Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, Provence, France
Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (also called Villeneuve-lez-Avignon) is located opposite the old town of Avignon, on the other side of the river Rhone. Most characteristic objects in the town are the abbey from 13th century and a huge fort Saint-André at the summit of the Andaon hill, as well as interesting watchtower Philippe le Bel from thirteenth century. There's also famous aqueduct Pont du Gard nearby the town.
Parking in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon
You can visit the town during your stay in Avignon. You should just cross the Pont du Royaume bridge to the other side of the Rhone river, then turn right and drive about 4 km until you reach a large parking lot at the Avenue Charles de Gaulle (P1; GPS: 43.963479, 4.800090). There you can leave your car. The parking is free.
Fort Saint-André
Fort Saint-André is a huge medieval fortress built on top of the Andaon hill. We can very quickly get to it from the parking lot using the shortcut in the form of Pente Rapide street. However, please watch out on the surface, because it is fairly steep and additionally it is built of rounded stones so walking it on a rainy day can be a little bit dangerous. For this reason, you can find handrails installed at this street. You can of course walk longer path through the old town of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. Fort Saint-André welcomes you with solid walls and towers (A; GPS: 43.965315, 4.800609). The walls and buildings in the fort are well maintained, and the visitors are impressed by the scale of work and the strategic location of buildings on top of the highest hill of the area. We pass a gateway to the interior of the fort, and then buy tickets. Ticket prices: adults - 6€, reduced - 5€. In addition to the fort, you can also visit interesting abbey from thirteenth century - we visited the place on Monday, and unfortunately in this day entrance to the abbey is closed. If anyone is interested, please refer to the website of the abbey.
After buying the tickets we walk uphill a stony road. Then we enter the open area and get to the northern walls of the fortification (B; GPS: 43.966877, 4.800491). This place offers a beautiful view of the surrounding area. We turn left and walk the path along the ramparts reaching a small chapel of Notre-Dame de Belvezet built in twelfth century. This was once a parish church of a small village of Bourg Saint-André. Going farther we reach the tower Tour des Masques which is located in the lower left corner of the walls (C; GPS: 43.965696, 4.799611).
The old town of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon
After visiting the fort we walk the Rue Montée du Fort in a westerly direction to the center of the old town, finally reaching the Jean Jaurès Square, with shops and nice café terraces (D; GPS: 43.964033, 4.797205). Then we can go down the Rue de la République in the northern direction toward the monastery of Notre-Dame-du-val-de-Benediction (E; GPS: 43.965993, 4.796216), which can be visited (the charges apply, more on the website), or go in the opposite direction to visit the Gothic church Collégiale Notre-Dame from the fourteenth century (F; GPS: 43.963243, 4.796664).
You can also climb the Philippe le Bel tower (G; GPS: 43.958571, 4.797516) located right on the bank of the river Rhone (tickets: normal 2.5€, reduced 2€). Reaching the tower on foot will take you about 10 minutes (700 m from the town's center). You can also drive there and park your car in a small parking lot near the tower (P2; GPS: 43.958346, 4.797037).
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