Arles Itinerary: 2–3 Days in Roman Arles & Van Gogh's City

After lunch, head for the church of Saint-Trophime, built between the 12th and 14th centuries and named after the first bishop of Arles. The cloisters are the reason to come: carved capitals showing biblical scenes alongside mythical creatures and beasts, in a covered gallery that stays cool in the heat of the day. It is the single most rewarding interior in the old centre for many visitors.

Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888 and stayed until May 1889, producing more than 300 paintings in that time. Twelve panels around the city mark where he set up his easel, so the trail works as a walking route between sights rather than a separate outing. Look for them as you move between the church, the river and the squares rather than hunting them down in one block.

Place du Forum is lined with cafés, and the sunflower-yellow façade of the Van Gogh café is the draw because Van Gogh painted Café Terrace at Night here in 1888. The painting itself hangs in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, so what you see in Arles is the setting, not the canvas. Expect the café to be busy; the surrounding square and nearby Place Voltaire offer quieter seating under the plane trees.

For dinner, plan around the fact that Arles is a small city and good tables fill quickly in season. Our selection of the best restaurants in Arles covers the options worth booking ahead, and the French custom of eating later than British visitors expect applies here too.

The Arles market runs on Wednesday and Saturday mornings and is the fixed point around which the rest of this itinerary should be arranged. It spreads local produce, Provençal baskets and linens through the streets, and it is as much a social institution as a shopping stop. If your weekend does not include a Wednesday or Saturday, swap this morning for the museums and keep the market for your next visit.

Give the market a full morning rather than an hour, then let the rest of the day drift. Wandering without an agenda is one of the pleasures of the centre, where winding streets and Roman fragments sit between ordinary shops and shuttered houses. Detailed market logistics, including which streets to target, are in our Markets in Arles guide.

The Musée Réattu is named after the Arles-born painter Jacques Réattu and occupies a 15th-century grand priory above the Rhône. Inside are 57 sketches and two paintings by Picasso, a collection of 18th- and 19th-century Provençal painters, and sculpture and photography holdings. It is a compact, civilised afternoon stop rather than a half-day commitment.

LUMA Arles opened in June 2021 in the Parc des Ateliers, a former rail yard, with a building designed by Frank Gehry. It is the contemporary counterweight to the Roman city and works well after the Réattu because the two are different enough to avoid museum fatigue. Check the day's programme before you go, since exhibitions rotate.

A third Van Gogh option fits here if the trail has caught your interest: the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh shows temporary exhibitions that always feature his work, with between one and ten Van Gogh paintings on loan each year. There is no permanent collection, so the visit depends entirely on what is hanging.

Walk back through the Roman core as the day cools. The amphitheatre's sandstone arches read differently in evening light, and the streets around them empty out once the day-trippers have gone. This is also the time to photograph the exterior of the monuments without a queue in front of you.

Arles museums keep their own closing days, and French museums commonly shut on a Monday or Tuesday, so check each venue's published hours before you build a day around it. If your dates fall on a closure, put the covered Roman monuments and the cloisters first, since those are the most weather-proof sights in the centre. Keep the market morning and the squares for the gaps between showers.

A practical fallback list: the amphitheatre interior, the Saint-Trophime cloisters and the Réattu, with a long lunch to break up the rain. That combination fills a wet day without repeating anything from Day 1.

The Camargue is the reason to extend to three days. Birds are the main attraction, with more than 500 species recorded and pink flamingos the star, alongside wild horses, bulls and salt flats. With a rental car you can drive into the park yourself; without one, book a guided safari tour from Arles.

Treat this as a full day out rather than a morning add-on, because the distances inside the wetland are large and the wildlife rewards slow movement. Build in a proper lunch stop and don't schedule a museum for the same evening.

If you would rather stay in the city, spend the morning on the quieter side of Arles. Hauture Hill is home to Notre Dame de la Major, a 12th-century church originally built on the site of a Roman temple, and the climb gives you a calm neighbourhood away from the monument circuit. It is a gentle half-day rather than a headline sight.

Pair it with one of the smaller churches and a long lunch, then use the afternoon for anything you skipped. This is a good day for slower travellers, or for anyone who has already seen the Roman monuments elsewhere in Provence.