Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Lavender plateaus, the Verdon gorge, Roman Provence, Alpine valleys and a coastline of calanques and hill villages.
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur stretches from the Rhône delta to the Italian border and from the Mediterranean to summits above 4,000 metres, and its borders were not touched by the 2016 reform. The name ‘Provence’ itself comes from the Roman provincia, and Rome left more here than almost anywhere outside Italy: the theatre at Orange, the arena at Arles, aqueducts and arches. Later came the popes, who made Avignon their seat in the fourteenth century. Nice, on the other hand, only became French in 1860, and its old town, with its Italianate colours and its own dialect, still shows it.
Its landscapes are the stuff of postcards, but they are real: the lavender of the Valensole plateau in early summer, the turquoise Verdon gorge, the white limestone of the Calanques near Marseille, the ochre cliffs of Roussillon, the wetlands and wild horses of the Camargue. Inland, the Alps of Haute-Provence and the Écrins are among the least crowded mountains in France.
For a traveller tired of Paris, this is the region of slow afternoons: a market in a hill village, a game of pétanque under the plane trees, a swim in a mountain lake. The Riviera is busy in summer, but even a few kilometres inland the pace drops sharply. Spring and early autumn are the best seasons; in July and August, go early in the day and rest at noon like the locals.
Facts
- The region’s borders were not changed by the 2016 territorial reform.
- Its highest point is the Barre des Écrins in the Hautes-Alpes, a little over 4,100 m.
- The Historic Centre of Avignon, with the Papal Palace, was inscribed by UNESCO in 1995.
- Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2021.
Places in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
3h36
Town · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Arles
A Roman city on the Rhône where Van Gogh painted his brightest year, with an arena still in use and the Camargue at its gates.
6h39
Coast · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Menton
The last town on the Riviera before Italy: a Baroque old quarter in ochre and pink, lemon groves, subtropical gardens and Cocteau.
6h56
Mountains · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
Briançon
France’s highest town, a star-shaped Vauban fortress of bright façades and rushing gutters, ringed by forts on mountain spurs.
Climate
Reference station: Marignane (6 m). Météo-France, 1991–2020 normals.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High °C | 11.8 | 12.8 | 16.4 | 19.3 | 23.5 | 27.9 | 30.7 | 30.5 | 25.9 | 21.3 | 15.7 | 12.4 |
| Low °C | 3.6 | 3.7 | 6.5 | 9.4 | 13.3 | 17.2 | 19.7 | 19.4 | 15.9 | 12.6 | 7.7 | 4.4 |
| Rain (mm) | 47 | 30 | 30 | 52 | 38 | 28 | 11 | 26 | 82 | 73 | 76 | 41 |
| Rain days | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Sunshine (h) | 148 | 173 | 235 | 251 | 299 | 338 | 372 | 334 | 264 | 196 | 151 | 138 |
Food and drink
Provençal cooking is built on olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and herbs from the garrigue. Bouillabaisse belongs to Marseille, socca and salade niçoise to Nice, ratatouille, tapenade and aïoli to everyone. Menton grows lemons, Cavaillon melons, Carpentras strawberries, the Luberon truffles and almonds for Aix’s calissons. Banon is a goat’s cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves. To drink, rosé from Provence and Bandol, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas from the Rhône side, and pastis on a café terrace.
