Avignon: know before you go

Avignon has two rail stations and one small local airport, and the walled old town is the anchor for all of them. Avignon Centre, signed as Gare Centre, sits right at the western edge of the ramparts, so regional arrivals step out and walk straight into the old town. Avignon TGV station, the high-speed stop, lies south of the city, so allow a few minutes for the hop back in. If you are staying inside the walls, aim for Avignon Centre or take the quick shuttle from the TGV station rather than a taxi.

The walled centre is small, roughly a kilometre across, and most of it is a cobbled walk. For anything farther, Orizo runs the buses, one tram line and a set of free shuttles across Greater Avignon. The Baladine, a free electric shuttle, loops through the intra-muros streets every day and is the easiest way to skip a hot or tired stretch. A single ticket covers buses, tram and transfers, but for a visit inside the walls you may never board anything at all.

Beyond your room bill, Avignon adds a nightly tourist tax and two ticketed headline monuments, while two of the best art museums cost nothing. The Palais des Papes and the Pont d'Avignon both charge, and the combined ticket saves a few euros if you plan to see both. Cards and contactless payment are standard at the monuments and in shops, and the Musée du Petit Palais and the Musée Calvet are free.

For most of the year you can buy palace and bridge tickets on the spot, but two bookings are worth making before you leave. The Palais des Papes uses timed entry and can sell out in high season, so reserve your slot online. If your dates touch July, book the hotel before anything else, because the Festival d'Avignon fills the city and beds disappear months out.

Avignon's year turns on one event, the Festival d'Avignon, which for three weeks each July turns the walled city into a stage. The palace courtyard becomes a theatre, every wall carries posters, and the streets fill from morning to night. On the quieter side of the calendar, Les Halles closes on Mondays, so time your market visit for Tuesday to Sunday.

Avignon is a safe, walkable city and the centre is heavily pedestrian, but keep ordinary city habits. Crowds are the main variable: the July festival and summer market mornings pack the lanes, so keep your bag in front and your phone out of back pockets. The other local hazard is the weather, and specifically the mistral, which can gust hard enough to knock things over. It hits hardest on the exposed ramparts, the Rocher des Doms garden and the bridge.

Summer is the health story in Avignon. July and August afternoons are genuinely hot, so walk in the morning or evening, carry water and hop the free Baladine to skip a hot stretch. Tap water is safe to drink throughout the city, so refill your bottle at the hotel. There is little shade on the bridge and the open squares, so sun protection matters there.

French is the working language here, and a little of it goes a long way even in a city that sees visitors all summer. Say bonjour when you walk into a shop, café or ticket office and merci on the way out; the greeting is the real opener of the exchange. English is spoken at the palace, the tourist office and most hotels, but market vendors and small cafés are happier in French, so a few phrases smooth every transaction.

The walled centre is medieval, so expect cobblestones, narrow lanes and steps, and plan your route around them. The low-floor Baladine shuttle is the easiest way to move through the intra-muros streets if the cobbles tire you. The main monuments publish their access details, and people with a disability card plus one companion enter the palace and bridge free.