During your stay in Provence, don’t miss out on Arles, its Camargue culture and its gentle way of life. One fine summer’s day will be enough to give you a taste of it and the charms of this superb, typical town steeped in Gallo-Roman history. A lively and busy programme awaits you.
Our proposed programme:
9am Market
2.5 km. That’s the total length of the Arles market every Saturday morning. Which makes it the biggest in Provence! And 250 is the number of stallholders who set up their stalls there every week. Quite simply, at the Arles market you’ll find the very best that Provence has to offer. On the one hand, you can feast your eyes on the artisans selling clothes, shoes, fabrics and arts and crafts. On the other, all your senses will be stimulated by the palette of colours and scents offered by the many regional produce stalls. Bull sausage, Camargue rice, olive oil… there’s something for every taste bud. Here, you can munch your way through Provence!
The Arles market takes place every Wednesday and Saturday, from 8am to 12.45pm.
It runs from boulevard des Lices to boulevard Clémenceau, right in the centre of Arles.
11am Luma Tower
Whether you’re coming from Nîmes, Tarascon or the Alpilles, all you can see from afar is the Tour Luma and the sun reflected in it. The Tour Luma is the culmination of a vast architectural project that began in 2014 and will be completed in 2021. The 56-metre-high building overlooks Arles, just a stone’s throw from the market, and hosts numerous art and photography exhibitions. The giant slide, which takes visitors to the ground floor at top speed, is sure to amuse young and old alike. On hot summer days, the gardens surrounding the Tower are a haven of coolness and tranquillity.
The exhibition areas are open from Wednesday to Monday from 10am to 6pm.
The landscaped gardens are open daily from 7am to 6.30pm.
2pm Tour of the city centre
From the Roquette district to Place Voltaire, the historic centre of Arles is an architectural gem waiting to be discovered. This is hardly surprising, given that Julius Caesar made it one of his favourite places of residence. Nicknamed ‘Little Rome’, the city is organised around its many thousand-year-old Gallo-Roman historic monuments. After a pleasant meal in one of the town’s many typical restaurants, extend your walk to the quays of the Rhône, to admire the power of this river whose wild delta is only a few kilometres away.
4pm Visit to the Musée départemental Arles antique
Created in the 1960s, the museum brings together collections that were previously scattered around Arles. The oldest finds date back to 1574.
Today, the Musée Arles Antique offers visitors the chance to discover the most important ancient archaeological collection in the whole of Provence, in a resolutely contemporary building.
Its bright colour has earned it the nickname of the ‘blue’ museum. It is located at the end of the banks of the Rhône, the river from which many of the Gallo-Roman remains in its collections are taken. Every year, new excavations unearth new antiquities.
6pm Les Arènes
This imposing Roman amphitheatre is the heart of the city. Built in the 1st century AD, its original purpose was to host major Roman events and shows. And it still does! In fact, a few concerts are held here in summer. But the real star of the arena is undoubtedly the bull. In the summer months, the heart of Arles beats to the rhythm of the bullfights and ferias!
9pm Evening concert at the Théâtre Antique
Culture comes to Arles in the evening. In summer, ‘Les Suds’, a festival that’s a must-see on the Arles scene, takes over various third-party venues in the Roman city, ending each day with a concert in the ancient theatre, right next to the arena. A programme of national and international acts to delight all ears in a timeless setting.
