Avignon is 690 km south of Paris, which is about two hours and 40 minutes by train, and about 6 hours by car. It’s a very convenient stopover on the way down to the Cote d’Azur, Italy or south west France. It has a population of about 95,000 but this is far exceeded by the huge number of tourists, with over 3m people going through the ultra-modern Avignon TGV station alone.

The area of Avignon has been inhabited since before Roman times, but it was in the 12^th century that it became a free city when the Pont St Benezet was built. When Pope Clement the 5^th decided to make Avignon his residence in the 14^th Century the city was owned by the Earl of Provence, but when Palais des Papes was built, the largest gothic palace in Europe, by Popes Benedict XII and Clement VI, the land was then eventually bought from the Countess, and then became the capital of Christianity.

Avignon flourished during the 77 years that the papacy remained in the city attracting merchants, refugees, artists, bankers, religious orders and even political outlaws such as Petrarque. When Pope Gregory died in 1378, the Papacy returned to Rome which marked the beginning of the Schism.

The Palais des Papes now attracts over half a million visitors a year.

Getting to Avignon

By far the most popular way to reach Avignon is by Eurostar and TGV, and during summer months Eurostar operate a direct service from London, which takes just over 6 hours. If you don’t live in the south east of England then you may want to fly from any regional airport with Air France via Paris, or direct with FlyBe from Southampton or Exeter, or if you live in the north of England or Scotland, you might want to consider flying with Jet2.com.