We Help Travellers
Make Travel Decisions

• Visa: Australian passport holders don't need a visa for a Schengen stay under 90 days — just make sure your passport is valid at least 3 months beyond your return date.
• Flights: There's no direct Sydney–Nice or Sydney–Marseille route. Most itineraries route through the Gulf (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Doha) with a single stop, around 20–22 hours total each way. Book the outbound into Marseille Provence Airport (closest to Aix) and the return out of Nice Côte d'Azur, which simplifies the whole trip logistically.
• Trains: France's rail system rewards booking ahead. SNCF Connect tickets for TGV routes (Aix TGV–Avignon TGV, and the Avignon–Nice leg) open roughly 3-4 months out and get pricier closer to travel — worth locking in once flights are confirmed.
• Packing: Early September in Provence and Nice is still warm (mid-20s to low 30s°C by day, cooling in the evening) — pack for market-strolling and coastal walking, but bring one light layer for Palais des Papes' stone interiors and evening sea breeze in Nice. Comfortable walking shoes matter more than anything else — all three towns are best explored on foot over cobblestones.
• Currency: Euro. Cards are widely accepted, but small market stalls and boulangeries often prefer cash — keep some €5/€10 notes on hand.

2026-09-07 · Aix-en-Provence

Morning · Long haul from Sydney

Today is essentially a travel day. Depending on your routing through Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Doha, you'll land at Marseille Provence Airport in the afternoon or evening after roughly 20+ hours in the air and transit.

Afternoon · Transfer to Aix

From Marseille Provence Airport, a shuttle bus runs directly to Aix-en-Provence's bus station in about 30 minutes — far simpler than the train, which requires a change. Taxis are also readily available if you'd rather not manage luggage on a bus after a long flight.

Evening · First steps on Cours Mirabeau

Once you've checked in, take an easy, jet-lag-friendly stroll down Cours Mirabeau, the grand plane-tree-lined avenue that splits the old town from the quieter Mazarin quarter. The fountains along its length (including the moss-covered Fontaine d'eau chaude) are lit softly at night. Settle into one of the terrace cafés for a simple dinner — this is a low-key evening by design.

Jet lag from Australia is real; don't schedule anything demanding tonight. A short walk and an early night will pay off tomorrow.

2026-09-08 · Aix-en-Provence

Morning · Cours Mirabeau market

Tuesday is one of the three big market mornings in Aix (alongside Thursday and Saturday), when the Cours Mirabeau market and the surrounding streets — Place Richelme, Place des Prêcheurs, and Rue Thiers — fill with Provençal producers from about 8:30am to 1pm. Look for tapenade, lavender honey, Cavaillon melons (in season through September), soap-makers, and the region's famous calissons. Graze rather than sit for a formal lunch — this market is made for tasting your way through.

Afternoon · Old Aix on foot

Wander the compact old town: Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, the atelier-lined streets near Atelier Cézanne (Cézanne's preserved studio, if you want a dose of art history), and the quieter Quartier Mazarin south of Cours Mirabeau, known for its 17th-century townhouses and the small Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins.

Evening · Aperitif and dinner

Aix is a university town with an easy café culture — pick a terrace on Place des Cardeurs or around Place Richelme for dinner; both squares fill with restaurant tables after dark and have a more local feel than Cours Mirabeau itself.

2026-09-09 · Avignon

Morning · Train to Avignon

The direct TGV between Aix-en-Provence TGV and Avignon TGV takes as little as 19–33 minutes, though both stations sit outside their respective city centers — budget time for the shuttle bus into Aix before you leave and again into central Avignon on arrival (about 15 minutes each way). Alternatively, regional trains connect the city-center stations directly with a change, taking a bit longer but skipping the TGV-station shuttles.

Midday · Settle into Avignon

Once in central Avignon, drop your bags and head straight for the ramparts walk or a first look at Palais des Papes from the square in front — the sheer scale of the papal fortress is worth seeing before you go inside tomorrow.

Afternoon · Place de l'Horloge and the old streets

Place de l'Horloge is Avignon's café-lined main square, backing onto the Palais itself — a good base for orienting yourself. From there, thread through the narrow streets toward Les Halles, Avignon's covered food market, even if it's closed by afternoon — the building's vertical garden wall is worth a look regardless.

Evening · Riverside at dusk

Walk out to the Pont Saint-Bénézet (the "Pont d'Avignon" of the nursery rhyme) as the light fades over the Rhône — the broken bridge and the Palais lit up behind it is one of the classic Avignon views. Dinner in the old town's tangle of restaurant-lined lanes near Rue des Teinturiers.

2026-09-10 · Avignon

Morning · Les Halles market

Thursday morning, head to Les Halles Avignon, the covered market on Place Pie, open weekday mornings — this is where local chefs shop, with Provençal cheese, charcuterie, olives, and produce stalls. It's smaller and more workaday than Aix's outdoor market, a good contrast.

Late morning · Palais des Papes

Head to the Palais des Papes, open 9:00am–7:00pm in September with last entry an hour before close. The palace-only ticket runs around €12; the combined ticket with the Pont Saint-Bénézet is about €14.50 and worth it since you've already seen the bridge from outside — walking across it and back gives a different angle on the Rhône and the Villeneuve-lès-Avignon side. Give the palace itself at least two hours — it's the largest Gothic palace in Europe, and the audio guide (included) fills in the schism-era history that isn't obvious from the bare stone rooms.

Arrive close to opening if you can — tour groups build through midday and the state apartments get crowded by early afternoon.

Afternoon · Rocher des Doms and ramparts

Climb up to the Rocher des Doms garden just behind the Palais for the best view over the Rhône to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and, on a clear day, toward the Alpilles. Afterward, walk a stretch of the intact medieval ramparts that ring the old town.

Evening · Last dinner in Avignon

Choose a table in the streets around Rue des Teinturiers, Avignon's old dyers' quarter with its canal and waterwheels — quieter and less touristy than Place de l'Horloge for a final Provençal dinner.

2026-09-11 · Nice

Morning · Train to Nice

There's no fast direct train between Avignon and Nice — expect a journey of roughly 3 to 4.5 hours, typically with one change (often at Marseille-Saint-Charles). Book the earliest reasonable departure so you land in Nice with the afternoon still ahead of you; the fastest itineraries run closer to 2h50m–3h.

If you'd rather cut the journey time, a rental car covers the same route in under 3 hours via the A8 motorway with tolls, and gives you the option of a detour along the coast near Cassis — but parking in old Nice is scarce and expensive, so most solo travelers do better returning the car or skipping it and taking the train.

Afternoon · First look at Vieux Nice

Once you've dropped your bags, walk straight into Vieux Nice, the old town's tight grid of ochre and pastel buildings. Get oriented around Place Rossetti, with its baroque Cathédrale Sainte-Réparate, then wander down toward the water.

Evening · Promenade des Anglais at sunset

Walk out onto the Promenade des Anglais as the light turns gold over the Baie des Anges — the curve of the bay and the pebble beach are what Nice is built around, and this first evening walk is the best way to feel the scale of the place. Dinner back in Vieux Nice, where the lanes stay lively well after dark.