Five-star hotels in Avignon, at the foot of the Palais des Papes

Luxury hotels in Avignon: life inside the papal walls

Avignon is the prefecture of the Vaucluse, on the left bank of the Rhône a few kilometres above its confluence with the Durance. The commune had 92,188 inhabitants in 2023, but only about 16,000 of them, by the estimate of the city's services, live in the old town enclosed by the medieval walls. That walled centre is where luxury hotels in Avignon make most sense, because the UNESCO monuments and the main squares are all inside or against the ramparts.

The walls run for about 4.3 km. Pope Innocent VI began them in 1355 to protect the city from roving bands of mercenaries, and they were completed in 1370 under Urban V. They are punctuated by 39 towers and several gateways, and were restored under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. From the entrance to the Pont d'Avignon, a section of the ramparts leads up to the Rocher des Doms gardens, with views over the city and the Rhône.

The Rocher des Doms, a limestone outcrop above the reach of the river's floods, is the original core of the city. Below it, the main street, Rue de la République, is lined with Second Empire façades, and Place de l'Horloge, the central square, has the neoclassical city hall and the theatre district close by.

The Palais des Papes, the cathedral and the Pont Saint-Bénézet

UNESCO inscribed the Historic Centre of Avignon on the World Heritage List in 1995, for three linked elements: the Papal Palace, the episcopal ensemble and the bridge. The palace is one of the largest Gothic buildings of the Middle Ages, with about 15,000 m² of floor space, and the chronicler Froissart called it "the most well-fortified house in the world".

It is really two buildings. To the north stands the Palais Vieux of Benedict XII, with the vast Consistory Hall, which leads to the Chapel of St John, and the Tinel, or feast hall, above it, both painted by Matteo Giovanetti; its Trouillas Tower rises to 52 m, one of the highest medieval towers. To the south, his successor Clement VI added the Palais Neuf and its Great Chapel, whose vault is braced by a flying buttress spanning the street. UNESCO credits the palace's lavish decoration to Giovanetti and Simone Martini, and the Stag Room, Clement VI's day room, keeps its frescoes of rustic scenes.

North of the palace, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame des Doms dates from 1150. The Petit Palais, begun in 1317 as the bishops' residence, has housed the Musée du Petit Palais since 1976, with paintings of the Avignon school and Italian primitives from the Campana collection.

The Pont Saint-Bénézet, the Pont d'Avignon of the song, was rebuilt in stone from 1234 with 22 arches and a length of about 900 m. Rhône floods repeatedly brought arches down, and the bridge was abandoned in the 17th century. Four arches survive, with the gatehouse on the Avignon side and the Chapel of St Nicholas on the second pier.

Hôtel La Mirande, a cardinal's residence facing the palace

Hôtel La Mirande stands at 4 Place de l'Amirande, at the foot of the Palais des Papes. Its history begins with the papacy. According to the hotel, Cardinal de Pellegrue, a nephew of Pope Clement V, built his livrée, or cardinal's residence, on this site beside the palace; it stayed with successive cardinals until a siege in 1410 partly destroyed it by fire. A later owner, Pierre, Marquis of Bédouin, commissioned the Classical façade designed by Pierre Mignard, and the Pamard family, owners for two centuries, gave the interior a Neo-Gothic character. The Stein family restored the building over three years with the interior designer François-Joseph Graf and the architect Gilles Grégoire.

The Atout France register lists 26 rooms, with the five-star classification dated 16 November 2021. Deluxe rooms measure 21–35 m² for one or two guests, with a double bed or twin beds, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a safe and a mirror television.

The Restaurant La Mirande is the hotel's gastronomic table, with cuisine by chef Michele Donvito as of 2026. It offers two settings, a Renaissance room or a garden facing the Palais des Papes, and the chef composes menus as three-course triptychs. Since 1994 the historic kitchens have also housed Le Marmiton, a cooking school where visiting chefs teach around an old wood-fired stove. Room service runs 24 hours a day, and pets are accepted for an extra charge.

