Whether you're planning a weekend break, a longer trip or just an armchair tour, this is your guide to Provence's best towns and villages, beaches and calanques, and other attractions. This section is ...

And cycling is part of French culture: everywhere on the road you will see teams of keen local amateurs on their vélos (bikes), sometimes in teams and usually wearing neon-coloured lycra livery.

The route des Crêtes takes you on a magnificent ride between Cassis and La Ciotat, with 360 degree views over some of the most superb scenery in Provence all along the way. Click here to book a hotel ...

Several small, pretty creeks just off the Corniche Kennedy along Marseille's southern coastline have miraculously kept their typical character. Click here to book a hotel in Marseille Fishermen's ...

You can't go to Marseille without eating a bouillabaisse. But first read our ultimate guide to the rich, complex fish stew which the city invented and has made its own. Click here to book a hotel in ...

Miramas le Vieux is a rare and rather dramatic example of a mediaeval village perché (hill village) on the edge of the Camargue and the Crau, two of the otherwise flattest regions of western Provence.

There's something for everyone in Avignon's museums, from a Tyrannosaurus Rex skull and avant-garde art to the Countess du Barry's travel tea service and one of the few paintings by Vincent van Gogh ...

Provence is a rich mix of ancient history, romantic tradition and surprising, fast-changing modernity: hilltop villages and busy cities, elegant châteaux and simple fishing cabins, lavender fields and ...

Marseille is a relatively easy city to get around, either on the public transport system or on a wide range of fun alternatives aimed at tourists. Click here to read about the ZOU! card, which offers ...

Marseille's climate and its exuberant character, combined with the sheer quality and variety of Mediterranean produce, make the city a brilliant backdrop for a wide range of street markets. Click here ...

The Gorges du Verdon are a top tourist attraction in Provence and one of the most beautiful river valleys in Europe. This is the best way to visit the "Grand Canyon of France". Click here to book a ...

Marseille's answer to Alcatraz, this brooding island-fortress-prison has hosted victims of religious persecution, roués, anti-royalists, revolutionaries and Alexandre Dumas père's (fictional) hero, ...