48 hours in Arles & my guide to the city

Arles is a special place. I’ve been wanting to visit the city that inspired many of Van Gogh’s paintings for a while. Once a cultural centre during Roman times, it’s also home to a beautifully preserved colosseum and amphitheatre. So we factored in a 48hr stay at the beginning of our holiday in the south of France, which just so happened to fall on the 14 Juillet, otherwise known as Bastille day - the national day of France. Our stay also tied in with the Rencontres d’ Arles - the yearly photography festival that attracts visitors near and far, who come to explore its numerous exhibitions dotted around the city. Some so huge, they span warehouse size spaces.

We started with the furthest away exhibition space, which was in a wooded park near the train station and then made our way back towards the town’s centre starting with the larger spaces, namely Monoprix, where a Charlotte Perriand photography exhibition had taken over the floor above the supermarket; La Croisière, which is also a great place to grab lunch - they do a tasty kebab or vegetarian bowl with hummus and aubergine - and then LUMA, Arles’ Parc des Ateliers that houses Frank Gehry’s newest feat of architecture, as well as a collection of large mechanical works warehouses turned gallery spaces. We managed to do most of the exhibitions in a day, and I’d recommend this as the tickets are +50€ per day. Do one day of exhibitions and then enjoy a more leisurely day wondering around the city or catching the exhibition at the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh which we did the next morning before brunch. It was a wonderful two days of culture and eating well, plus we enjoyed a spectacular view the 14 Juillet fireworks from Rhone. I now hope to schedule in a yearly trip and here’s my guide: