The main Uzès market is held every Saturday morning, roughly 7:30 to 13:00, on the Place aux Herbes and surrounding streets. A smaller producers' market runs on Wednesday mornings (7:30 to 14:00), and a truffle stall joins the Wednesday and Saturday markets roughly from December through March. Stalls sell local produce, Pélardon goat's cheese, olives, wine, pottery and crafts. The market has run since 1241 and is five minutes by car from La Valette Boutique.
| Location | Place aux Herbes, old town of Uzès |
|---|---|
| Saturday market | ≈200 exhibitors · 7:30–13:00 |
| Wednesday market | ≈60 producers only · 7:30–14:00 |
| Tuesday night market (Jul–Aug) | ≈50 exhibitors · evenings |
| Winter truffle stall | Wed & Sat mornings · Dec–Mar · €800–1,500/kg peak |
| Truffle festival | Fête de la Truffe · annually, mid-January |
| First recorded market | 1241 |
| Parking | Free: Av. Général Vincent & Chemin de la Fontaine · Paid: Parking de l'Évêché |
| Free shuttle | Saturdays · Mayac district · every ~45 min · 8h–13h |
| From La Valette | 5 min by car · 25 min on foot |
The largest market in Occitanie. Around two hundred stalls fill the Place aux Herbes and spill into the surrounding streets: fruit, vegetables, cheese, charcuterie, olive oil, flowers, clothing and pottery.
Calmer and smaller: around sixty local producers only, no clothing, no resellers. This is where serious cooks and residents shop. Seasonal produce, artisan bread, goat's cheese and dried herbs from the garrigue.
The ‘marchés nocturnes’ run on Tuesday evenings in July and August. Around fifty exhibitors, more relaxed than the morning markets, with food stalls and live music.
Wednesday and Saturday mornings, roughly December to March. Black truffles from the Gard, Pélardon goat's cheese and local Duché d'Uzès wine. One of the finest truffle markets in the South.
A winter market through December with artisan gifts, local produce and mulled wine. Uzès at Christmas is particularly atmospheric.
What Place aux Herbes keeps giving us
The Place aux Herbes is one of those squares that earns its reputation without trying to. The medieval arcades have been here since the thirteenth century. The plane trees grow from a grid of stone. On a Saturday morning, when the market is full and the light is at an angle across the limestone, the scene has a quality that is difficult to locate elsewhere.
We come back for specific things: the cheese from the Cévennes producers, the olive oil from the valley below Uzès, the seasonal produce that arrives and disappears without announcement. What we buy changes by season. The reason to go is consistent: this is a genuine producers' market.
Our practical recommendation: arrive before 9h30, buy the things that will disappear early, then take a table under the arcades with a coffee and whatever you have bought. That is the version of the Saturday morning that makes people extend their stays.
The Uzès tourist office maintains the current market calendar at uzes-pontdugard.com.
The main event
Saturday on the Place aux Herbes
The Saturday market is one of the most beautiful in Languedoc. It has been held on the same square since 1241, under the same medieval arcades, in the same town. That continuity is part of what makes it worth going to.
The Place aux Herbes fills from around 8am. Stalls overflow into the neighbouring streets and into the Rue de la République. By 10am it is busy. By noon it starts to thin. Arrive early for the best produce and for the light. From La Valette Boutique it's a five-minute drive, so there's little reason to miss it. In winter the black truffle is sold at the Uzès markets, on Fridays in Carpentras and on Saturdays at Richerenches (1h13 from Uzès by car, route planner): see our truffle guide.
What to look for: Pélardon goat’s cheese from producers in the Cévennes, olives and tapenade from the Gard, honey from hives in the garrigue, lavender, seasonal fruit and vegetables, local pottery and ceramics from Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie nearby.
- Best time to arrive: 8:30–9:30am for full stalls and lower crowds
- Parking: Free parking on Avenue Général Vincent and Chemin de la Fontaine, 5 minutes on foot
- Cash: Most producers prefer cash, though cards are increasingly accepted
- Café: Take a table under the arcades at the Café de la République with your market finds and a café crème
- From La Valette: 5 minutes by car, 25 minutes on foot via country lanes
- Free shuttle: Runs Saturday mornings roughly every 45 minutes, 8h–13h, from the Mayac district (near Collège Saint-Firmin) via Les Amandiers, Résidence Dhuoda, the Mairie and the hospital
December to March
The Truffle Market
Truffle season brings a dedicated truffle stall to the Wednesday and Saturday markets, roughly from December through March, since exact dates shift slightly each year with the harvest. Black truffles, Tuber melanosporum, the Périgord truffle, are sold directly by producers from the Gard and surrounding areas. Prices are quoted per gram and vary significantly across the season.
The truffle market is small and expert. You will see traders inspecting and sniffing the truffles before buying, negotiating quietly in Occitan. It is genuinely one of the most atmospheric food markets in the South of France.
What to buy: whole fresh truffles (priced by the gram, ~€800–1,500/kg in peak season), truffle-infused salt, truffle oil from local producers, Pélardon goat’s cheese, and local Duché d’Uzès AOC wine to take back to your apartment kitchen.
Separate from the weekly stall, Uzès holds an annual Fête de la Truffe (Week-end de la Truffe) in mid-January, with its own programme: a Friday ‘soirée vigneronne’, a Saturday gala dinner and bodega evening, and a Sunday Truffle Day on the Place aux Herbes with a truffle market, dog truffle-hunting demonstrations, tastings and the traditional ‘messe de la truffe’. Check the current dates each year before planning a trip around it.
- Best weeks: January and February for peak quality and supply
- Arrive by 9am: the market moves quickly and the best specimens go early
- Whole truffles keep for 7–10 days wrapped in paper in the fridge, or freeze them
- Recipe tip: Store truffles with eggs in a sealed jar, since the eggs absorb the aroma beautifully
Practical
Getting there from La Valette
La Valette Boutique is in Sanilhac-Sagriès, 5 minutes south of Uzès by car. The Place aux Herbes is in the heart of the old town, about 800 metres from the main car parks.
- By car: Take the D979 north towards Uzès. Park on Avenue Général Vincent (free, 5 min walk) or Parking de l’Évêché (paid, 2 min walk)
- On foot: 25 minutes via the footpath through the garrigue, following the signs to the centre ville from the edge of town
- Early start: Market starts at 8am; be back for a late breakfast at La Valette with your finds
The other two markets
Wednesday mornings and summer Tuesdays
Wednesday morning is the market residents actually shop at. Roughly sixty stalls, producers only, no clothing and no resellers. Cévennes lamb, Pélardon goat cheese, gariguette strawberries in spring, Uzège asparagus, truffles in winter. It runs from 7h30 to 14h, on the same square as Saturday, but at a fraction of the scale and without the tour groups.
From July to August, Tuesday evenings bring the ‘marchés nocturnes’: around fifty exhibitors, food stalls and live music, a noticeably more relaxed atmosphere than either morning market. It runs after the day's heat has passed, which makes it a pleasant way to spend a summer evening in town.
If you only have one morning, Saturday shows you more. If you want to shop the way Uzès actually shops, go Wednesday. If you are in town in July or August, the Tuesday nocturne is worth building an evening around. Whichever you choose, La Valette Boutique is only five minutes from the square: close enough to come back for breakfast, or head out again once the sun goes down.
- Wednesday: around 60 producers, no clothing or resellers, calmer than Saturday
- Tuesday nocturne: July and August only, around 50 exhibitors, food and music
- Cards: most producers prefer cash, though card acceptance is increasing