Provence is located in the southeastern part of France, close to Italy. This region is particularly famous for sunny days, sea, and landscape. Provence is a historical and cultural region with a lot of historical monuments. Because of the perfect weather conditions, this region is also famous for the wineries.
With all these excellent conditions, some cities in Provence became the principal place for celebrities’ holidays and famous festivals.
Best things to do in Provence, France
Nice, Cannes & Saint-Tropez: Travel along the French Riviera
Nice – Walking on the “The Promenade des Anglais”
This is the emblematic place to go when you are visiting Nice. The “Promenade des Anglais” is a 7 km promenade along the Bay of Angels. The origin of this name comes from fishermen, who were fishing and saw a shark whose fin was similar to an angel’s wings. The Promenade des Anglais was loved by the English aristocracy, as they love spending their time here during the winter season since the start of the 18th century.
The Promenade des Anglais is one of the most famous promenades of the World, decorated with palms and the typical blue chairs.
This promenade starts from the Castel Hill to the Nice Airport. The Castel Hill, the birthplace of the city, was unfortunately destroyed in 1706 by the Louis XIV army troops. This place, particularly appreciated because of the big greeny spaces and the waterfall, creates a relaxing atmosphere great for walking. Castle Hill is especially beautiful at night with its lights.
Along the promenade, you can also visit the Albert 1st garden, one of the older gardens of the city created in the 19th century.
Discover the Old Town of Nice
The Old Town of Nice is a wonderful place with colorful houses facades and narrow streets. The atmosphere is a mix between Provence and Italy. A lot of little shops and restaurants will offer you traditional and local goodies and food. The Cours Saleya market is the famous market located in the heart of the Old Town. A real Mediterranean market where you can buy flowers and food from local citizens. This is also the best occasion for a glass of wine. The market takes place every morning, except on Monday that is the day of the flea market.
You can discover the Courthouse Square where a flea market opens every Saturday.
The picturesque place of the Old Town, the “Rossetti Square,” is also highly recommended. It is the perfect opportunity to visit the Saint Reparata Cathedral. This Catholic church built between 1650 and 1699 has been classified as a National monument in 1906.
Finally, discover Saint Francis Square, once the former city hall, built-in 16 century, with the clock tower, and its small fish market.
The Guided tours are on the internet for provides more information about these historical places.
Nice Carnival
Nice carnival is the biggest carnival in France and one of the most important carnivals in the world. For this reason, many visitors come from all around the world to Nice to enjoy this incredible and colorful carnival.
We don’t know exactly when the first Nice carnival started, but we discovered that in 1294, the Provence count Charles d’Anjou already talked about it.
Nice Carnival includes 17 boats decorated with a general theme and accompanied by dancers, acrobats, and musical bands from all around the world. In 2019, the theme of the carnival was “Kings of Cinema” and the parade has shown emblematic movies and personalities. For the 2021 edition, the new theme is “Kings of Animals.” This new edition will take place from 13th to 27th February 2021.
This unforgettable show takes place in Nice every winter for 2 weeks.
For participating in this carnival, you should buy a ticket. Prices depend on the category.
Tips: People who come fully disguised will be able to enter to the “Carnival Parades ” and the “Carnival Parades of Lights” (by night) for free. The prices of these categories are between 5€ and 12€ per person and are standing area only (no sitting).
For the security and the respect of everyone, there are some objects you cannot use for your disguise. For knowing all the list, please refer to the official page of the carnival.
Eating food specialties from Nice
Many people don’t know, but a lot of Provence food recipes are from Nice. Some of them can be found in Paris but we recommend trying the traditional recipes during your travel to Nice.
Here are some culinary specialties we absolutely recommend you to try:
Salade Niçoise: You can often find this salad name in some restaurants in Paris but for Nice’s citizens, the only good recipe for this salad is in Nice. The Salade Niçoise composes of salad, vegetables, and fish (tuna or anchovy).
Pissaladière: This is an authentic recipe from the Medieval period. This menu really popular with the villagers is still cooked today.
This meal is an onion tart with a mix of anchovy and sardines, usually a starter with a good glass of wine.
Pan Bagnat: It is a kind of circle cold sandwich with the “Salade Niçoise” ingredients. Maybe the most famous and the favorite Nice’s food of French people, you can easily find the Pan Bagnat.
