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Travel guide
The Alpilles and Les Baux-de-Provence
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to June, and September to October
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Welcome
The Alpilles and Les Baux-de-Provence, in a few days
The Alpilles are a ridge of white limestone between Arles and Avignon, about a day long by bike. On its slopes: the citadel of Les Baux, dismantled on Richelieu's orders, a quarry turned into a giant screen for art, the Roman town of Glanum, the cloister where Van Gogh painted his irises, and mills pressing olives.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Les Baux-de-Provence free · 2 to 3 hA village on a rocky spur, with few permanent residents in its upper town, Renaissance mansions, rock-cut houses and steep lanes up to the castle.
- Afternoon · Château des Baux · about 1 h 30The ruined fortress of the lords of Les Baux, whose line died out in 1426; after a revolt in 1631, Richelieu had it dismantled.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel du Soleil & Spa€130 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Carrières des Lumières · about 1 hFormer limestone quarries, closed in 1935, where moving images are projected across walls, pillars and floor to music; Cocteau filmed here in 1959.
- Afternoon · Maussane-les-Alpilles free · about 1 hAn olive village south of Les Baux that once had seven oil mills; two still work, including the Moulin Jean-Marie Cornille, a cooperative since 1924.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Castelet des Alpilles€150 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Glanum · about 1 h 30A Celto-Ligurian sanctuary by a sacred spring that became a Gallo-Roman town, sacked in the 3rd century, with baths, forum, temples and a sacred well.
- Afternoon · Saint-Paul-de-Mausole · about 1 hThe former monastery and asylum where Van Gogh lived from May 1889 to May 1890, with a Romanesque cloister and a reconstruction of his room.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel Gounod€170 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Saint-Rémy-de-Provence free · about 1 hAn old centre ringed by plane-tree boulevards, with fountains, mansions, the presumed birthplace of Nostradamus and a Van Gogh centre in the Musée Estrine.
- Afternoon · Eygalières free · about 1 hA village wrapped around a rock topped by its ruined castle, with lanes up to the 16th-century White Penitents' chapel and its local museum.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hôtel du Soleil & Spa€130 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Baguette: the daily bread, bought fresh from the boulangerie. Ask for a "tradition", made with nothing but flour, water, salt and yeast.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat: breakfast pastries, best in the morning while still warm.
- The cheese course: served after the main dish and before dessert, from Comté to Camembert.
- Steak frites: the bistro standard. Order it "saignant" for rare or "à point" for medium.
- Galettes and crêpes: savoury buckwheat pancakes from Brittany filled with ham, egg and cheese, then sweet ones for pudding.
- House wine: ordered by the carafe or the "pichet" at lunch, and often better value than a bottle.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Say "bonjour" when you walk into a shop, a bakery or a café, and "au revoir" as you leave. Skipping it comes across as rude.
- Lunch runs from about noon to 2pm and dinner starts around 7.30pm. In between, most restaurant kitchens are closed.
- Most shops close on Sunday, and many small towns shut on Monday too. Bakeries and markets open on Sunday morning.
- Do not pay for bottled water at the table: ask for "une carafe d'eau", tap water that is served free with a meal.
- Around the big Paris sights, walk past anyone with a petition or a friendship bracelet. They are there to distract you while someone else takes your wallet.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ French
| English | French |
|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour |
| Thank you | Merci |
| Please | S'il vous plaît |
| Yes | Oui |
| No | Non |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais ? |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprends pas |
| How much is it? | Combien ça coûte ? |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? |
| The bill, please | L'addition, s'il vous plaît |
| Help! | Au secours ! |
| Cheers! | Santé ! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €140 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to June, and September to October
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingService is included by law, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/alpilles
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.