Avignon's most extraordinary stories aren't in the guidebooks - they're hidden in its alleyways, squares, and centuries-old façades. Our guided walks and treasure hunts reveal them, turning a city visit into an unforgettable adventure for families, couples, and curious souls alike.
Avignon is one of the most visited cities in the South of France - and one of the most misunderstood. Most visitors spend a morning at the Palais des Papes, cross the bridge, take a photo, and leave. They miss the medieval silk workshops along the Rue des Teinturiers, the secret vineyard hidden inside the ramparts, the building where the hot-air balloon was invented, and the river island that frames the most spectacular panorama in the entire Rhone valley.
Discover Avignon was created for visitors who want more than a checklist.
We offer distinct experiences for English-speaking travellers: guided walks curated by passionate local experts, and treasure hunts that challenge you to unlock the city's secrets at your own pace. Both take you across more than twenty carefully selected points of interest - UNESCO World Heritage sites, hidden gems, and the everyday corners that make Avignon one of the great medieval cities of Europe.
Your Avignon is waiting. We will show you where to find it.
We have mapped all of Avignon's most interesting locations - iconic landmarks and hidden gems alike - across our guided walks and treasure hunts. Here is a taste of what awaits.
Built in less than twenty years, the Palais des Papes is the largest Gothic palace in Europe - a colossus of towers, chambers, and corridors that once housed the most powerful court in the Christian world. Seven popes ruled from within these walls.
The bridge of the famous nursery rhyme once stretched 920 meters across the Rhône, connecting Avignon to the rest of the known world. Today, four arches remain, stranded mid-river like a beautiful, half-finished thought.
This cobblestoned street along the Sorgue river is where Avignon's medieval silk and textile industry once roared to life. Four 19th-century water wheels still turn today, shading the wine bars and bookshops that make you want to cancel your afternoon.
At 18 Rue Saint-Étienne stands a 17th-century building that quietly changed the world. It was here that Joseph de Montgolfier first conceived the hot-air balloon. The building later became France's oldest pawnshop. Most visitors walk straight past it.
From this 35-meter limestone rock - the original cradle of the city - you can see everything: the Rhône valley, Mont Ventoux, the Alpilles. What most visitors miss is the Clos d'Avignon, a working AOC vineyard tucked inside the park. The vines were planted in the 1990s.
Facing the Palais des Papes across the square, this ornate 1619 Baroque building served as the papal mint. Look carefully at its façade and you will find carved dragons and eagles - the heraldic arms of the Borghese family. Most people never look up.
The Capital of the Côtes-du-Rhône has a food market to match. Les Halles d'Avignon is framed by a dramatic living green wall. Inside, local producers, chefs, and residents have been crossing paths here for over a century, over wine, cheese, and the pace of Provençal market life.
France's largest river island sits just across the Petit Rhône, reachable by free river shuttle, and offers the most iconic panorama in the region: the Pont Saint-Bénézet, the ramparts, and the Palais des Papes reflected in the water at golden hour.
No tour bus. No fixed schedule. No crowds. Just you, the city, and a guide in your pocket.
Guided walk or treasure hunt? A quiet discovery for two, or a challenge with the whole group? Pick the experience that suits you and get in touch. We will take care of the rest.
Choose how you want to explore: our app-based experience for a seamless digital journey, or a premium paper pack with maps, clues, and a voucher for a local treat along the way. Each option comes at its own price point. Either way, your booking unlocks immediate online access to a comprehensive guide to Avignon's points of interest - perfect for planning your visit and building anticipation before you even set foot in the city.
Follow your virtual guide through medieval streets, hidden courtyards, and panoramas that most visitors never find. Every stop reveals a piece of Avignon that no guidebook will show you. Take two hours or take all day - there is no wrong pace in Avignon.
Have something specific in mind? We also design bespoke experiences - tailored to your interests, your pace, and your group. Get in touch and we will build your perfect Avignon.
