7 Best things to see & do in Avignon

Nearly a thousand shows and exhibitions over three weeks, showcasing world-class drama, music and dance. France’s answer to the UK’s Edinburgh Festival.

The world’s biggest Gothic palace was home to popes during their 14th-century exile from Rome. Seven reigned here until 1377, in a colourful period of greed and depravity.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site of breathtaking beauty, this aqueduct bridge, dating back to the 1st century BC, is testimony to the genius of Roman engineers.

A superb private art collection in a townhouse, including the only Van Gogh in Provence. There are also paintings by Chardin, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Modigliani, Sisley and Picasso.

A genuine masterpiece of classical architecture, and looking almost good as new after recent restorations, the gleaming white Maison Carree (really a temple to the divine heirs of Augustus) is one of the best-preserved of all Roman buildings. Nearby in the Jardins de la Fontaine is another unique monument, the Tour Magne, a tower offering views over the city.

An evocative, romantic Roman burial ground – once the most famous cemetery in medieval Europe. It’s the burial site of the legendary St Trophime and the first bishops of Arles, and remains an important stop on the pilgrimage to Compostela.

Nimes’ landmark amphitheatre makes an elegant focal point for the city centre. Like many others, it owes its survival to being converted to a fortress in the Middle Ages. ‘Les Arenes’, as the Nimois call it, is now restored, and used for bullfights, courses camarguaises (bloodless bullfights), historical re-enactments and concerts.