Twenty years of calling Avignon home
Discover Avignon wasn't born in a boardroom or a tourism office. It started the way most good ideas start in the south of France - over a long dinner, a glass of Beaumes-de-Venise, and a simple observation: the Avignon we know and love is not the Avignon most visitors see.
We're Dan and Frederique, and we've lived and worked in Avignon for over twenty years. Long enough to know which bakery opens first on a Sunday morning, which courtyard catches the last light in October, and which street the Mistral can't reach when it's blowing at 100 kilometres an hour.
Dan is British Italian, a native English and Italian speaker who picked up French along the way. Frederique is French, and speaks fluent English - so between us, we've got you covered whatever language you're most comfortable in.
We didn't arrive as tourism professionals or history academics. We came because the location was - and still is - hard to beat. The Mediterranean is an hour south. The ski slopes are ninety minutes north. Paris is two and a half hours away by TGV. Lyon is one hour. Marseille is thirty minutes. And Marignane international airport is forty-five minutes down the autoroute. Avignon sits at the crossroads of everything, which is exactly why the popes chose it seven centuries ago - and exactly why we chose it too.
What started as a practical decision turned into something deeper. Over two decades, we watched friends, family, and visitors arrive with the same plan: Palais des Papes, bridge, photo, leave. Every time, we found ourselves saying the same thing - you're missing the best parts.
Discover Avignon is our answer to that.
Why we built this
Avignon has over seven hundred years of stories hiding in plain sight. The house where the hot-air balloon was invented. A leaning bell tower nobody talks about. A working vineyard inside the city walls that most locals don't even know exists. A river island with the most spectacular sunset panorama in the Rhone valley - reachable by a free two-minute boat ride.
None of this is in the standard guidebooks. And none of it requires a history degree to appreciate - just someone who knows where to look and how to tell the story.
That's what we do. We've mapped over twenty points of interest across the city - UNESCO landmarks and hidden gems alike - and woven them into guided walks and treasure hunts that let you discover Avignon at your own pace, on your own terms, without a tour bus or a fixed schedule.
What drives us
We believe the best way to discover a city is to get lost in it - with just enough guidance to make sure you find the good stuff. Our experiences are designed for curious travellers who want more than a checklist: families looking for an adventure their children will actually enjoy, couples who want a shared memory worth keeping, and friends who like a bit of friendly competition with their sightseeing.
Every route, every clue, every story in our experiences comes from the same place: twenty years of living here, exploring here, and falling for this city a little more with each season.
Get in touch
We love hearing from visitors - whether you're planning your first trip to Avignon or your tenth. If you have a question, a special request, or just want a local recommendation, drop us a line. We always reply.