Les farçits Niçois: A real local recipe made with vegetables (tomato, peppers, or zucchini fill with meat and olive oil.
Of course, there are many other foods you can try, it was just our recommendations about the most famous ones. If you are interested in discovering more about foods from Nice, why don’t you try a food tour?
Cannes Film Festival
The worldwide famous Cannes International Film Festival occurs in the Palace of Festivals and Conferences every year for 12 days.
Created in September 1946, the 73rd edition will be present from May 11th to 22nd, 2021. The Cannes International Film Festival promotes the best movies and celebrates Cinema, which is designated as the 7th art. In 2019, the festival introduced 57 movies that originated from 35 different countries. Each year, actors and actresses from all around the world are meeting during this unique occasion. An opportunity to see these international celebrities with our own eyes during the red carpet.
Unfortunately, the Cannes festival access is restricted to accredited people and journalists only. Despite this, there are some activities you can do during the Cannes International Film Festival:
The Film Festival is the perfect occasion for watching a good movie! Not being able to participate in the festival doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy the films. This is the moment where you can watch a movie on the beach. Comfortably sit in a deckchair in front of a 24-meter screen, you will enjoy (re)discovering a remarkable movie of the cinema history. The projection scheduled every Saturday at 21:00 at the Macé beach.
The new tradition since 2004 is to see the “Cannes fait le mur” exhibition during the Films Festival period. The name of the exhibition is a wordplay between “faire le mur” which means in French “to skip something”, “to play hooky” and the exhibition place that is located on all city’s façades and walls. The exhibition shows the big sizes of celebrities’ pictures and the most memorable moments of the Cannes Festival.
If you are interested in the festival and the cinema’s history, there are some guided tours on the internet.
Le Suquet
Located on the top of the hill called “the Knight Hill”, Le Suquet is the oldest part of Cannes, the birthplace of the city.
Like many other Mediterranean cities during the medieval period, the construction was on the high lands for the protection of different dangers as pirates.
This place offered an authentic image of what was the medieval city and also an incredible view of the bay and the intern part of the land. Le Suquet is an extended part of the city and has a large list of things to do and see.
The ruins of the monks’ castle were once served by the actual “Musée de la Castre” which exposed an important collection of antiquities. A Dutch Baron offered them for proving his affection to the city.
Near the museum, the square tower offers the most beautiful panorama of the city. But for deserving it, you need to be brave and climb more than 100 steps.
Through the medieval streets, though tight and steep, explore the Forville market, the most popular place of Le Suquet.
The first edition of this market appeared at the end of the 19th century and, over time, became bigger for corresponding to the growing population. Now, the market reputation is known by all the southern French people for the excellent quality and the diversified products.
Lastly, the old port in which the oldest boat’s dock was built in 1838. Old boats and luxury yachts are sharing the old port places. Moreover, every September, the “Régate Royales” run is organized with some wonderful boats like yachts, sailboats, and others.
Also called “the Knight Hill”, Le Suquet is the oldest part of Cannes, the birthplace of the city.
Aquatic activities
Cannes is the perfect place for aquatic activities. In the beautiful Mediterranean sea, many cruises offer visitors an incredible experience. For the whole day or half of the day, you can enjoy the cruise onboard different types of boat. The choice of the boat will depend on your budget and the duration of your reservation. We recommend you to try the Catamaran Cruise: An average size modern boat fully equipped that will allow you to do many things like swimming, relaxing during your sunbath, or just enjoying the Cannes landscape.
If this activity fits you, there is a lot of activities on the spot. Don’t forget to check on the internet, interesting activities you might like and you can easily book it in advance.
You can also try snorkeling! In the turquoise color of the sea, that is the ideal spot for searching fishes and discovering the beautiful treasures of the marine world. That is also a good meaner to enjoy marine wildlife ecologically and respectfully for the environment and animals who are living in the sea.
For snorkeling too, many sports shops are providing this activity on the spot but you can also find some performances on the internet and maybe find a better price or monitors who is able to speak your mother tongue.
Marseille & Aix-en-Provence : The biggest Provence’s Metropole
Calanques de Marseille
The wonderful treasure of nature that makes Marseille citizens proud. The “Calanques” is a 20 km succession of coves and creeks, along the Mediterranean sea. There are a lot of Calanques spots as Cassis, La Ciotat, but the most popular site is the Marseille’s Calanques.