Getting to Avignon: two stations and three airports

Avignon has two railway stations, and the difference matters when you plan an arrival. Avignon TGV, the high-speed station, stands about 6 km south of the centre under a 340 m glazed roof; it opened in June 2001 with the LGV Méditerranée. Since December 2013 a short rail link known as the virgule has carried a regional shuttle train between Avignon TGV and Avignon-Centre, the city station just outside the walls, in a few minutes; buses and taxis take about 15 minutes.

Avignon-Centre opened in 1849 on the Paris–Marseille line, and its neoclassical building dates from 1866. It is the station for regional TER trains to Arles, Marseille, Nîmes, Montpellier, Carpentras and Lyon, and some TGVs also call there. From Avignon TGV, several bus routes also reach Avignon Poste and Porte de l'Oulle, both at the entrance to the historic centre.

By air, Marseille Provence is the main international airport; a shuttle links it to the Vitrolles-Aéroport station, from which TER trains run directly to Avignon. Drivers use the A7 motorway, which has two exits for the city: 23, Avignon-Nord, and 24, Avignon-Sud.

When to go: the July festival and the mistral

The Festival d'Avignon, founded by Jean Vilar in 1947, takes over the city every July. The very first edition was held in September 1947, and the 2026 edition was the 80th. Its official programme, the "In", uses the Cour d'honneur of the Palais des Papes among other venues, while the independent "Off", which began in 1966 at the Théâtre des Carmes, fills theatres, schools and streets at the same time.

The festival is the most important cultural event in the city's year: in 2012 the official programme alone drew 135,800 people, according to the tourist office's figures.

The climate is hot-summer Mediterranean, with mild to cool winters and hot summers, though less dry than on the coast. Wind is the other factor. The mistral, the prevailing wind, blows on 120 to 160 days a year, with gusts averaging 90 km/h, and a medieval Latin proverb called the city Avenie ventosa, windy Avignon.

Museums, markets and the far bank of the Rhône

Beyond the palace, Avignon's museums reward a longer stay. The Musée Calvet is named after Esprit Calvet, a physician who left his collections to the town in 1810. The Musée Angladon, created by a private collector, displays works from Jacques Doucet's collection, among them a Cézanne still life, and the Musée Lapidaire displays archaeological and medieval sculpture in the former chapel of the Jesuit college. Les Halles, the large covered market, sells fresh produce, meat and fish.

The Île de la Barthelasse, in the Rhône, faces the Pont d'Avignon. On the far bank, in the Gard, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon was a retreat of the French cardinals during the papal century. Philip the Fair founded the town; Fort Saint-André, on its hill, was the French crown's stronghold facing papal Avignon, and the Tour Philippe-le-Bel marks the far end of the old bridge. The Charterhouse of Val-de-Bénédiction, which Pope Innocent VI founded in 1356, holds his tomb. Crossing back over the Daladier bridge gives the classic view of ramparts, palace and broken bridge together.

Day trips: the Pont du Gard, the Rhône vineyards and Arles

The Pont du Gard, the Roman aqueduct bridge, is about 21 km from Avignon, according to the site's own access page. North of the city, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, recognised as an AOC in 1936, spreads across five communes, among them Orange and Sorgues; Avignon itself has been the capital of the Côtes du Rhône since 1996, when the wine body Inter Rhône made the Hôtel de Rochegude its headquarters. Orange, with its Roman theatre and triumphal arch on the UNESCO list, stages the Chorégies d'Orange, a lyric festival, in the ancient theatre each early summer; the 2026 season ran from late May to mid-July.

South-west, Arles is about 37 km by road and about 17 minutes by direct train from Avignon-Centre, for its Roman arena, its Van Gogh sites and its summer photography festival. Further on, the walled crusader port of Aigues-Mortes stands on the western edge of the Camargue. South-east on the same high-speed line, Aix-en-Provence, Paul Cézanne's home town, pairs easily with Avignon. If you are weighing Avignon against another city base, our guide to choosing a five-star city break in France sets out the questions to ask.