The small town of Les Baux en Provence is a small alpine village located in the mountains just outside Arles, France. The town of Les Baux en Provence is a quaint European village that has been inhabited since the 10th century. A day visit through Les Baux offers a glimpse into centuries past, in addition to have the opportunity to clamber across an ancient castle overlooking the south of France.

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This post is one chapter on a trip to the South of France and Cinque Terre, Italy. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For information on how this trip was booked, please see our introduction. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Climbing the Castle at Les Baux de Provence, France

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Les Beaux de Provence marks one of the greatest historic cities in France. Les Beaux de Provence marks one of the unique discoveries slightly off the beaten path, since it’s not easily accessible by rail.

I’ve visited on a number of occasions using a rental vehicle, most recently from Sixt at Nice airport. Much like my last visit to Nice, this visit marks a return visit to Les Beaux de Provence after seventeen years.

About Les Baux de Provence, France:

Les Baux de Provence is located in the Alpilles mountains, northeast of Arles, on top of a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle. The name Les Beaux de Provence refers to the site. In Provençal, bauç is a rocky spur. From the village name the word bauxite was coined for aluminium ore, when it was first discovered in Les Beaux by geologist Pierre Berthier in 1821. Until 13 August 1958, the commune was officially named La Baux.

The village was renamed after the historical province of Provence, and is considered one of the most beautiful villages in France with over 1.5 million visitors per year. Les Beaux de Provence only about 20 residents in the upper part of the commune, and 315 (as of 2020) for the whole commune.

Getting to Les Baux de Provence:

Les Baux de Provence is best reached by vehicle. We departed our hotel at nearby Renaissance Aix – En – Provence Hotel and drove about 60 minutes by rental car to Les Beaux en Provence. Our final destination for the day was the Novotel Grenoble Centre hotel, making Les Beaux a nice stopover on our journey on France’s highways.

Les Baux en Provence has gotten smart and installed pay parking throughout the area. I ended up paying 6€ for two hours of parking, which I would describe as a fast paced visit. If I were to return, I’d probably aim for a more leisurely three hour visit.

After parking, we wandered up the walkway towards the castle. The castle can be seen from the valley, and it marks a grand feature on the hillside.

Looking at the reverse angle, the slope leading up to Les Baux offers great valley views. With a gorgeous fall day and warm temperatures, we were able to leave the jackets in the car and walk mostly freestyle.

We made it to the top of the slope and the direction decision maker for routes in and out of Les Baux en Provence.

Visiting Les Baux de Provence, France:

At the base of the village, we entered into the historic village portion of Les Baux. The village is free to visit, and the castle itself requires a small admission. 

Les Baux de Provence Village is absolutely charming to visit. The village pathways wind their way through the hillside slope of the castle, leading visitors down columns of passageways filled with stone shops and restaurants.

During our saturday visit in October, I would have expected many more crowds visiting these narrow streets. However, we seem to have been blessed with a lack of visitors and tour busses visiting.

We wandered up towards the Château area of Les Baux, which is located at the top of the hill.

Visiting the Château Les Baux:

Near the top of Les Baux, we paid admission to access the Châteaux Les Baux. It was a simple 8€ per person for access.

Upon entering the grounds of the Châteaux, we had a short visit through some botanical gardens as we walked into the grounds. The castle grounds represent the ruins of an castle area that have been inhabited since 960 AD. The castle represented much of its construction through the 1200’s, coming into full age around the 1600’s.

Despite being a weekend, we had an quiet and unhurried walk through the Châteaux des Baux. With shady spots on the walk, we were able to get a small heat break from the southern facing sun.

The castle was full of ancient devices including sling shots, prisoner devices and other implements of destruction. I captured myself in an entertaining cage, which was appropriate (at times) given limitations to travel in our daily lives.

We climbed our way up toward the top of the castle, which was a little tricky involving some single passage flights of stairs along with a few great views on heights. Some of the passage ways were narrow enough to supervise your children at all times.

The views from the top of the castle were spectacular across the valley floor. Whether it was peering out through castle windows or straight through the sight lines of the castle, it was a wide panoramic view of the south of France.

We also had a quaint view of Les Baux town from on top of the castle. The photo below shows some of the elevated walks on the left hand side, along with the labyrinth of streets in the town of Les Baux itself.

After taking in the castle, we headed back down towards the village of Les Baux. It was still a quiet day in the village as we headed back towards our car.

Les Baux and the Châteaux of Les Baux is a great place to visit on a day trip to southern france.

My Thoughts on Visiting Le Châteaux of Les Baux:

It was great to return to the Châteaux of Les Baux after seventeen years. For a castle that has been around for several hundred years, admittedly, not much has changed in the surrounding area.

Les Baux marks a great day visit if you’re passing through the south of France.

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If you’ve visited Les Baux en Provence, what’s your favorite secret of visiting the city ?

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