Provence
Provence is a geographical, cultural region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
Provence is a geographical, cultural region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and includes the departments of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, as well as parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse. The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Provence
One place within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is a region of artists, and many of the greats have been inspired by the vibrant colours and excellent light quality that the landscape offers. Nice has museums dedicated to Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse, while Vence has Matisse's stunning Rosary Chapel.
From Wikivoyage: Provence, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
What's the most Provençal sport you can think of? Go to any town square or public park in the region and chances are you'll see groups of older men playing pétanque. The aim of this southern French variation of boules is to roll one's own metal balls as close to the cochonnet (a little wooden ball known in English as a "jack", although cochonnet actually means "piglet"!) as possible, knocking out other players' ball…
From Wikivoyage: Provence, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Centuries of intense study of the culinary arts has produced a country where the food is almost invariably excellent. It is difficult to have a bad meal because French standards are so high. Nonetheless, in tourist traps there are places where standards slip, but to avoid this the classic tip is to choose restaurants that are busy with locals. Each village in the region has a market day.
From Wikivoyage: Provence, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Provence
- Airports
- Marseille Provence (MRS), 24 km · Montpellier-Méditerranée (MPL), 124 km · Nice-Côte d'Azur (NCE), 139 km
- Montpellier/Méditerranée → Provence428 km · quickest by road, 7h 35m · €55–80
- Nice, Alpes-Maritimes → Provence357 km · quickest by air, 8h 39m · €180–270
- Colombier-Saugnieu, Rhône → Provence181 km · quickest by road, 3h 42m · €26–36
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Provence
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Provence. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- 01332 km
- 02345 km
- 03891 km
- 04944 km
- 05950 km
If you know how people move in Provence – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Provence
Provence is 25 km from Marseille, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.