Provence for culture lovers

Last Updated on November 13, 2026

Art for Art’s sake – Cultural Provence

In our third article exploring Provence, we are taking a look at “Cultural” Provence: Aix-en-Provence, the extraordinary Château La Coste and Avignon.

Aix-en-Provence 

Aix-en-Provence is an elegant, well-heeled university town. It has over 1000 fountains, hot springs, stylish markets, art schools and a thriving cultural scene. The Aix-en-Provence City Pass gives you access to the main attractions as well as free public transport using the “Lebus” and “Lecar”.

A good starting point to explore the town is to stroll down Le Cours Mirabeau on market mornings (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays). Le Grand Marché is the go-to place for Provençal fabrics, clothes and bags, and you will thank me if you take my advice and bring a shopping bag with you. I didn’t…

Laid-back buskers will serenade you as you promenade down to the Fontaine de la Rotonde.

Many of the town’s squares are full of stalls selling local produce of course including sunflowers, as painted by the town’s most famous son, Paul Cézanne.

Stop off to buy Calissons, diamond-shaped pastries with candied fruit and marzipan, from one of the many shops that stock them. Calissons were allegedly commissioned by Roi René, Duc d’Anjou and Comte de Provence, to celebrate his marriage to the austere Jeanne de Laval who needed cheering up. No one knows if this is true, but it’s a good story. If you have seen Buñuel’s film Belle de Jour you’ll know the territory.

Next up, you should visit Aix-en-Provence’s 17th C. smart Quartier Mazarin, which is home to many art museums. The Caumont Centre d’Art is a must-see. Built between 1715 and 1742, it’s a stunning Parisian-style townhouse built for the de la Tour d’Aigues family.

There is wonderful ironmongery around the exterior, gorgeous interiors, an oh-so-chic little garden and a sexy looking restaurant.

We caught an exhibition featuring the posters and paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec that chronicled the world of the Parisian demi-monde and the Moulin Rouge cabaret. Until March 21st 2027, there is an exhibition of photos by iconic snapper Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Not far away is the Musée Granet. The museum has two rooms dedicated to Paul Cézanne, and the permanent collection has a good selection of early modernists: Klee, Léger, Picasso, Mondrian and Giacometti. There is also a major collection of 19th-century works by David, Ingres and his Aix-born friend Granet.

Until 3rd January 2027, you can see an excellent exhibition of photos taken by Paul McCartney from 1963-4 that capture the explosion of Beatlemania from McCartney’s own lens.
The Gallifet Art Centre has less prestigious exhibitions than the previously mentioned galleries, but they are often fascinating. It has a delightful garden restaurant that you may need to book, as it gets very popular.

Aix’s Old Town is situated to the north of Cours Mirabeau. It still retains its medieval character and has a series of delightful local markets that are a pleasure to explore.

I hadn’t heard of the Bauhaus-influenced artist Victor Vasarely before making this trip. He is regarded as being the father of Optical Art and designed the Renault logo.

David Bowie was a fan and the artist’s monumental 3D works are displayed in the Fondation Vasarely which is just a short drive from the centre of Aix. It’s worth a visit.

Château La Coste

A 20-minute drive north of Aix-en-Provence will take you to Château La Coste. Belfast businessman Patrick McKillen bought the 200-hectare property in 2002, which at the time was a vineyard only making Rosé wines.

McKillen wanted to expand production and introduced white, red and sparkling wine production, finally adding olive oil. This is in itself a major undertaking, but it doesn’t tell half the story of what has become a major cultural and leisure attraction in the area.

Château La Coste has become an extraordinary open-air repository for contemporary art featuring a dazzling array of site-specific works by major artists including Julian Schnabel, Louise Bourgeois, Yoko Ono, Tengo Kuma and Richard Serra that meld into the landscape.

There are also a series of art galleries designed by world-leading architects Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano and Oscar Niemeyer.

There’s a chapel designed by Tadao Ando and a Frank Gehry-designed music pavilion. There are two luxury hotels, and wine and art and architecture tours around the property in French and English.

We lunched at La Terrasse restaurant, a picture-perfect visualisation of a Provençal village bistro. My advice: have the onion tart; it’s phenomenal! Especially with a glass of the Rosé. A slice of Tarte Tropezienne made with orange blossom cream was the perfect dessert.

Many wineries will have an art gallery with pieces by a couple of big names. But Château La Coste is on a completely different scale. It’s like visiting a major gallery with each room designed by a world-famous architect whilst drinking some excellent wine. It’s a must-see.

Avignon

Our final stop on our cultural tour of Provence is in Avignon, famous for the Theatre Festival that takes over the town in July.

We were there during that period, and the place was awash with performers pitching for punters, with the atmosphere being like a Gallic, sun-drenched Edinburgh Festival. The 24/48 hour Avignon City Pass gives you access to the major attractions with either reduced-price parking or a free public transport option. Avignon gets very busy in the summer months, so if you are driving, it’s worth arriving early to get a parking space.

The Palais du Papes (the Palace of the Popes) dates to the period between 1309 and 1376, when the Holy See moved from Rome to Avignon as a series of seven French popes took office.

The experience of visiting this World Heritage Site is very different to visiting the Vatican, and what the palace lacks in furnishings, it makes up for in austere grandeur.

There are gorgeous medieval frescoes and tiles, and a visit to the papal gardens is included in the price.

When we visited, the Great Chapel had been taken over by a striking installation by the Korean artist Lee Ufan. 

After replenishing your spiritual reserves, you will need to eat. The Place de Pie is a relaxed square that hosts a flea market as well as cafés, or you can drop into the untouristy Les Halles food market to pick up a bite.

Avignon is not short of museums. I loved the small but perfectly formed Musée Angladon. This centrally located art collection originally belonged to high-end couturier Jacques Doucet, who was name-checked in Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past. It was then passed on to artists Jean Angladon (1906-1979) and Paulette Martin (1905-1988), who created the museum in a lovely 18th-century building. 

With paintings from Modigliani, Derain, Picasso, Sisley, Degas, Cézanne, Vuillard, van Gogh and Manet, there is plenty to satisfy every art lover’s fix.

The Collection Lambert is Avignon’s contemporary art museum created by art dealer and collector, Yvon Lambert. With works from the 1980s onward, the gallery has both temporary and permanent collections. Housed in two 18th-century mansions expect to see pieces from Bruce Nauman, Julian Schnabel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sol LeWitt and Nan Goldin.

No trip to Avignon is complete without a visit to the Pont d’Avignon, also known as the Pont Saint-Bénezet. We all grew up singing “Sur le Pont d’Avignon…”, but the famous bridge on the river Rhõne only has four of its arches left, the others having been washed away. However, it still has great views, and even if you can’t cross the river, it’s compulsory to have a little sing and dance. On the other side of the river sits the pretty little market town of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, which has a host of historic attractions as well as offering a more peaceful option to the hectic summer bustle of Avignon.

Provence is famous for many things, but art and culture run through the region like a deep river, bringing together the landscape, history and lifestyle into a synergistic troika of creative possibilities.

Our next Provence article will look at “Roman” Provence: Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Orange, Nîmes, Uzès and the Pont du Gard. In previous articles, we have focused on the spiritual home of Provence, the Luberon, and on Arles and the Camargue.