AOP and IGP products whose official area lies mostly in this region (INAO). Regional food: AOP & IGP →
Cheese 2
- Banon AOP
- Brousse du Rove AOP
Meat & charcuterie 1
- Agneau de Sisteron IGP
Fruit, vegetables & nuts 11
- Cerises des coteaux du Ventoux IGP
- Citron de Menton IGP
- Figue de Solliès AOP
- Melon de Cavaillon IGP
- Muscat du Ventoux AOP
- Olive de Nice AOP
- Olives cassées de la vallée des Baux-de-Provence AOP
- Olives noires de la vallée des Baux-de-Provence AOP
- Petit épeautre de haute Provence IGP
- Pommes des Alpes de Haute Durance IGP
- Riz de Camargue IGP
Butter, oil, honey & more 9
- Farine de petit épeautre de haute Provence IGP
- Foin de Crau AOP
- Huile d'olive d'Aix-en-Provence AOP
- Huile d'olive de Haute-Provence AOP
- Huile d'olive de Nice AOP
- Huile d'olive de Provence AOP
- Huile d'olive de la vallée des Baux-de-Provence AOP
- Miel de Provence IGP
- Thym de Provence IGP
Cider & spirits 1
- Marc de Provence ou Eau-de-vie de marc de Provence IG
Wine 29
29 wines
- Alpes-Maritimes IGP
- Alpes-de-Haute-Provence IGP
- Alpilles IGP
- Bandol AOP
- Beaumes de Venise AOP
- Bellet ou Vin de Bellet AOP
- Cairanne AOP
- Cassis AOP
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOP
- Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence AOP
- Coteaux varois en Provence AOP
- Côtes de Provence AOP
- Côtes du Rhône AOP
- Côtes du Rhône Villages AOP
- Gigondas AOP
- Hautes-Alpes IGP
- Les Baux de Provence AOP
- Luberon AOP
- Maures IGP
- Mont Caume IGP
- Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise AOP
- Méditerranée IGP
- Palette AOP
- Pays des Bouches-du-Rhône IGP
- Pierrevert AOP
- Vacqueyras AOP
- Var IGP
- Vaucluse IGP
- Ventoux AOP
Festivals
The Ministry of Culture lists 930 festivals in the region: 267 1 Jan – 20 Jun · 423 21 Jun – 5 Sep · 226 6 Sep – 31 Dec.
Signature festivals
- Fête du Citron — Menton, usually in February. Menton’s carnival-time festival, held in February, builds giant sculptures and parade floats out of tonnes of lemons and oranges. It grew out of a citrus show for hotel guests in 1928 and took the name Fête du Citron in 1934.
- Festival de Cannes — Cannes, usually in May. The world’s best-known film festival, held every May on the Croisette since its first edition in the autumn of 1946. Most screenings are for accredited professionals, but the town itself, the red carpet and the beach screenings are part of the spectacle.
- Festival d’Avignon — Avignon, usually in July. France’s great theatre festival, founded by Jean Vilar in 1947, takes over Avignon every July, with the courtyard of the Papal Palace as its main stage. Alongside it, the independent ‘Off’ fills hundreds of small venues across the city.
Plus Beaux Villages de France in the region (24)
| Village | Nearest railway station | Time from Paris |
|---|---|---|
| Les Baux-de-Provence | Tarascon-sur-Rhône 12.8 km away | 3h13 |
| Séguret | Courthézon 16.9 km away | 3h41 |
| Venasque | Carpentras 10.0 km away | 3h45 |
| Gordes | L'Isle-sur-Sorgue - Fontaine-V 12.3 km away | 3h50 |
| Roussillon | L'Isle-sur-Sorgue - Fontaine-V 19.8 km away | 3h50 |
| Ménerbes | Cavaillon 13.1 km away | 3h58 |
| Le Castellet | Saint-Cyr Les Lecques - La Cadière 6.3 km away | 4h01 |
| Bormes-les-Mimosas | Hyères 18.5 km away | 4h30 |
| Seillans | Les Arcs - Draguignan 23.1 km away | 4h39 |
| Cotignac | Le Luc - Le Cannet 22.0 km away | 4h55 |
| Ansouis | Pertuis 6.8 km away | 4h59 |
| Lourmarin | Pertuis 14.7 km away | 4h59 |
| Tourtour | Vidauban 20.6 km away | 5h01 |
| Moustiers-Sainte-Marie | La Brillanne - Oraison 27.7 km away | 5h08 |
| Gassin | Fréjus 25.5 km away | 5h26 |
| Bargème | Grasse 29.6 km away | 6h12 |
| Entrevaux | Grasse 34.2 km away | 6h12 |
| Gourdon | Grasse 8.7 km away | 6h12 |
| Mont-Dauphin | Mont-Dauphin - Guillestre 0.9 km away | 6h30 |
| Saint-Véran | Mont-Dauphin - Guillestre 20.2 km away | 6h30 |
| Sainte-Agnès | Menton 3.9 km away | 6h39 |
| Coaraze | L'Escarène 5.3 km away | 6h51 |
| Saorge | Fontan - Saorge 0.9 km away | 8h18 |
| Colmars | – |
“Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” is a registered trademark of the association of the same name (INPI no. 1 659 572, according to its charter). This site is independent and not affiliated with the association; the list of members is shown as a fact.
Sources
Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
