Provence Travel Guide: Where to Go in France

Provence.

EUROPE/FRANCE/43.8352° N, 5.4474° E

The wind strips the sky clear by ten in the morning, scouring the limestone ridges of the Alpilles until everything looks razor-sharp. Down in the valleys, orchards give way to dry terraces of Grenache and olive groves rooted in white gravel. It is a working landscape of butcher shops, Roman aqueducts, and market stalls piled with tapenade and goat cheese, running from the Rhône river plain east into deep canyon country.

Last updated 1 Sept 2026

What Provence is about

Twelve ways to read the region. Pick a town below and you can turn any of these into a timed 1, 2 or 3 day plan.

WEEKLY MARKETS

Stock up on Banon goat cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves, Cavaillon melons, and cured saucisson at Apt, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, or Saint-Rémy.

WINE & VINEYARDS

Taste peppery Syrah and Grenache blends in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, crisp Bandol Mourvèdre rosés, and mineral whites from Cassis hillside estates.

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES

Walk through the intact first-century arena in Arles, the theatre in Orange, and the three-tiered arches of the Pont du Gard aqueduct.

HILL VILLAGES

Wind past drystone bories into perched medieval settlements like Ménerbes, Bonnieux, and Gordes along the steep north face of the Luberon.

LOCAL SEAFOOD

Order true bouillabaisse around Marseille's Old Port, simmered with rockfish, rascasse, saffron broth, and thick garlicky rouille croutons.

COASTAL WALKS

Follow the steep white limestone trails threading above turquoise saltwater inlets between Cassis and Marseille across the Massif des Calanques.

MODERN ART

Trace Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire near Aix, Van Gogh's asylum cloisters in Saint-Rémy, and light installations inside Carrières des Lumières.

WILD LANDSCAPES

Track flamingos across Camargue salt marshes, or hike along the deep limestone rim above the Verdon Gorge's bright turquoise river water.

OLIVE OILS

Sample fruity green and black AOC olive oils pressed from Salonenque and Grossane varieties in the Vallée des Baux-de-Provence mills.

REGIONAL COOKING

Savor slow-cooked beef daube scented with orange peel, fragrant vegetable pistou soup, and warm socca flatbread cooked over wood fires.

ABBEYS & CLOISTERS

Tour the spare Cistercian stone arches of Sénanque, Silvacane, and Le Thoronet, built in tranquil wooded valleys during the twelfth century.

LAVENDER VALLEYS

Drive through purple rows of fine lavender and lavandin across the Valensole plateau and around Sault below Mont Ventoux in midsummer.

Where to go in Provence

The bases worth booking. Each one has its own field guide with 1, 2 and 3 day itineraries.

Avignon