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The Gardens at the Palace of the Popes

You can visit the garden of the Popes, fully restored in 2020, at the end of your tour of the Palace of the Popes or just by themselves.

© JC Guisset – Avignon Tourisme

Contact

Palace of the Popes
84000 Avignon

T. +33 (0)4 32 74 32 74

Contact for tour operators:
Marianne Coulomb – m.coulomb@avignon-tourisme.com

After wandering through the rooms and the chapel of the magnificent former papal residence, you now have the opportunity to visit this charming secluded garden.  Fully restored in 2020, these gardens are the final stop of the tour, with benches and landscaped areas in the cool shade of the high walls offering a welcome pause for a moment of quiet contemplation.

There are two parts to the refurbished gardens: the Palace Garden (or Benedict XII Garden, 1,250 m2) and the Papal Garden (662 m2). The Palace Garden was arranged around the original 14th-century hydraulic system, with large rectangular beds now planted with Mediterranean species that records show grew in the papal gardens in the 1300s.

The Pope would have had direct access to these gardens from his chambers in his time. The restored garden has reclaimed its special character thanks to the recreation of the Griffon fountain and the flowering meadow that encircles it. While the impressive and much admired La Roma gallery is no more than a footprint on the ground today, it has been honoured by a monumental pergola that will steadily be completely taken over by vegetation over time.

Pratical information

2021 rates:

The visit of the gardens is included in the entrance fee to the Palace, OR (and this is new this summer!) they can be visited just by themselves.

Full price including Palace : €12 /pers. (€14.50 including a visit to the Pont d’Avignon)

Group rates including Palace: €10 /pers. (€11.50 including entrance fee to the Pont d’Avignon)

Entrance to the gardens only: €5/pers. (€3 reduced rate when applicable)

Guided tour of the Palace (excluding monument entrance) : €120 during the week, €140 on Sunday
 

The opening times will change throughout the year, consult the Palace website for more information.
 
Possibility of a guided tour of the town along the “garden” theme, including the Palace gardens, and a few public and private gardens in town. Regular “garden tours” for FITs in season.

Front-page photo: ©F.Mariotti-Avignon Tourisme