How long for Pont du Gard?

I’ll be there next week. I’ll let you know. I’ve heard three hours. But to each his own

Pont du Gard takes more time than you'd guess. First of all, there is a fantastic museum at the entrance. I'm usually not crazy about museums, either, but this one was great - lots of neat info about the Roman aqueduct system, how it worked, etc. Then you can take a walking tour through the actual bridge (inside) but it's guided and timed, at least for an English tour. The walking tour isn't required - you can walk along the outside edge of the bridge on your own without walking inside - but the tour is pretty cool.

Three hours for Arles might be tight, just because it seems to take more time to get from place to place than you'd think. If you have just a few specific things to see (e.g. the arena) then yes you could probably rush in and see just a few things and get out in that amount of time.

We were at Pont du Gard three weeks ago. We spent around 3.5 hours there, with a pretty thorough visit to the excellent museum and some optional walking to viewpoints. So 2.5-3.5 depending on your choices of how to spend time. There is lots of parking--we followed RS advice to park on Rive Gauche near the museum. I don't think 3 hours is enough for Arles--we spent most of a day there, doing the RS walking tour and going to the museum, which was very helpful for perspective on the area. If you try to do it in 3 hours, you will need to be very selective. Getting from the museum to the walk took a long time--we ended up getting a taxi as we just missed the shuttle.

Enjoy!

It sounds like a lot to me. We spent most of the day at the Pont du Gard. It has a wonderful museum and is an amazing architectural site. You could skip the museum and just take a short look at the Pont du Gard, so maybe an hour. You could probably see the Roman sites in Arles in 3 hours, but, again, there is a really interesting museum on the south side of town that we really enjoyed.

I know you’re trying to fit a lot in. Just make sure you are happy with the balance between driving time and time actually seeing stuff.

It took me extra time at the Pont du Gard because as I was walking along I came across a Stag Beetle sunning itself on the wall. A big one. A really big one. Moving along but very slowly. I used two cameras, one digital one and one film one. I think I probably took 75 pictures of this guy. And a bunch more of people floating in barrels.

This was a few years ago - don't use much film anymore - and memory cards are much bigger and cheaper - I think we were there 3 to 4 hours, with no museum. Love the place. Gets a bit warm in the sun though.

If you’re going to Les Baux (and want to see the ruins), you can just get a combo ticket there for the lumieres. That’s what we did last July, unless something has changed. No need to purchase ahead.

We spent just over an hour at Pont du Gard,, but we got there after the museum was closed. We did a little hike thru the woods. But we had been there a few years before...very quickly on a group day tour when we were given about 45 min.

We’ve visited Arles a few times. I guess it depends on what sites you want to see. I think we spent a morning there...maybe 3-4 hours to see the arena and wander a little and have a meal.

We also spent a good few hours at Les Baux...our first trip we did the audio guide but it was Oct so there were no displays being done. The second visit we spent time watching the displays (including the trebuchet) but didn’t do the audio again. Both times we spent a few hours as there are some neat shops. We spent maybe 30-40 min at the lumieres.

We were there a few weeks ago as well, but on a day excursion thru the Tourist Office in Aix-en-Provence-en-Provence that covered Les Baux, Arles and Pont du Gard.
We knew our time would be limited at each place because they are all a good distance from Aix, but thought a taste was better than nothing. We did this on the day our Best of Eastern France tour ended and another couple from the RS tour joined the day tour, too.
We only had an hour at Pont du Gard, and our driver told us to go past the aquaduct and follow a trail down to the riverside. From there we had a great view. We then walked across the aquaduct and back, and up a trail that gave views from higher up. I had misunderstood the time we had and thought we had 1 3/4 hours, so didn't rush to get to the museum, so we didn't see it. But in the hour, we had a good chance see and experience the structure.

Starting from Orange, you could try to get tickets as early as possible for the Carrieres Lumieres, then visit Les Baux, then go Arles for a few hours, then make Pont du Gard your last stop and spend whatever hours you have left in your day there. Your trip back to Orange shouldn't be too long from there.
2 couples from the RS tour rented a car and did a similar route going to Avignon instead of Arles. They left Aix about 9:30 am, picked up the car, and were back in Aix about 7:30.

The timing for the Lumieres tickets in Les Baux is new since a month or so ago. I just walked up bought a combo ticket with the castle and walked in. The Lumieres loops so you can come in at any time and stay for as many showings or parts of showings you want and I doubt the seriously enforce the timing on ticket. If you're doing Les Baux last just make sure you have enough time to see the show and walk all the way across town to get the castle entrance before it closes - 6:00pm currently and 7:00pm in July and August. Parking is the same for both exhibits. I would say 2:30 hours before minimum to not feel rushed.

The "sites" of Arles can probably be rushed through in 3 hours is you skip - or run through - the museum and just walk the stadium and the theater and have lunch. The town itself deserves much more time than that - especially if you're a van Gogh fan - but the big boxes can be ticked in a couple of hours.

I think your plan is very tight timewise. If you are at PdG at 9:00 when they open spend 2 hours (total including walk to the site and back) then you might get to Arles by 12:00. Spend 3 hours touring the town - and don't forget lunch - and then get to Les Baux just about 4:00 you might be okay for the 7:00 last entry time.

If everything goes right - you don't get too lost, lose your car, or run into any serious crowds or delays it seems possible. Whether you'll feel too rushed or time pressured is up to you.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

We were at Pont du Gard last month and spent almost 4 hours. We did have lunch there, which was very nice.

Thanks for all the information. We booked tickets in the morning and will do our route in reverse as suggested. Good thing the days are long!

Pont du Gard has a visitor center with a museum. You could spend ten minutes or more than an hour depending on your level of interest. It's similar at the Pont. It's a fairly long walk from parking. Once there, you could take a photo and walk back to the car or you can take various hikes around the area. There are also guided tours that take you inside the water channel. How much do you want to do?

Arles has Roman baths, an Arena, a museum, and a variety of Van Gogh related sights. I stayed there as a base and thought it was a good choice. Again it depends on what interests you and how much time you want to budget for those sights.

We spent about 2.5 hours at Pont Du Gard while on a Rick Steves tour a couple of weeks ago. For me I could have used another hour. Loved the museum and its exhibits on the Roman water system. I ran out of time after spending about 2 hours walking to and from the actual site and hiking some of the trails for various angles and photos.

Carrieres Lumineres is a must-see. It's hard to describe. Les baux won't take long to wander through. If it's windy, skip the castle ruins.

I found Arles a bit dull, but you could easily spend 3 hours there. If you are interested in the Roman Civilization then there is a museum that is quite good and could eat up a couple of hours. If your intent is just to wander and see the sites, the Theatre and Amphitheatre are OK but I've seen much better in other parts of Europe.