How to get to Avignon is simple: the TGV brings you from Paris in 2 hours 40, and the central station sits just outside the walls. The only choice you make is which of the two stations you arrive at. Here is the route in by train, air and car, and how to reach your Avignon booking kerb once you are here.
Avignon has two stations, and they are not in the same place. Check your ticket for the name before you travel.
| Station | Where it is | What stops there | Into town |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avignon Centre | Just outside the walls, a 2-minute walk from the historic centre | Regional trains, and the shuttle from the TGV station | 15 minutes on foot to the palace |
| Avignon TGV | 6 km south of the centre, opened in 2001 | High-speed trains: 2 h 40 from Paris, 1 h from Lyon, 3 h 40 from Lille | The TER shuttle to Avignon Centre in a few minutes |
If you arrive at Avignon TGV, take the TER line towards Carpentras for the short hop to Avignon Centre. From there you walk into town through the walls. The coach station stands right next to the central station, 15 minutes on foot from the Palais des Papes.
Avignon Provence airport, 8 km from the centre, has no scheduled flights, only business aviation. You fly into Marseille Provence, Nîmes or Montpellier instead.
From each of those, the train is the easy way on: the TGV network serves Marseille, Montpellier and Nîmes as well as Avignon. Allow a morning for the transfer, and book the tour for the day after.
Avignon is 1 hour from Marseille, 2 hours from Lyon and 3 hours from Nice by road. Leave the A7 at Avignon Sud from the south or Avignon Nord from the north; from Nîmes and Montpellier, leave the A9 at Remoulins.
The tourist office's advice is to park and then walk. These five car parks sit at the walls or inside them, all open round the clock and all limited to 1.90 m in height:
| Car park | Address | Spaces | 24 hours | Next to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palais des Papes | 18 Place du Palais | 825 | €19.30 (€26.80 in July and August) | Under the palace square; lifts up |
| Gare Centre | 7 avenue Monclar | 778 | €19.30 (€26.80 in July and August) | The central station; 3 hours free at weekends outside summer |
| Les Halles | 18 place Pie | 520 | €19.30 (€26.80 in July and August) | The covered market |
| Jean Jaurès | 2 avenue Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny | 715 | Higher in July and August | Beside the tourist office; 30 minutes free with your ticket there |
| Oratoire | 28 bis rue Joseph Vernet | 549 | Higher in July and August | The shopping streets |
Street parking inside the walls, the orange zone, is charged from 9 am to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday, for 4 hours at most. Outside the walls, two park-and-ride sites are free with a free shuttle in: Italiens, with 1,454 spaces, and Piot, with 1,100.
Driving a camper or a minivan? Nothing over 1.90 m fits the underground car parks or parks round the ramparts. Use the areas on the Île de la Barthelasse, across the river, a few minutes' walk from the centre.
Inside the walls you walk: the old town is almost entirely pedestrian. The Orizo buses and tram share one ticket, and 300 Vélopop electric bikes wait at 29 stations. The free shuttle boat crosses to the island from Quai de la Ligne.
For a day out, you do not need a car at all. Every day tour leaves from a kerb at or inside the walls, in an 8-seat minivan, and brings you back to the city.
Most tours meet at the station end of town, a short walk from Avignon Centre. The tourist office at 41 cours Jean Jaurès is a stone's throw from the station, and Hôtel Le Bristol at 44 is on the same street. The central post office stands on cours Président Kennedy nearby.
The rest meet at the palace end: the Palais steps, rue de Mons beside it, Place de l'Horloge and Place Crillon. Allow the 15-minute walk from the station, more in July. No tour collects you from a hotel, so check your kerb the night before.
Compare the tours by their meeting point, from the tourist office to the palace steps.
Train times, stations, roads, car parks and fares come from Avignon's tourist office, checked 28 September 2026. Each tour's meeting point comes from its own listing.
Eight and a half hours from the central post office to four hilltop villages, two hours in Roussillon. Children from three; strollers and infant seats fine.
From $139 per person (minimum 2)
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Four to six hours from Hôtel Le Bristol to three estates across the Rhône crus, with tastings on the list; the morning three-area option adds a farm picnic. Adults only.
From $91 per person
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Five hours from the tourist office to the painter's Arles and the asylum at Saint-Rémy, with its entry in the fare. Children from four.
From $114 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: find every kerb on the Avignon map, choose a base on where to stay, or compare every tour on Avignon Tours.