classicdesigns

Have a business trip to Avignon. Is there enough see & do to stay 3 days?

Christina

yes, I think so, certainly two full days -- but if you are there on business, won't you be busy all day, anyway? You'll have to do a little research as most tourists don't know about anything beyond the Palais des Papes and main square (and the little bridge, I suppose). there are some nice walks and areas to see, but I also especially liked the museum (Petit Palais, I believe) near the palace. There are a couple other small museums, but in any case, Avignon is right on a train line where you can easily go to Arles or Aix or Nimes in less than an hour, anyway, if you get bored.

TuckH

You should rent a car to visit (all within easy reach):

Pont du Gard, Les Baux and Arles

Underhill

Don't miss the park up the hill from the Palais des Papes--the view is great, and if you're there in the spring/summer the flowers are lovely. The church on the way to the park is also worth visiting, and have a look at the elegant carrousel in the main square. Then there are the old, old houses, the museums...more than enough for 3 days unless you are free all the time. In that case, visits to the surrounding area would be good.

lucy_d

Yes, Aix is quite lovely.

AGM_Cape_Cod

Two things that I remember most are at the top of the Palais de Papes is a roof top terrace which has a map of all the various sites you can see from it. Also walking down the city wall from the garden to the Pont d'Avignon. Made you realize what it was like to live in a walled city.

sarozena

I went to Avignon earlier this year. I would recommend taking the train to Orange to see one of the best preserved Roman theatres and the museum across the street and then catching a cab to Chateauneuf des Papes, one of the world's great small wine towns. There are dozens of places to taste wine. Then, take a bus or cab back to Avignon--it's about 10 miles.

Ackislander

I like Avignon a lot. There is certainly quite a lot to see in the surrounding area, but what about the town?

I recommend the Palais, of course, and the park above it and a good walk or series of walks through the town. It also has quite a nice pedestrian shopping area, a good place to see how the French bourgeoisie spends its Euros.

If you like art, there is a most interesting comparison, one I had never made before, between the intensely realistic paintings on the walls of a chamber in the Palais and the highly stylized quattrocento paintings that are a jewel in the Petit Palais museum. The lesson: they could paint realistically and chose not to. The question: why? My art history classes never got that far. I am very curious.

Two interesting places to eat. There are no doubt others, but I have tried these. We had a fabulous dinner in a restaurant called the Grand Cafe, behind the Palais and attached to a jazz club. The food was exceptionally imaginative, the neighboring tables friendly, and the service very quirky. People were accepted or rejected at the door on no obvious basis -- some admitted for dinner, some for a drink and snack, some for dessert and coffee, some turned away all together. Very French. We somehow made the cut and were treated like royalty. I had ox tails in which the meat had been taken off the bone and reformed into what looked like marrow bones, with pastry substituting for the outer bone. Just lip smacking, and inexpensive local wine -- a whole bottle for the price of a pichet in Paris.

Another eccentric place with good food is the Bistro Lyonnaise. This is behind a quaint front on an unprepossessing street out near the university. It is a goodish walk through an ultimately working class district. Inside it is a classic bistro -- tables and banquets down one side, Madame at the comptoir on the other, Lyonnaise cooking by the chef owner who spent many years in
Canada and likes to keep up his English by sitting down at your table and talking to you. He has perhaps the best bread I have ever eaten, made by a friend. Everyone -- professors, business people, us -- ate the daily special. It was good and fairly if not inexpensively priced.

DAX

I've been to Avignon a few times and enjoyed the Palais de Papes, however some of our friends were totally disappointed by the practically empty Palais. If I were you, I would visit the wonderful villages in Luberon before I go to Aix or Arles. Research Gordes, Bonnieux, Roussillon, La Coste, Menerbes etc. To me they give more quintessential Provence. If you decide to see Pont d'Avignon, then you must include the ancient small city of Uzes.

TuckH

> If you decide to see Pont d'Avignon, then you must include the ancient small city of Uzes. <

I think you mean Pont du Gard, not Pont d'Avignon...

Yes, Uzès is worth a visit.

Sally30

Is there some form of public transportation (tour bus or train) available to get from Avignon to the Pont du Gard. What particular area in Avignon would you recommend to stay in to be central to the sites as well as restaurants and shops. We are planning to stay in Avignon for 5 nights with day trips to some of the nearby towns mentioned in the earlier posts.

cigalechanta

If you stay at the Hotel L'Europe, it's just inside the wall and just outside there are the train and buses.

aljames

Shame you wont be there to experience the Veraison Wine Festival thats held nearby, if you love wine you will love that: http://www.worldreviewer.com/experie...estival/11220/

Here are some other good things to do in Avignon: http://www.worldreviewer.com/search/?q=Avignon