Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur runs from the Rhône delta to the Italian border and from the Mediterranean up into the Alps, so it is several trips rather than one. On the coast, the Côte d'Azur around Nice is the Riviera of villas, hill villages and museums, and Marseille is the big port city with the Calanques at its edge. Inland, Avignon opens onto the Luberon's hill villages, ochre cliffs and markets, and further east lie the lavender plateau of Valensole and the Gorges du Verdon.
The lavender fields, the Verdon gorge and Cannes's Marché Forville are on the France page. This page helps you choose a base; Nice, Marseille and the Calanques, and Avignon and the Luberon each have their own page.
A Roman amphitheatre still used for bullfights, a Romanesque cloister and the town where Van Gogh lived in 1888 and 1889.
What it is
Arles, on the Rhône at the head of the Camargue, keeps a Roman amphitheatre still used for bullfights and shows, a Roman theatre, the Alyscamps necropolis, the Constantine baths and underground cryptoporticoes, which UNESCO listed with its Romanesque cloister of Saint-Trophime in 1981. Van Gogh lived here in 1888 and 1889, and the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles shows his work alongside contemporary artists.
How to do it
A combined ticket for the amphitheatre and the theatre costs €9 to €11 in 2026; the Pass Liberté, €13 to €15, gives four monuments of your choice plus the Musée Réattu and a second museum for a month. Trains from Avignon take about 20 minutes.
Good to know
The amphitheatre closes to visits during its big events, such as the Easter and September ferias.
Time needed
A full day
Best time
A Saturday, for the morning market on the Boulevard des Lices
Take the boat to Porquerolles and cycle to its beaches
Porquerolles, Hyères
A full dayBook ahead
A crossing of about 20 minutes reaches a car-free island of pine woods, vineyards and pale sand beaches.
What it is
Porquerolles is the largest and closest of the Hyères islands and part of the Port-Cros National Park: a car-free island of pine woods, vineyards and pale sand beaches.
How to do it
The short crossing leaves from La Tour Fondue, at the tip of the Giens peninsula in Hyères, and takes about 20 minutes, all year, with more than 20 return trips a day in high season from 06:45 and a last return around 19:00. In 2026 an adult return cost €24 from May to September, €22 in April and October and €17.70 in winter. Hire a bike in the village rather than paying to bring one on the boat, and ride to the beaches; the island also has a contemporary art museum.
Good to know
Summer visitor quotas apply, and on high fire-risk days the interior can close.
See the lavender in bloom on the Valensole plateau
Provence
Free
Purple rows across the Valensole plateau, if your timing is right: arrive after the harvest and you get stubble.
What it is
Most of the purple on the plateau is lavandin, the hybrid grown for its oil, rather than true lavender. Valensole village holds its Fête de la Lavande on the third Sunday of July.
How to do it
Access is free, but these are working farms: stay on the verges and do not walk into the rows, a rule the local tourist office spells out. Go early in the morning or in the evening for softer light and fewer people at the roadside.
Good to know
Timing is everything here. The office gives the bloom as roughly 15 June to 15 July, depending on the weather; in 2026 it started early, around 10 June, and cutting began on 29 June and ran for about two weeks.
Paddle into the Verdon gorge from the Pont du Galetas
Verdon Gorge, Provence
1 hour 30 to 3 hours on the waterNo booking needed
Paddle about 2 km of flat water up between the cliffs of the Verdon, from the bridge where the gorge meets the lake.
What it is
The deep Grand Canyon of the Verdon is not a place for a rented kayak; the paddle most visitors mean starts at the Pont du Galetas, the road bridge where the gorge opens into the Lac de Sainte-Croix. From the beach beside it you go up the roughly 2 km stretch of flat water between the cliffs and back.
How to do it
Rental bases on the beach hire canoes, kayaks, pedal boats and electric boats. The rental stands have generally not taken reservations, so arrive early in summer to avoid the queue. Pair it with the Route des Crêtes drive along the rim above the canyon.
Good to know
In strong wind that stretch is closed and trips are suspended until conditions improve. Come in May, June, September or October, which the tourist board prefers to midsummer.
Put together a picnic of fruit, cheese, olives and tapenade at Cannes' covered market, for far less than lunch on the seafront.
What it is
Cannes' covered Provençal market stands at the foot of Le Suquet, the old town hill, a few streets back from the Vieux-Port and the Croisette. It is the place to put together a picnic from the producers. On Mondays outside the summer the hall is taken over by a brocante, an antiques and flea market, with around 80 dealers.
How to do it
It is a morning affair: 07:00 to 13:00 from Tuesday to Sunday between September and June, and every day in July and August. Afterwards, walk up the lanes of Le Suquet just behind it.
Good to know
Come before 10:00, especially at weekends, when the fish and vegetable stalls are at their fullest.
Pick Nice for the Riviera without a car: the coastal railway reaches Villefranche, Èze, Monaco, Antibes and Cannes. Pick Marseille for a real city with sea and hiking at its edge, the Calanques. Pick Avignon for inland Provence: the Luberon villages, Sénanque, the Roussillon ochres and the markets, best with a car. The Valensole plateau and the Verdon gorge sit between Avignon and Nice and are easiest as a night or two on the way.
How to combine them
Trains link the three bases: Avignon to Marseille is about 35 minutes by TGV, and Marseille to Nice about two and a half hours along the coast. A week works as three nights in Avignon and the Luberon, two in Marseille and two in Nice. With a car, the inland route through Valensole and the Verdon replaces the coastal train between Marseille and Nice and adds a day.
Getting around
The TER coastal line is the backbone of the Riviera and serves Marseille, Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Nice and Menton. Inland Provence is the opposite: the hill villages, the lavender plateau and the Verdon have little or no public transport, so rent a car for those days or join a day tour from Avignon, Aix or Marseille.
When to go
May, June, September and early October are the best months: warm sea from June, room on the trails and the beaches. The lavender flowers from about mid-June to mid-July, which is also when the Festival d'Avignon fills that city. July and August are hot and crowded, and from June to September the prefectures close forest massifs and the Calanques on days of high fire risk, decided the evening before. The Riviera is mild in winter, the season of the Nice Carnival in February.
Questions travellers ask
What is the difference between Provence and the Côte d'Azur?
They are two halves of the same region. The Côte d'Azur is the eastern coast from about Cassis or Saint-Tropez to the Italian border, with Nice, Cannes and Antibes. Provence usually means the inland west and centre: Avignon, the Luberon, Arles, Aix and the lavender country.
Do I need a car in Provence?
For the coast, no: the train covers Marseille, Cannes, Antibes, Nice and Monaco. For the Luberon villages, Sénanque, the lavender plateau and the Verdon gorge, yes, or a guided day tour, because public transport barely reaches them.
When is lavender season in Provence?
From about mid-June to mid-July, earlier or later with the weather, and the fields are cut soon after. The Valensole plateau has the largest fields; Sénanque abbey near Gordes has the best-known single field.
Can you see Provence in a week?
One week covers two of the three bases well, or all three at a quick pace: three nights in Avignon and the Luberon, two in Marseille and two in Nice, moving between them by train.
