The most photographed region in France, and it holds up. On the coast: Nice's Baie des Anges and its Italian old town, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, the Calanques' white limestone inlets outside Marseille, and Monaco wedged in at the end. Inland: Avignon's papal palace, Arles' Roman arena and Van Gogh's light, the Luberon's perched villages, and the Valensole plateau under lavender for four weeks in high summer. Behind it all the Southern Alps rise to 4,000 m in the Écrins, with the Verdon gorge — 700 m deep and turquoise — cut in between. Marseille, the oldest city in France at 2,600 years, anchors the whole thing.
- The Calanques and Marseille's Vieux-Port
- Nice, the Promenade des Anglais and Vieux Nice
- The Palais des Papes, Avignon, and the Pont du Gard nearby
- Arles — the arena, the cloister and the Van Gogh trail
- The Gorges du Verdon
- Lavender on the Valensole plateau and the Luberon villages
- Best time to go
- May–June and September — warm sea, open everything, no August traffic. Lavender flowers roughly late June to mid-July. The mistral blows hardest in winter and spring.
- Getting there
- Nice Côte d'Azur and Marseille Provence airports; TGV Paris–Marseille 3h10, Paris–Avignon 2h40. The coastal train Marseille–Ventimiglia is one of the best-value scenic rides in France.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Headline places
What france.fr leads with in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
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The Calanques White limestone inlets between Marseille and Cassis, reachable on foot or by boat -
Palais des Papes The largest Gothic palace in the world — the papacy's home for 70 years - Pont Saint-Bénézet Four arches of the twenty-two that once crossed the Rhône
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Arènes d'Arles A Roman amphitheatre that spent the Middle Ages as a walled village -
Gorges du Verdon 700 m deep and turquoise, from glacial rock flour in the water -
The Valensole Plateau Lavender to the horizon for roughly four weeks from late June -
Abbaye de Sénanque A working Cistercian abbey with its lavender field in front of it -
Roussillon & the Ochre Trail A village built from the seventeen shades of ochre it stands on -
Mont Ventoux 1,910 m of bare limestone — the Tour's hardest climb, and windiest -
The Camargue White horses, black bulls and pink flamingos on the Rhône delta -
Promenade des Anglais Seven kilometres of seafront paid for by nineteenth-century English winterers -
Èze A village at 429 m with a cactus garden where the castle was -
Saint-Paul-de-Vence Walled, hilltop, and full of the galleries Chagall and Matisse drew in -
Écrins National Park Glaciers and 4,000 m peaks with no ski lifts on them at all -
Pampelonne Beach Five kilometres of sand round the point from Saint-Tropez -
Château d'If The island prison of The Count of Monte Cristo, twenty minutes offshore
Tourism areas
The names people actually use for this part of France — some of them cross into the next region.
Cities & bases
Where to sleep, and what each place is good for.
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Marseille The oldest city in France, 2,600 years old, with the Calanques next door -
Nice The Baie des Anges, an Italian old town and the Promenade des Anglais -
Cannes The Croisette, the festival, and two islands ten minutes offshore -
Aix-en-Provence Plane trees, fountains, markets and Cézanne's mountain -
Avignon The largest Gothic palace in the world, and a bridge that stops halfway -
Arles A Roman arena, Van Gogh's light, and the top of the Camargue -
Saint-Tropez Still a fishing port under the yachts, with Pampelonne round the point -
Antibes Ramparts, the biggest marina on the Med, and Picasso's castle studio -
Menton A lemon microclimate on the Italian border, and Cocteau's museum -
Toulon A naval harbour under Mont Faron, and the ferry to Porquerolles -
Cassis A fishing port at the eastern end of the Calanques -
Gordes Dry stone stacked up a Luberon hillside, with Sénanque abbey below -
Les Baux-de-Provence A ruined fortress on a limestone spur, over a quarry turned light show -
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Van Gogh's asylum year, a Roman town, and the Alpilles behind -
Briançon The highest town in France, walled by Vauban at 1,326 m
Islands
Our guides
Full destination guides we already publish in this region.
- Avignon: Papal Palace The mighty fortress-palace of the medieval popes, above the Rhône and the famous half-a-bridge of the song.
- Cannes
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French Riviera The Côte d'Azur's glamour coast — sparkling Mediterranean, palm-lined promenades and the jet-set glitter of Nice, Cannes and Monaco. - Marseille
- Nice
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Provence Southern France distilled — lavender fields, hilltop villages, Roman ruins and the golden light that entranced the painters.
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur by experience
The themes this region delivers on.
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Culture & heritage 53 UNESCO World Heritage sites, and the cathedrals that invented Gothic -
Food & wine Seventeen wine regions, 1,600 cheeses, and the gastronomic meal on the UNESCO list -
Nature & outdoors Glaciers, gorges, volcanoes and 180,000 km of waymarked footpath -
Coast & beaches Three seas and an ocean — around 5,800 km of mainland coast, and far more overseas -
Mountains Six massifs — the Alps, Pyrenees, Jura, Vosges, Massif Central and Corsica -
Cities Paris, and eleven more cities that would headline any other country -
Villages & countryside The 180-odd villages on the official 'most beautiful in France' list -
National & regional parks Eleven national parks and 58 regional ones — about a fifth of the country -
Sport & adventure Skiing, surfing, climbing, paddling — and the Tour, Roland-Garros and Le Mans -
Cycling Over 25,000 km of signed cycle route, most of it flat and away from traffic -
Pilgrimage & spirituality Four Camino routes, Lourdes, Mont-Saint-Michel and the Romanesque abbeys -
Spa & wellness Around 90 working thermal spa towns, and the coastline that invented thalassotherapy -
Romance The Riviera corniche, a Loire château, a Provençal village, a Paris weekend -
Shopping & savoir-faire Perfume in Grasse, porcelain in Limoges, crystal in Lorraine, couture in Paris -
Nightlife & entertainment Festival season, cabaret, beach clubs and the theme parks
