If you ask me for a single day trip from Avignon, my answer never changes: Arles. It is my favourite escape, and I don’t think it is a close contest. A short, cheap train ride from Avignon Centre drops you a flat ten-minute walk from the old town, and then - boom - you are standing in the heart of one of the most charming towns in all of Provence. Roman monuments, Van Gogh’s ghost on every corner, a market that stops you in your tracks, and a quality of light that has pulled painters here for over a century. Here is how to do it properly.

Getting there: the easy part

This is one of the simplest day trips you can make. Trains run frequently from Avignon Centre to Arles, and the journey takes around twenty minutes. From Arles station it is a short, flat walk into the old town - no hills, no hassle. Leave the car behind; you will not want it, and Arles is best explored entirely on foot. (For the full car-free picture, see our guide to Provence without a car.)

A word about the light

Let me start where Arles really starts: the light. As a photographer, I can tell you it is not a myth. The Provençal light here has a clarity and warmth that is genuinely different - it is exactly what drew Vincent van Gogh south in 1888, and what he chased in canvas after canvas. Golden on the old stone in the late afternoon, sharp and clean in the morning, it turns an ordinary street into something worth stopping for.

Arles has never forgotten this. It is one of the great cities of photography, home to the Rencontres d’Arles, a world-renowned photography festival that fills the town’s historic venues with exhibitions every summer. If you are serious about the image, it is worth building a trip around - but that is a story for another day, and an article we may well write.

When to go (this matters more than you’d think)

Timing makes or breaks an Arles day. Avoid the deep heat of high summer - July and August can be punishing, and you will spend the day hunting for shade rather than enjoying the streets. Equally, skip the bitter, windy days of deep winter, when the Mistral scours the town and the charm evaporates.

The sweet spots are early and late summer (June, September), and a fine day in spring or autumn. That is when Arles is at its best: warm but walkable, bright but gentle, and the light at its most flattering. Go then, take your time, and be prepared to walk a bit - that is the whole secret to a good day here.

What to see

Arles packs an astonishing amount into a small, walkable centre. Here is what earns your time.

The Roman monuments

Arles was one of the great cities of Roman Gaul, and it shows. The Arènes d’Arles - the amphitheatre - is the showpiece: a two-tiered ring of stone that still hosts events today, and a genuinely moving thing to stand inside. Nearby, the Théâtre antique (Roman theatre) offers its two lonely surviving columns. Both are worth your time. (We go deep on these in our dedicated guide to Roman Provence, so I will keep it brief here - but do not skip the arena.)

In the footsteps of Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh spent his most productive years in Arles, painting some 300 works in barely fifteen months. You cannot see his paintings here - they hang in the great museums of the world - but you can walk where he painted them, and it is surprisingly powerful.

The Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles is a superb contemporary museum dedicated to his legacy and influence, with rotating exhibitions. A must for admirers.
The Espace Van Gogh - the former hospital where he was treated after the infamous ear incident - has a courtyard garden restored to look exactly as it does in his painting Le Jardin de la Maison de Santé. Entry to the courtyard is free.
Place du Forum holds the café he immortalised in Café Terrace at Night. A word of honest warning: the café trading on that fame today is a tourist trap - go for the photo, absolutely, but eat your lunch elsewhere.
Les Alyscamps, the haunting Roman necropolis lined with stone sarcophagi and trees, was painted by both Van Gogh and Gauguin during their time together here. It is atmospheric, uncrowded, and one of my favourite corners of the town.
The Rhône riverside, where he painted Starry Night Over the Rhône - worth a slow wander at dusk.

Saint-Trophime

The Church of Saint-Trophime and its cloister are among the finest Romanesque work in Provence. The carved portal is extraordinary, and the cloister is a pocket of cool, quiet beauty in the middle of the day.

The market

If you can, go on a Saturday. The Arles market is one of the best in all of Provence - a long, joyful sprawl of Provençal produce, olives, cheeses, textiles and bric-a-brac along the boulevards. It is a feast for the senses and, again, for the camera. Even if you buy nothing, walking it is one of the great pleasures of the town.

The Camargue connection

One thing to know: Arles is the gateway to the Camargue, the wild wetland delta of the Rhône, famous for its white horses, pink flamingos and black bulls. You cannot really do both Arles and the Camargue justice in a single day trip, but it is worth knowing the wild south begins right here - a reason to come back.

Where to eat

Skip Place du Forum for anything but a drink and a photo. Arles has plenty of genuinely good restaurants and bistros tucked into the side streets - look a block or two off the main squares, where the locals eat. This is a proper food town, sitting between the Camargue and the Provençal hills, so the produce is excellent.

How long to spend

A full day is ideal, and my honest recommendation. Take the morning train, wander without rushing, break for a long lunch, and let the afternoon light do its work before heading back. If you only have a half day, it still works - focus on the arena, a Van Gogh stroll and a good lunch - but Arles rewards the unhurried. Take your time, wear comfortable shoes, and be ready to walk.

The bottom line

Arles is the day trip I recommend above all others from Avignon - and I mean that as a resident who could go anywhere. It is close, it is easy, it is endlessly photogenic, and it wears its Roman and artistic history with an easy, lived-in grace. Go on a fine spring or autumn day, or the edges of summer, chase the light, and give it the full day it deserves.

For how this fits into the bigger picture, see our guide to the best day trips from Avignon.

Planning your days around Avignon and want a local’s honest steer on what to prioritise? We are always happy to help with free, practical advice - just get in touch.

A day trip to Arles: a local's favourite escape from Avignon