The “Calanques” is a provincial word meaning a hill sunk at the start of a river and now used by the sea.
The Calanques history started more than one hundred million years ago and all Calanques spots are now protected by the Calanques National Parc. The objectives of this National Parc are in historical and environmental aspects. They are working hard to protect natural places and all fossils that are naturally created by nature from humans’ impacts.
This beautiful landscape is the perfect place for aquatic sports, trekking, or just taking a breath in a peaceful place. “Les Calanques” is a unique place that allows you to disconnect with the working and stressful life. In this incredible environment, allow yourself to do some aquatic activities like Kayak, swimming, snorkeling, fishing,… Discovering the incredible maritime flora through the turquoise waters. For those who are not adept at exercises in the water, specific roads are opened to let you see the landscape through trekking, riding a bicycle, or climbing! There are so many things to do there.
Do not hesitate to download the “Mes Calanques” application (available in English) on Google Play or App Store. This app will help you to prepare your visit but also recommend some path to take, depending on the difficulty. Finally, information cards purpose you to learn about the Calanques’ historical and natural heritage.
Marseille MUCEM Museum
Inaugurated on June 17th, 2013 by the former French President François Hollande, the national museum MUCEM, which the acronym means “Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations” offers permanent and temporary exhibitions. Exhibitions charting the History of the Mediterranean basin with a mix of different scientific and artistic point of view as the anthropology, the archeology, and the art’s history view.
The MUCEM is an excellent experience for everyone who is interested or just curious about the evolution of civilization. Each piece from the huge collection is well explained so everyone, from children to seniors, can easily understand.
The MUCEM’s three distinct spots are the Fort Saint-Jean, the resources conservation unit, and the newly built museum.
The Fort Saint-Jean, constructed between the 12th and the 17th century, is a military fort that offers exhibitions, performances, and charting the ethnobotanical history through the Migrations garden.
The resources conservation unit had around 250,000 objects in their possession. Visits are open in free access from Monday to Friday from 14:00 to 17:00. Other schedules are available with appointments only.
The newest construction of the Museum, located in the J4 harbor pôle is also a wonderful architectural treasure with a lot of significations. Created in front of the sea by the French architect Rudy Ricciotti, the museum site is an emblematic space that expresses the connection between the sky and the sea.
44,000m² in three different places, three different atmospheres, to provide you with the most memorable experience.
Guided tours are not available in English but there are English audio guides (do not forget to choose the option). Buy your tickets on the official website or here.
Feeling the Aix-en-Provence life
Aix-en-Provence is a university town located 30 mins from Marseille. It’s a good city for living that’s why the first recommendation is just to enjoy and feel the city’s mood.
The Rotonde Fountain, inaugurated in 1860, is the heart of this small city and also the checkpoint when friends have to meet together. Around it, there are many things to do.
Directly connected to the fountain, “Le Cours Mirabeau” that is the most picturesque road of the city. It is a long, straight, and symmetric road which is a fully pedestrian area. Along this road, many bars, cafes, and restaurants with terraces for enjoying the sunshine weather or the winter atmosphere. This is also the main place for different manifestations as the associations meeting, the music day, or even the Christmas market.
In front of this mythic road, “Les Allées Provençales” (The Provencials Alleys) have fashionable stores. On the Fançois Villon place exposes some art pieces.
Visitors can see a lot of remarkable edifices dispersed all around the city.
Aix-en-Provence city is the perfect mix between old monuments and new architectures.
For those interested in discovering all the highlighted places in Aix-en-Provence, the City Pass provides you with many advantages like access to 14 museums, 11 guided tours, visit of the city on board of the little electric train, and others.
Lavender field
From June to the end of July, the Provence becomes purple.
Worldwide popular for the beauty of the color and frequently used by TV programs or movies for the romantic atmosphere, the lavender fields became one of the reasons for foreigners to travel in this region. The purple treasure is used for various daily things and is the picturesque flower of the Provence. The perfect place for a photoshoot! During the short blooming season, visitors come from everywhere for seeing the lavender flowers. Instagram’s influencers used these beautiful fields as a background for their photo shooting.
