No French vacation is complete without a wine tour and exploration of a French countryside city like Avignon. Keep reading to learn how to explore the medieval city of Avignon and the surrounding wine-producing region. This is part of a 10-Day France itinerary. If you haven’t read Part 1 of this Itinerary, read France Vacation: “Must See” Paris in 3 Days.
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Day Four – Avignon
Day four begins your travels to other regions in France, starting with the Provence region in Southern France. Avignon, a historic city set on the Rhone river, will be your primary city to explore. Avignon is a perfect base camp from where you can take any number of varied wine tours.
Morning Train to Avignon
European rail travel systems are the best way to move between major cities and regions when traveling. Traveling between Paris and Avignon requires two trains with a connection in the middle for most routes although there are a couple of direct trains if it works for your schedule. This is generally much better than renting a car or flying to most locations within France.
Hotel/Accommodations in Avignon
You will most likely arrive in Avignon much earlier than the posted check-in time at your accommodations. Most hotels will not have an official check-in time until 2:00 – 4:00 PM. However, if they are finished cleaning your room, they will often let you check-in early. Even if your room is not ready, hotels will allow you to check your bags with the bellhop or the front desk. I highly recommend doing this. Being the tourist dragging their luggage around isn’t where you want to be (which would be especially painful in Avignon given the number of cobblestone streets still prevalent in the city).
You may be able to find a cheaper place to stay, however, my choice when visiting Avignon is Hotel de L’Horloge. The hotel is nice and the location right to the Avignon main street can’t be beaten.
Lunch
The Place de I’Horloge in Avignon is a central street close to the Papal Palace (Palais des Papes). This is a great place to find a variety of food from diverse restaurants. All the restaurants post their menu at the entrance to their seating areas which are mainly outdoors. Wander up and down the street until you see a menu that catches your eye. The setting and ability to enjoy the Place de I’Horloge when the weather is nice is perfect for the first meal in Avignon.
Palais des Papes
The Palais des Papes (or Papal Palace) was the seat of the Roman Catholic Church and the residence of the pope in the 14th century. While it is no longer an active papal residence, this is an impressive building that is a large part of Avignon’s history. A tour of the palace is performed via augmented reality tablets and headphones that are issued to each visitor. This tour is well done and provides an immersive history of the structure and the operation of the Catholic Church in the 13th – 15th centuries. The palace has been beautifully restored and is a must-visit while in Avignon.
Pont d’Avignon
The Pont d’Avignon (also known as Pont Saint-Benezet) is a medieval bridge constructed in the 12th century. While the bridge no longer spans the entire Rhone River, the gatehouse and four of the stone arches are still intact and have been restored. A self-guided audio tour is included with your ticket purchase to access the bridge. The information provided on the audio tour is interesting and provides some history of Avignon. However, the reason to come to the bridge is the tranquil riverscape, the view back towards Avignon from the bridge, and some really good photo opportunities with sightlines of the Papal Palace.
Pro Tip: The entrance ticket to the Papal Palace can be bought as a combination ticket with the Pont d’Avignon. This ticket generally costs about €2.50 more than the ticket to enter the Papal Palace alone. This combination ticket will save you €3.50/person when you plan to see both the Palace and the Pont d’Avignon.
While there isn’t a lot to do at the bridge, the primary reason to come is for the experience of walking on the bridge and getting the views back towards Avignon. The audio tour leaves a little to be desired so don’t feel bad if you skip around a little. Still, the opportunity to walk above the famous Rhone River and the views are well worth the ticket price if you buy the combo ticket with the Papal Palace.
Dinner
The day of travel and introduction to Avignon are over. Enjoy a relaxing night and find a good place to enjoy dinner and a glass of wine near your accommodations. Take this evening as an opportunity to relax and refresh. Exploring Paris in three days required a breakneck pace. The French countryside deserves a more relaxing pace, so take some time and refresh yourself on this part of your vacation.
Day Five – Wine Tasting
The fifth day of this journey through France is highlighted by an exploration of the French countryside and its most famous product: wine. To make the most of your time in Avignon, go on a French wine tour leaving in the early afternoon. This allows you to explore more of Avignon in the morning.
Morning Options
Avignon Les Halles
Avignon Les Halles is a local market with stalls selling almost anything you can think of. Meats, fish, vegetables, cheese, charcuterie, and oils are just some of the variety you will see. This is an excellent opportunity to see the local products and get souvenirs to take home for friends and family (or yourself). If you happen to be exploring other areas today and want to pack a picnic lunch this is a great place to come and get a spread. The outside of the build is also made quite unique by sporting a large living wall along the top of the market.
Pont du Gard
Pont du Gard is a bridge over the Gard river built to support the Roman aqueduct constructed in the 1st century AD. This is a brilliantly preserved aqueduct and exemplifies the feats of engineering that the Romans were able to master nearly 2000 years ago. A visit to Pont du Gard will allow you to walk along the lowest level of the aqueduct from one side of the river to the other. A ticket to the Pont du Gard also provides admission to the onsite museum which details how the Pont was built. Pont du Gard is located in a lush nature area with many hiking trails and kayaking opportunities if either of those activities speaks to you.
Lunch
Grab a quick lunch before heading out on your wine tour. While you will have a driver for the wine tours, drinking on an empty stomach isn’t the way to make for a memorable afternoon.
Avignon Wine Tour
To explore the wineries in the immediate vicinity around Avignon, I would recommend that you select a French wine tour by a local tour company. While tour groups don’t give you the experience of exploring a new part of the world like a local, the benefits of using a tour group can outweigh this potential downside. The advantages of a winery tour group include:
- access to wineries and tasting rooms closed to the general public,
- smaller tasting sessions (depending on the tour group)
- a guide that stays with your group to answer questions
- and most importantly, a designated driver for all the wineries allowing you to enjoy all the French wines
Provence Cru Wine Small Group Tour
I have in general had success vetting and booking tours through Viator.com. I recommend a half-day wine tour titled Provence Cru Wine Small-Group Half-Day Tour from Avignon that I have taken in the past.
This French wine tour visits three different wineries in three different wine-growing regions around Avignon. The wineries change depending on the date of the tour, so the experience is varied from day to day. This is primarily a wine tasting experience and not a vineyard or production tour. While many of the tasting locations are on vineyards, if you want to tour or walk through vineyards another tour will be better suited for you.
This tour is limited to a maximum of 8 people total (there were 6 people on the tour when I took it). Therefore, the personal interaction you can get with the tour guide is exceptional. The van comes to pick you up at your lodging and will drop you off at the end of the day. While there are several opportunities to purchase the wine you taste along the journey you are not pressured to purchase. I would encourage getting some bottles to bring back from your vacation. Souvenirs that you can consume are my favorite as they can’t end up as clutter in a box.
No trip to France is complete without an exploration of the country’s wine expertise. If you don’t partake in the above half-day wine tour, I encourage you to look for other wine tasting experiences that fit your travel style to experience this feature of French life.
As the day of exploration around Avignon has come to an end, enjoy a nice dinner and a glass of wine if you aren’t tired of wine at this point. This will be your first opportunity to show off your newly learned wine tasting skills.
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