Two hours or half a day. Eight years old or ninety-nine. Whether you are here with family, with someone special, or with friends who never agree on anything - there is a Discover Avignon experience that fits.
Avignon becomes a giant playground. Our treasure hunts give children a reason to be curious - and a reason to keep walking. Each clue reveals a piece of the city's history in a way that works for ages eight and up, while parents discover a side of Avignon they would never find in a guidebook.
Some cities are meant to be discovered together. A guided walk through hidden courtyards, medieval streets, and golden-hour viewpoints becomes a shared memory you will carry long after the trip. No crowds, no bus tours - just the two of you and seven centuries of stories.
Part adventure, part bonding, part friendly competition. Our treasure hunts bring out the best in every group - the history geek, the puzzle solver, the one who insists on stopping for wine. Discover Avignon together, at your own pace, with plenty of room for detours.
Travelling on your own? Our treasure hunts make the perfect companion - a virtual guide who knows every secret in the city. And if accessibility matters to you, rest assured: every Discover Avignon route is designed for comfort and safety, without ever feeling like a concession. Everyone explores on their own terms.
Avignon is the kind of city that rewards the curious. Behind its famous façades lie streets, stories, and viewpoints that most visitors never reach - and that is exactly where we take you.
For nearly seventy years in the 14th century, Avignon was the center of the Christian world. Seven successive popes made it their home between 1309 and 1377, transforming this sun-drenched Provençal city into a political and cultural powerhouse that rivaled Rome itself. Their legacy still stands in stone: the Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in Europe, looms over the old town as a monument to an age when Avignon held the fate of empires in its hands. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, its historic center remains one of the most remarkably preserved medieval cities on earth.
Avignon's medieval engineers were as ambitious as its popes. The 4.3 kilometers of ramparts that still encircle the old town were built in just fifteen years, with 39 towers so solid they have withstood floods, wars, and seven centuries of southern sun. And then there is the Pont Saint-Bénézet - the famous bridge of the nursery rhyme - which once stretched 920 meters across the Rhône and served as one of the most vital trade routes between Italy and Spain. Today, four of its arches remain, stranded mid-river like a beautiful, half-finished thought.
Every July, Avignon becomes something else entirely. The Festival d'Avignon - founded in 1947 and the oldest performing arts festival in France - floods the city with theatre, dance, and music, turning every square and alleyway into a stage. But Avignon's artistic soul is not seasonal: fifty trompe l'oeil "painted windows" depicting Hamlet, Harpagon, and Antigone are permanently tattooed onto its walls, and contemporary street art by Zorm, Zago, and C215 hides in its narrowest alleyways, waiting to be found.
The city's most charming street tells a quieter story. Rue des Teinturiers, once the industrial heart of Avignon's silk and textile trade, still runs alongside the Sorgue river, its ancient water wheels turning slowly under the shade of plane trees. Today it is lined with bookshops, wine bars, and small theatres. Nearby, Les Halles d'Avignon - the city's beloved covered market and the "Capital of the Côtes-du-Rhône" - has fed locals and visitors for over a century, its famous living green wall marking the best place in Provence to find wine, cheese, and the unhurried rhythm of market life.
Step outside the walls and Avignon surprises you again. France's largest river island, the Île de la Barthelasse, sits just across the Petit Rhône - reachable by free river shuttle - and offers the most iconic panorama in the region: the Pont Saint-Bénézet, the ramparts, and the Palais des Papes reflected in the water at golden hour. Back inside the walls, the Rocher des Doms garden crowns the city's highest limestone rock with 360-degree views over the Rhône valley and Mont Ventoux, and - for those who know where to look - a secret AOC vineyard planted in the 1990s that fools every visitor into thinking it is medieval.
Avignon is one of Europe's most remarkably preserved medieval cities. Here is what makes it extraordinary - and what our guided walks and treasure hunts put at your fingertips.
Years of history in every street
Medieval towers still encircling the old town
Points of interest across our experiences
Of medieval ramparts still standing
Everything you need to know before you explore.