Several Lavender field excursions are purpose on the internet. The Aix-en-Provence tourism office has more than 15 travels in the Provence to see the Lavender fields. These trips have guided tours at different times of the day and with different thematics. Websites as GetYourGuide or Viator also purpose a lot of different tours: private tours, group tours, workshops,…
At just 5km for the heart of Aix-en-Provence city, discover “Terre Ugo“, a familial house where the family’s members opened their doors to visitors from all around the world to introduce you to the lavender experiences and history. This place with an organic production 100% made in France is the first tourism place about the lavender. The perfect site for discovering this Provence flower differently and excitingly through workshops or games.
Luberon & Avignon : Discovering the landscape of the Provence
The Luberon, mostly renowned for the forest massif, has great tourism potential.
Avignon is a medieval city of France that was occupied by a Catholic pontiff from 1309 to 1377. The city became popular thanks to a French folk song about the Avignon bridge.
There are a lot of things to do in this region, and the landscapes are incredibly beautiful.
Luberon’s Villages
One of the Luberon’s treasures is their villages. Unfortunately, they are not popular enough, but their beauty deserves to be known. If you have the opportunity to visit these villages during your journey, you will never regret it.
Lourmarin
This village is one of the most popular of the Luberon’s villages list. In the greeny environment, the Lourmarin village offers cultural and historical places such as the art gallery, the bell tower, or the Lourmarin’s Castle, a Castle built in the renaissance style.
Such artists, enchanted by this place, decided to live here. This concerns the writers’ Paul Camus and Henri Bosco, and the former prime minister of England Winston Churchill. The greatest chief Reine Sammut opened a gastronomic restaurant named “l’Auberge la Fenière“.
Cucuron
This charming village had several historical places due to its important prehistoric past. Cucuron is a typical provincial village of 200 residents that profited from 300 days of sun every year. Some movies were filmed there like the romantic comedy movie “A Good Year” in 2005.
A lot of incredible places are in Cucuron. Among them, the Jeanne 1rst House (Queen of Naples and Countess of the Provence for 40 years) or the Marc Deydier’s Museum. This museum, built-in 1970, consecrated to Marc Deydier (1845-1920), a savant, photographer, and prehistorian. When he didn’t work, Marc Deydier was spending time to make some research for his collections about civilizations during the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. This is also the place where discovering the village’s life in 1900. The museum is using French only but you can learn man things with the photos (The price of tickets is 2€).
Menerbes
Menerbes, built on a rocky massif, is one of the most beautiful French villages and appears like a heart. Enjoy the visit to this unique village that offers historical and architectural beautiful monuments. Among the activities, the wines and truffles museum helps you learn and taste different local products. Here you can see the wines from the Provence territory. The huge botanic garden of the Citadelle has 5 hectares with a truffle-field, aromatic flower garden, medicinal plant garden, magic plant garden, and an edible wild plant garden, offers a real exploration of the flower world. An excursion for the entire family!
For good walkers, Menerbes is the place for trekking through the mountain, forest, or lavender fields.
There are a lot of villages in Luberon and most of them provide guided tours in English. For that, please check the Luberon official tourism page.
Pont d’Avignon
As the real name “Pont Saint-Bénézet” but also called “Pont d’Avignon” in French, it is a vestige of a bridge located on the Rhône river. The myth said the construction of that bridge operated by a young shepherd who received the divine sign. In reality, the construction is the result of many years of construction between 1177 and 1185. At the start, The Pont d’Avignon was the only one that crossed the river. But because of wars and inundations, it suffered a lot of damages. The bridge is an important monument for France’s History and Culture. Often mentioned in French cultural contents through books, tv series, or popular folk songs. Pont d’Avignon is a Mondial Heritage of Unesco since 1995.
The historical city center of Avignon
Surrounded by ramparts, the city has a medieval style. The charming Avignon’s city heart will make you feel like you are walking in a few centuries before. Wander through the tight streets and discover hidden small places where you can enjoy a cup of coffee. During your visit, do not miss the Opera located at the “Place de l’Horloge”. Raised in the 19th century in the Greco-roman architecture style, this beautiful Opera is an architect treasure.
Vincent Van Gogh, the worldwide renowned painter used Provence’s landscapes in his artworks. From Avignon, this is the opportunity to discover the artist’s works through guided visits in the “Carrière des lumières” visit or his entire life story.
Hope this article helped you plan your ultimate journey to Provence, France! Tell us about your favorite place.
