Aix en Provence private guided walking tour
Visit Aix en Provence with your own personal licensed tour guide. On this 2 hour tour, we will take you to the best places to visit in Aix en Provence and include the most interesting monuments and landmarks that this charming small town has to offer.
Meet your English speaking licensed tour guide
Today, meet your licensed tour guide directly at your accommodation, airbnb or Hotel lobby. Your guide is a specialist in private tours and historical walking tours in Aix en Provence so you will have the opportunity to explore the history and discover its cultural richness accompanied by an expert.
Start your Aix en Provence walking tour
Depending where your pick up is located in Aix en Provence, the tour may start in a different order but the most important sites to visit will be included. Begin your walking tour at La Rotonde an important location created between 1840 and 1860 and where you will admire one of the many fountains that can be found in Aix en Provence. Roughly 12 meters high, the fountain is composed of 2 bassins ornated with Lions, Dolphins, Swans and Children. The fountain is linked with the Canal of Provence.
Continue your tour towards the Cours Mirabeau and the Mazarin quarter. This unique neighborhood built on a grid plan is dotted with luxurious buildings that were erected to welcome members of the local parliament and bourgeois of the 17th century.
A number of beautiful private mansions can be seen here including Hotel de Gallifet and Hotel de Caumont built in 1715 that has become a renowned Art Center. Anotherinteresting fact is that the Mazarin quarter is home to the oldest street of Aix en Provence, rue d'Italie, that corresponds to the old Roman Road - Via Aurelia or Aurelian Way.
Reach the higher part of Cours Mirabeau where you will discover the 'Fontaine Moussue' (or mossy fountain) covered with moss that has built up over the decades, King René's statue and the Agard passage the most direct way to go from Cours Mirabeau to the Court of Justice.
The passage was built in 1846 and is today an open-air shopping mall that has preserved a number of architectural elements of a former church. From there, you will arrive Place de Prêcheurs where the Court of Justice of Aix en Provence is located. Here, your guide might show you Église de la Madeleine where Paul Cézanne was baptized in 1839.
Moving on, arrive on the square of the Town Hall that has been located here since the 15th century but rebuilt during the 17th century. The square is also home to a fountain that was erected in 1755 as well a Grain Exchange that was built in 1754.
Finally, reach the Old Aix Museum located in the prestigious Etienne de Saint Jean Private Mansion and that has been the museum of history of the town since 1932. The tour will end as you admire the ancient Palace of the Archbishops of Aix en Provence and the Saint Sauveur Cathedral. This area was all about ecclesiastical and political power during the 17th and 18th century. The Saint Sauveur Cathedral dates back to the 5th century and was remodeled throughout the centuries. The Cathedral was classified as a historical monument in 1875.
