Just hours from Paris on France's high-speed train, the TGV, Provence is easily accessible to millions of visitors every year. It is a favorite destination for French families who clog the thoroughfares heading south each summer in pursuit of sun and relaxation. Spring, early summer, and fall are, therefore, the preferred seasons in Provence though the mild climate makes winter visits possible as well. Whenever you go, don't miss out on these attractions.

1. Roman ruins

Some of the finest Roman ruins in Europe can be found in the south of France, an area of the Roman empire that served as a kind of first century retirement community. Even today, amphitheatres in towns like Arles, Nîmes, and Orange are used for local events, notably Provençal-style bullfights and, in the case of Orange, a popular summer music festival. The Pont du Gard aqueduct west of Avignon is a remarkably solid example of Roman engineering. It was originally built 2,000 years ago to carry spring water some 50 km into Nîmes where it was used for fountains, a sewer system, and spas.

Archeological digs in Vaison-la-Romaine have uncovered only a fraction of the Roman town that is buried beneath the modern one. There, visitors can stroll up and down the main market street and enter well-designed homes with kitchens, baths, receptions rooms, and private quarters.

2. Avignon

Avignon can lay claim to an exclusive role in the Catholic church that no other location other than Rome can claim. For nearly 100 years, starting in 1309, the city was the home of the Pope, and the Pope's Palace, a gargantuan edifice on the Rhone River, remains to this day a hub of activity. Each summer the palace hosts France's oldest theatre festival; the rest of the year visitors are so numerous the palace ranks as one of the 10 most visited monuments in France.

3. Hill towns of the Luberon

It is hard to describe a certain way of life as tourist attraction, but visitors to Provence should head to one of the small towns (Gordes, Roussillon, Ménerbes are a few) in the interior hills and spend some time living like a local. Take leisurely lunches under the plane trees that shade the village squares, watch locals play a game of pétanque (bowls), wander through local shops admiring the cotton table linens and olivewood serving pieces, visit an olive mill or a lavender press, sip a pastis in the cool evening air listening to the cicadas. In short, indulge in a slower pace that comes with hot summer days.

3. Mont Ventoux

Northeast of Avignon is the tallest mountain in Provence at over 6,000 feet and the first indication of the Alps that will dominate the landscape further on. When the plains around Avignon are sultry, the mountain top is usually windy and cool. At the summit, the view to the Mediterranean, and even beyond (on a clear day), is incomparable. The trek up and back down has sometimes been one of the stages on the Tour de France cycle race.

4. Mediterranean Coast

The coastal area of Provence boasts medieval villages, a nature reserve, fishing ports and an ancient, international city. Start on the western end at Aigues-Mortes, a jumping off point for the Crusades, that is no longer even on the coast. Silt build up on the Rhone Delta has pushed the town several kilometers inland. Next stop, Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer which hosts twice yearly gypsy festivals. Further on, the Camargue is a wild region of salt marshes where abundant wildlife live side by side with the bulls that are raised for Provençal bull fighting.

5. Marseille, founded by the Greeks in 600 BC is France's second city and home to a large percentage of immigrants. Finally, on the eastern end of the Provençal coast the small fishing port of Cassis also plays host to a fleet of tourist boats that ply the waters of the calanques, small, fiord-like bays that can only be reached by boat or on foot.