Cours Mirabeau

Aix-en-Provence

LoginSave

No streetscape better epitomises Provence’s most graceful city than this 440m-long, fountain-studded street, sprinkled with Renaissance hôtels particuliers (private mansions) and crowned with a summertime roof of leafy plane trees. It was laid out in the 1650s and later named after the Revolutionary hero the Comte de Mirabeau. Cézanne and Zola hung out at Les Deux Garçons, one of a string of busy pavement cafes.

Among the most impressive hôtels particuliers is Hôtel d’Espagnet (1647) at No 38, a masterpiece of the Aix baroque style built for a successful cloth merchant who rose to the aristocracy.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Montagne Sainte-Victoire.

    Montagne Ste-Victoire

    9.83 MILES

    East of Aix rises Cézanne’s favourite haunt, the magnificent silvery ridge of Montagne Ste-Victoire, its dry slopes carpeted in garrigue (scented scrub),…

  • The red rock formations at Colorado Provencal in France.

    Colorado Provençal

    27.25 MILES

    Named after its fiery red and orange landscape (which locals likened to Colorado), this former ochre quarry is one of the best places to appreciate the…

  • Calanques National Park at dawn, view over the city of Marseille.

    Parc National des Calanques

    21.18 MILES

    The calanques (coves) of the coast surrounding Marseille became France's 10th national park in 2012, preserving their astonishing beauty and harbouring an…

  • Marseille, France at night. The famous european harbour view on the Notre Dame de la Garde; Shutterstock ID 422043877; Your name (First / Last): redownload; GL account no.: redownload; Netsuite department name: redownload; Full Product or Project name including edition: redownload

    Vieux Port

    16.51 MILES

    Ships have docked for millennia at Marseille’s birthplace, the vibrant Vieux Port. The main commercial docks were transferred to the Joliette area in the…

  • MARSEILLE, FRANCE - 21 FEBRUARY 2016: Interior of Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseille, Provence, France

    Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde

    17.18 MILES

    Occupying Marseille’s highest point, La Garde (154m), this opulent 19th-century Romano-Byzantine basilica is Marseille's most-visited icon. Built on the…

  • La foret des cedres with hiking and walking trails and panoramic views near Bonnieux, Luberon, Provence, France.

    Fôret des Cèdres

    21.1 MILES

    In the scrubby hills about 6km south of Bonnieux, a twisty back road slopes up to this wonderful cedar forest, whose spreading boughs provide welcome…

  • Aix-En-Provence, France - 04 20 2023: Granet Museum. Sculptures and objects from the archaeological region of Aix-En-Provence; Shutterstock ID 2293616765; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI 2293616765

    Musée Granet

    0.25 MILES

    Aix established one of France's first public museums here, on the site of a former Hospitallers' priory, in 1838. Nearly 200 years of acquisitions …

  • The Panier district

    Le Panier

    16.22 MILES

    'The Basket' is Marseille's oldest quarter – site of the original Greek settlement and nicknamed for its steep streets and buildings. Its close, village…

View more attractions

Nearby Aix-en-Provence attractions

1. Caumont Centre d’Art

0.06 MILES

The Caumont is a stellar art space housed inside the Mazarin quarter’s grandest 18th-century hôtel particulier (mansion). While there are three quality…

2. Fontaine d’Eau Chaude

0.09 MILES

Dating to 1667, this small fountain, the first along the Cours Mirabeau, is fed by 18ºC spring water that encourages the diversity of greenery with which…

3. Vieil Aix

0.09 MILES

One of Aix' great charms is its historical centre: ramble through it, drinking in divine streetscapes as you choose which historical, cultural or culinary…

4. Place des Quatre Dauphins

0.13 MILES

This especially charming square in the Quartier Mazarin has a baroque fountain (1667) with water-spouting dolphins.

5. Fontaine de la Rotonde

0.13 MILES

Built in 1860 as the centrepiece to the place de la Rotonde, the roundabout at the western edge of Cours Mireabeau, this magnificent fountain is adorned…

6. Fontaine du Roi René

0.14 MILES

In the centre of cours Mirabeau is this lovely sculpted fountain from 1823, depicting the 15th-century king holding muscat grapes (which he reputedly…

7. Musée Granet

0.25 MILES

Aix established one of France's first public museums here, on the site of a former Hospitallers' priory, in 1838. Nearly 200 years of acquisitions …

8. Église St-Jean de Malte

0.25 MILES

This 13th-century Gothic church in Aix’s Quartier Mazarin, built as a fortified place of worship by the Knights Hospitaller, was the first of its kind in…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "france/provence/aix-en-provence/attractions/cours-mirabeau/a/poi-sig/1229369/359282",
  "destination": "Aix-en-Provence",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "France",
  "city": "Aix-en-Provence",
  "position": "superzone"
}