Arles and Van Gogh
Van Gogh’s town on the Rhône, with a Roman arena still in use, 18 minutes by train from Avignon.
The short version
- Arles is 16 to 18 minutes from Avignon Centre by regional train, with 19 direct trains a day. From Paris, take the TGV to Avignon in 2 hours 40, then the shuttle to Avignon Centre and the train on; only two TGVs a day run straight through to Arles.
- Our One Night in Provence spends its second day on Van Gogh. A driver-guide collects you at your Avignon hotel at 9:00 for Arles, Les Baux and Saint-Rémy, then drops you at Avignon TGV for the afternoon train, for $775 per person with the night, breakfast and admissions. Legendary Art and Provence stays two nights in Arles.
- The amphitheatre, built around AD 90 and still used for bullfights, costs €11, and so does the Roman theater. The Saint-Trophime cloister is €6, and under-18s go free with a parent. From November 2 to the end of February the monuments open 10:30 to 16:30.
- The Van Gogh places in town are free and outdoors: the café terrace on Place du Forum, the Rhône quay of his starry night and the hospital garden at the Espace Van Gogh. The Fondation Vincent van Gogh reopens on November 22, 2026 with the exhibition Harvests, until April 4, 2027.
- LUMA, Frank Gehry’s steel tower in the old railway yards, is free to walk through with its park and its slides. The exhibitions inside are ticketed, and the site closes on Tuesday.
What to see
The amphitheatre measures 136 by 107 meters, with two tiers of 60 arches. Three medieval towers remain from the centuries when people lived inside it as a walled village, and the underground galleries open on guided visits. The ferias still fill it with bullfights at Easter and in September.
The Roman theater, built under Augustus, keeps two standing columns, and the Venus of Arles was dug out of it in 1651. Saint-Trophime’s carved portal on Place de la République is free to see, with the cloister behind it on a ticket. The Alyscamps, the avenue of stone tombs that Van Gogh and Gauguin painted side by side in 1888, costs €5.
The Musée Arles antique on the river holds the bust of Caesar pulled from the Rhône and a complete Roman barge, and it closes on Tuesday. The Pass Liberté, €13 to €15, covers four monuments, the Réattu and one museum. UNESCO listed the Roman and Romanesque monuments of Arles in 1981.
Van Gogh arrived in February 1888 and left for the asylum at Saint-Rémy in May 1889, with about 200 paintings behind him. None of them hang in Arles today. The Fondation builds its exhibitions around borrowed works, and the Musée Réattu holds the 57 drawings Picasso gave the town in 1971, €8.
Eat gardianne, the bull stew of the Camargue, with red Camargue rice, and buy saucisson d’Arles at the Saturday market. South of town, the Pont de Gau bird park at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer costs €8.50 and has hundreds of flamingos, and the abbey of Montmajour on the Fontvieille road is €7.
Getting there and around
From Paris, take the TGV to Avignon TGV, the shuttle train to Avignon Centre and the regional train to Arles, with direct trains from early morning to about 21:00. The two TGVs that run straight from Paris to Arles take about four hours, and the last direct one back leaves in the late afternoon. Arles station is a short walk north of the arena.
Zou! line 707 from Avignon joins Saint-Rémy, Les Baux and Arles, but outside summer only two runs a day go through Les Baux. Line 704 links Arles and Saint-Rémy in about an hour, Monday to Saturday. The summer timetable adds runs through all three towns.
By car, Les Baux is 20 kilometers and 30 minutes from Arles, and Saint-Rémy about 30 minutes by the direct road. In Arles, the Parking des Lices costs €2 an hour with a 1.80-meter height limit, and its entrance moves on Saturday for the market.
Our Van Gogh day covers all three towns between 9:00 and the afternoon train, with eight guests at most. The Five Days in Provence drives to Arles and Saint-Rémy after the cooking class, and Legendary Art and Provence stays two nights in Arles with a guided day in the Alpilles.
When to go
Go from April to June or September to October for the light Van Gogh came for, without the summer heat. July and August are hot and dry, and the Camargue has mosquitoes in summer.
The Rencontres d’Arles photography festival fills the town every summer, and the 2027 edition runs July 5 to October 3. The Easter feria runs from March 26 to 29, 2027, and the rice feria comes in mid-September, with bullfights in the arena.
From November 2 to the end of February the Roman monuments keep 10:30 to 16:30, the Réattu closes on Monday, and LUMA closes on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Saturday market runs the length of boulevard des Lices all year, from 8:00 to about 12:45.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Arles a day trip from Paris?
Not a comfortable one. The direct trains take about four hours each way, and the last one back leaves in the late afternoon. Go through Avignon, 2 hours 40 from Paris and 18 minutes from Arles, and stay the night; most of our Provence trips are built that way.
Can you see Van Gogh’s paintings in Arles?
Only the works the Fondation borrows for its exhibitions, and the next one, Harvests, opens on November 22, 2026. What Arles has is the places he painted: the café on Place du Forum, the Rhône quay, the hospital garden and the Alyscamps. Legendary Art and Provence spends two days on them with a guide who knows which painting goes with which spot.
Can I do Arles, Les Baux and Saint-Rémy on my own?
With a car, yes, in one day. By bus, two of the three in winter, since only two runs a day go through Les Baux, and all three in summer with about two and a half hours on buses. On your own you plan the day around the timetable; our Van Gogh day covers the three towns with a driver-guide between 9:00 and the afternoon train.
How long do you need in Arles?
One full day covers the arena, the theater, Saint-Trophime and the Van Gogh places on foot. Add a second day for the Camargue, or for Les Baux and Saint-Rémy.
Is there a tour from Paris?
Yes. Our One Night in Provence, $775, meets you at Avignon TGV, takes in Orange and a Châteauneuf-du-Pape cellar the first afternoon, and spends the next day in Arles, Les Baux and Saint-Rémy. Legendary Art and Provence, six days from $2,950, is based in Aix and Arles with Cézanne and Van Gogh, and the Five Days in Provence, $1,850, includes Arles and Saint-Rémy.
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