France · Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Where to Stay in Valence, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Valence is the capital of the Drôme on the Rhône in southeast France, an old cathedral city where the south of the country begins.
Find your area →
Where to stay in Valence
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Where you stay in Valence turns on the old town. The streets around the cathedral and the Champ de Mars keep the museums, the shops, and the park within a walk, and staying downtown suits anyone here for the city. The old lanes climb from the river.
Rooms sit near the cathedral. Out toward the Rhône and the parks, the town meets the water and the gardens. A room by the river trades the old lanes for the promenade, the Parc Jouvet, and the view across to the Vercors.
The wide river opens past the edge. If you want the cathedral and the shops, stay downtown; if you want the river, take a room by the water. Either way, the old town is close at hand.
About Valence
Valence is the river city where the Midi begins.
What is Valence known for?
On the Rhône between the Vercors and the Provençal south, it keeps a Romanesque cathedral of Saint-Apollinaire, a carved Renaissance house of heads, the famous lovers' bandstand of the Kiosque Peynet, and a park above the river, at the door of the Midi. The wide river runs below. River and gardens mark the city.
What are the main landmarks in Valence?
The cathedral of Saint-Apollinaire stands at the heart of Valence. The Romanesque church of pale stone, one of the oldest in the region, rises over the old town, the emblem of the city, near the river. A carved house draws the eye.
The Maison des Têtes, a Renaissance mansion covered in stone faces, stands in the old lanes, while the Kiosque Peynet, the Parc Jouvet, and the museum mark the streets of Valence.
What is the history of Valence?
Valence has guarded the Rhône since Roman days. A Roman town stood here on the great road down the river valley, and in the middle ages it became a bishop's city and later held a university of its own. A Romanesque cathedral rose above the river.
The townsfolk built the church of Saint-Apollinaire in the old style, and around it grew a town of narrow lanes and carved stone houses. Valence stood where north met south. Travellers said that here the Midi began, where the Provençal south opened before them down the Rhône, and the city grew as a stop on the road and the river to the sea.
Later it drew people from afar. In the last century many Armenians settled in Valence, fleeing far troubles, and gave the city a quarter and a heritage of their own. The old cathedral still stands by the park.
Valence keeps its cathedral and its gardens on the Rhône.
Where is Valence?
Valence lies on the Rhône in the Drôme, southeast France, below the cliffs of the Vercors. The city sits on the left bank of the great river, on a wide plain where the north of France gives way to the Provençal south, with the mountains rising to the east. High cliffs rise to the east.
The river runs south toward Provence.
What is the climate of Valence?
Valence has a warm climate on the edge of the south. Hot, dry summers fill the valley, cooled by the mistral wind down the Rhône, and mild winters bring some rain and rare frost, with long sunny springs. The mistral blows strong down the valley.
The plain warms early in the spring.
How do you get to Valence?
Valence lies on the Rhône in southeast France, between Lyon and Provence. Fast trains and the motorway run to it down the Rhône valley from Lyon and Marseille, and roads climb east into the Vercors. Buses reach the valley towns around.
Most arrive by train from Lyon.
Good for
More cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Updated August 2026