closed on Shabbat and holidays
- Notre-Dame des Doms Cathedral · Free; the tomb of John XXII inside
- Basilica of Saint-Pierre · Carved Renaissance doors
- Sénanque Abbey · A working monastery; dress modestly and keep quiet
Nature and day trips near Avignon
- Rocher des Doms · Garden, pond and views; free
- Île de la Barthelasse · A big flat island of orchards in the Rhône; cycling and riverside walks
- Fontaine-de-Vaucluse · A 15-minute walk from the village to the spring
- Roussillon ochre trail · Short paid trail through orange cliffs; wear shoes you don't mind staining
- Pont du Gard · River beach under the aqueduct; footpaths through the garrigue
Things to do in Avignon with kids
- Pont Saint-Bénezet · Walk to the end of the broken bridge and sing the song
- Pont du Gard · Museum, river swimming and picnic space; a full family afternoon
- Rocher des Doms · Playground, ducks on the pond and a kiosk
- Fort Saint-André · Ramparts to walk on and towers to climb
- Île de la Barthelasse · Flat cycling for small legs, and a free ferry boat from the town in season
Frequently asked questions about Avignon
What is there to see in Avignon?
The top sights in Avignon are Palace of the Popes, Notre-Dame des Doms Cathedral and Petit Palais Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Avignon?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Avignon without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Avignon?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Avignon, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The popes' city.
How do you get to Avignon and get around?
The main ways are Avignon TGV Station, Avignon Centre Station and Bus Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Avignon, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Avignon that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Avignon for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.