My wife and I are looking to book a trip to France in Nov. - Dec. 2017 for about 2 weeks or so. We are planning to stay in Toulouse (6 days), visit Arles and Nimes (stay in one of these 2 cities, then take train to Paris. Which of these 2 cities would you suggest to stay in (Arles or Nimes) ? We will not have a car. We would like to stay for 4 days before moving on to Paris.
Also, does the TGV go to Arles or Nimes from Toulouse?
Thank you for all your input.
I believe there is at least one TGV per day (maybe more) from Toulouse to Nimes, then it's a TER from Nimes to Arles. Basically you could stay in either one and visit the other, they're less than 1/2 hr apart on the train. Just depends on what type of city you like. Nimes is a much bigger city at about 150k, Arles is closer to 50k. Nimes to Paris is TGV, Arles is just a short local train to Nimes, then TGV to Paris so it's not much difference.
Looks like there is a TGV service to Nimes from Toulouse
You can find this information by searching the SNCF website, the national rail service for France http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers
or try raileurope.com but the tickets are more expensive at that site.
I stayed in Nimes and Avignon before and both are about 30 minutes from Arles.
I would stay in Nimes as it is a good transportation hub; there are some nice roman ruins nearby e.g. it is bus ride away to the Pont du Gard. There is also a TGV Nimes to Paris from there.
I loved Arles although we arrived on a disastrous annual festival where things were pretty chaotic for someone not expecting that:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/quick-stop-in-arles/
I loved how walkable the central city was and how welcoming the locals were when we participated in their festival -- and we had some really great paella. If you have not been to France before I would definitely plan more time in Paris -- at least a week of the two you have.
We stayed in Arles and visited Nimes on a day trip. There was much to like in Arles but we thought we lliked Nimes a little better and would love to return and stay there.
I have not been to Arles, but we stayed overnight in Nimes and enjoyed it. It was walkable, the Roman amphitheater was very interesting, and it is close to Pont du Gard which was one of the highlights of our trip to France. Later we took the TGV from Avignon to Paris.
Nimes without a doubt and I have not been there! Arles has very narrow sidewalks and the minute you step in the street, a car comes roaring up behind you. I found it a stressful little city to visit and I usually love every place I go. Check out the comments about Arles in the Rick Steves book and he will confirm the crazy drivers in Arles..............
Both cities have great Roman ruins so that's a tossup. Arles is smaller and more walkable and fronts on the Rhone river, which is nice. It also has one of the best markets in Provence, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Another Arles attraction is the Antiquities museum, including a 2,000 year old Roman barge that they raised from the bottom of the Rhone and restored - fascinating! It's about 100 feet long and 10 feet wide and there's an interesting movie showing how they recovered and restored it.
While Nimes is closer to the Pont du Gard (an advantage), Arles is closer to St.-Rémy, Les Baux and the Camargue.
I've stayed in both and enjoyed both, also without a car.
My preference would lean a little towards Nimes, because the parks and attractions brought out many internal leisure travelers,
while most of the tourists in Arles are not themselves French.
Easy local bus connections from both cities, too, to hiking and historical sites.
Note that Nimes is technically not in Provence, so it can be fun to try and spot the differences...
