You’ve wandered the halls of the Pope’s Palace, taken a selfie on the Pont d’Avignon, and enjoyed a lavender sorbet in the Place de l’Horloge – maybe now you feel refreshed enough to continue your cultural explorations in a more contemplative mode. Why not head off to one of the city’s museums, especially now that, since the end of April, entry is free?
Avignon’s town council was tired of seeing visitors flock to the city’s iconic monuments – the Pope’s Palace and the world-famous bridge – without stopping to enjoy the wonders of its museums, so it decided to drop entry fees from the 20th April 2018.
Now it won’t cost you a penny to explore these places to your heart’s content:
Petit Palais Museum
The Petit Palais Museum stands in the shadow of its imposing neighbour, the Popes’ Palace. In a building that dates back to the time of the Popes – construction began in 1317! – you can admire Italian primitives and sense the first stirrings of the Renaissance, which would soon bring the artistic conventions of previous centuries crashing down. Finish off your visit with a well-earned cake in the museum’s tea room.
Practical Info
Open from 10 am – 1 pm and 2 – 6 pm every day, except Tuesdays.
Musée du Petit Palais
Palais des Archevèques
place du Palais des Papes
Requien Museum
Vaucluse’s Natural History Museum
The Requien Museum, the Natural History Museum of Vaucluse, holds the fascinating collections of 19th-century Avignon naturalist Esprit Requien. In this delightfully old-fashioned little museum, kids can take their picture next to a tyrannosaurus skull and send it to grandma, while the stuffed animals and fossils will transport older visitors back to the days of their childhood, when they played intrepid explorers roaming the countryside.
Practical Info
Open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am – 1 pm and 2 – 6 pm
Musée Requien
61 rue Joseph Vernet
The Lambert Collection, the Angladon Foundation and the Vouland Museum
Even if you have to pay to get in, it would be a pity to miss out on the city’s other gems, which show temporary exhibitions alongside their permanent collections:
The Collection Lambert brings together one of the world’s biggest contemporary art collections in two splendid townhouses on the little Rue Violette, one holding the permanent collection and the other housing temporary exhibitions. The Violette Restaurant is inside the museum.
Practical Info
Open every day except Monday from 11 am to 6 pm – Adult admission price: €10
La Collection Lambert
5 rue Violette
The Vouland Museum
The Vouland Museum displays a permanent collection of 13th- and 18th-century Decorative Arts, along with Provençal painters of the post-impressionist New Avignon School, and first-rate temporary exhibitions.
Practical Info
Open Tuesday to Saturday from 2 – 6 pm, except February.
Adult admission price: €6
Musée Vouland
17 rue Victor Hugo