Palais des Papes: how to organise your visit

Every guest who stays with us in Avignon gets the same set of pointers. They fit on one page. Here it is.

The Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) is the largest Gothic palace in Europe. Built between 1335 and 1352, it housed seven popes who chose Avignon over Rome for almost a century. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, the most-visited monument in southern France (650,000 visitors per year), and the must-do of any first Avignon trip.

When to visit (avoiding the crowds)

Best slot: 9 am, the moment doors open.

By 11 am the Palace is already packed with tour groups. By midday, you queue 30 to 45 minutes at the entrance. By 3 pm in summer, the inner courtyards are at 35°C in full sun and the visit becomes an ordeal.

If you arrive at 9 am sharp:

• No queue
• Cool rooms (the stone walls hold the night’s cold until late morning)
• Free movement (nobody in your photographs)
• You are out by 11 am, with time for lunch and then the Bridge

Avoid completely: 11 am – 4 pm in July-August. Saturated.

Best months: April-May or September-October. Same Palace, half the visitors.

Book tickets online — before you arrive

Skip the on-site queue. Tickets at palais-des-papes.com: €12 adult, €10 reduced, free under 8. The combined Palace + Bridge ticket is €16, recommended if you plan to do both in one day.

Print the QR code or have it on your phone. You scan it at the entrance and bypass the cash desk queue entirely.

The HistoPad: take it

At the entrance, you are offered a tablet called the HistoPad (included in the ticket price, no supplement, available in multiple languages). Take it.

The HistoPad is a touch guide that superimposes 3D reconstructions on the rooms you are walking through. An empty room with bare stone walls? Hold up the tablet and you see the frescos, the carpets, the furniture as they were in 1340. Cardinals walk across the screen. Banquet tables materialise in the Grand Tinel.

Without the HistoPad, the visit is a series of stone rooms — beautiful but austere. With it, the Palace comes alive.

Particularly impressive in:

• Chapelle Saint-Martial (medieval frescos reconstructed on screen)
• Grand Tinel (banquet hall reconstructed with 200 guests)
• Chambre du Cerf (the Pope’s private bedroom, hunting frescos)
• Papal Treasury (vaults with silver chests and reliquaries)

What to see (in priority order)

The Palace has 25 rooms. With 2 hours, concentrate on the 8 must-sees:

1. The Cour d’Honneur (Great Courtyard) — the open-air space where the Festival’s main stage stands every July
2. La Grande Chapelle — barrel-vaulted ceiling, 16 metres high
3. Le Grand Tinel (banquet hall) — 48 metres long, the longest medieval dining hall in France
4. Chapelle Saint-Martial — frescos by Matteo Giovannetti (Italian master)
5. Chambre du Cerf (Stag Room) — the Pope’s bedroom, hunting frescos
6. The Studium — the Pope’s writing study and library
7. The Papal Treasury (vaults) — silver chests and reliquaries
8. The Great Chapel and Grand Audience Hall — the most monumental space, with the famous Last Judgement frescos

What to skip if you are short on time

• The Salle du Consistoire (Council Chamber): interesting but secondary
• The kitchens: atmospheric but quickly seen
• The basement vaults without HistoPad activation: just empty cellars

Practical information

Address: Place du Palais, 84000 Avignon (city centre, 16 minutes’ walk from our apartments)

Opening hours: 9 am – 7 pm in summer, 9 am – 6 pm off-season, 9 am – 8 pm in July (festival)

Closing days: never (open 365 days a year)

Cloakroom: free, on the right after the entrance

Toilets: two on the route, signposted

Café: a drinks kiosk in the Cour d’Honneur

Combining with the Saint-Bénézet Bridge

The combined ticket includes the famous Pont d’Avignon (Saint-Bénézet Bridge) — 8 minutes’ walk from the Palace via the Rocher des Doms garden.

After the Palace (1.5-2 hours), walk down through the Rocher des Doms (free park with sweeping Rhône views), take the staircase, and you are at the Bridge entrance. Audio guide free, 45-minute visit.

Both monuments in half a day, leaving the afternoon free for the pedestrian centre or a leisurely lunch on Place de l’Horloge.

Photography

For the iconic shot of the Palace façade, stand on Place du Palais and look up. You need a wide angle (24mm minimum) to frame the full façade.

For a different angle: walk down rue de la République and look back over your shoulder. The towers stand out against the sky.

Sunset (8-9 pm in summer): the west façade glows orange-gold. From the Rocher des Doms, you see the Palace bathed in light with the Rhône below — one of the most photogenic moments of any Avignon stay.

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Total time for the Palais: half a day (morning), starting at 9 am, finishing by 12:30 pm including the Bridge.

This is the heart of Avignon. After it, you have earned a quiet lunch and the rest of the city ahead.

If you are staying with us, we are a 5-minute walk from the Palace — from Cinéma Provence, Lavande Évasion or Lavande Dorée.

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