Les Baux-de-Provence

Les Baux-de-Provence is a village of about 300 people on a bare limestone crag in the middle of the Alpilles, with a ruined citadel occupying the whole southern half of the rock. It is one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France and one of the most visited places in Provence.

The name gave the world a word: bauxite, the ore of aluminium, was identified here in 1821 and named after the village.

The lords of Les Baux

The medieval lords of Les Baux claimed descent from Balthazar, one of the Magi, and put the star of Bethlehem on their arms. They were among the most powerful families in Provence, held some seventy fiefs, and were sufficiently troublesome that in 1631 Louis XIII ordered the castle and the walls demolished.

What is left is a shell — but an enormous one, cut half into the rock, with towers, a keep, a chapel, a dovecote and siege engines rebuilt full size on the plateau.

The citadel

The ticketed site covers about seven hectares — most of the crag. Allow an hour and a half. It is entirely exposed: no shade, sheer drops, uneven rock, and the mistral funnels across it hard enough to be genuinely unpleasant. Shoes with grip, water, a hat.

The view from the edge takes in the Alpilles, the Camargue and, on a clear day, the sea.

The village

The lower half of the crag is the inhabited village: a single street of Renaissance houses, chapels and a church partly cut into the rock, and — inevitably — a great many shops. Roughly 1.5 million people a year pass through 300 residents, and the village has effectively become the approach to the castle.

Carrières des Lumières

In a disused limestone quarry just outside the village, an immersive show projects paintings across the walls, floor and ceiling of the vast underground galleries, set to music. The rooms are 14 m high and the effect is genuinely impressive; the programme changes each year.

It is also cool, and it is the answer to what to do at Les Baux in the middle of a July afternoon.

Olive oil

The valley below produces Vallée des Baux-de-Provence AOP olive oil, one of the most highly regarded in France, and the mills around Maussane and Fontvieille sell direct and give tastings. This, and not the castle, is what most French visitors come back for.

See Provençal cuisine.

Getting to Les Baux

• By car — the only realistic way. 30 minutes from Arles, 40 from Avignon, 10 minutes from Saint-Rémy. The village is pedestrian; the car parks are below it and paid, and they fill by mid-morning in season.
• By bus — a seasonal service from Arles and Saint-Rémy, thin.
• By tour — day trips run from Avignon, Arles and Marseille.

See parking in France.

Around Les Baux

• Saint-Rémy-de-Provence — 10 km, with Glanum and Van Gogh
• The Alpilles — walking and cycling through white rock and olive groves
• Maussane and Fontvieille — the olive mills, and Daudet’s windmill
• Arles — 30 minutes, and the Camargue beyond it

When to go

Spring and autumn, and early. Les Baux is at its worst in the middle of a summer day: no shade on the rock, the street packed, and nowhere to park. It is at its best in the first hour after opening, or in winter — cold, empty and vast.

See when to visit Provence.

Photo credits

Photographs on this page come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences:

• The crag and citadel — Christian Ferrer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
• The castle ruins — Ignis, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Weather in Les Baux-de-Provence

Updated: 10 September 2026