• France Guide

  • Introduction to France
  • Weather
  • Things not to miss
  • Getting around
  • Entry requirements
  • Money
  • Public holidays

• Explore France

  • The north
  • Alsace and Lorraine
  • Normandy
  • Brittany
  • The Loire
  • Burgundy
  • Poitou-Charentes and the Atlantic coast
  • The Limousin, Dordogne and Lot
  • The Pyrenees
  • Languedoc
  • The Massif Central
  • The Alps and Franche-Comté
  • The Rhône valley
  • Provence
  • The Côte d'Azur
  • Corsica

• Cities

  • Aix-en-Provence
    
  • Ajaccio (Aiacciu)
    
  • Angoulême
    
  • Avignon
    
  • Bayonne (Baïona)
    
  • Bordeaux
    
  • Caen
    
  • Cannes
    
  • Clermont-Ferrand
    
  • Dijon
    
  • Grenoble
    
  • Lille
    
  • Limoges
    
  • Lyon
    
  • Marseille
    
  • Montpellier
    
  • Mulhouse
    
  • Nîmes
    
  • Nancy
    
  • Nantes
    
  • Nice
    
  • Orléans
    
  • Paris
    
  • Perpignan
    
  • Rennes
    
  • Rouen
    
  • Strasbourg
    
  • Toulouse
    
  • Tours
    

France Guide

Provence

Avignon

• Hotels
• Campsites
• Restaurants and cafés
• Bars and clubs

Twenty-five kilometres southwest of Carpentras AVIGNON, great city of the popes, and for centuries one of the major artistic centres of France, can be dauntingly crowded in summer and stiflingly hot. Away from the main tourist drag the old town is often remarkably unkempt and somewhat intimidating, with a laissez-faire approach to rubbish collection at odds with its UNESCO World Heritage status and an intrusive graffiti problem that leaves even the prettiest facades disfigured. But it's worth persevering for its spectacular monuments and museums, countless impressively decorated buildings, ancient churches, chapels and convents. During the Festival d'Avignon in July and the beginning of August, it is the place to be.