Pont du Gard, by public transportation

We went by public transportation outside the main train station in Nîmes.
Read details on how to get there on the official site : https://pontdugard.fr/en/getting-here

Just take the 1st bus and I know you can book the tour in advance online for a later time on their official website https://billetterie.pontdugard.fr/en-GB/individuals

I was in Provence last month. I can only speak to Arles and Avignon, but as a place to 'settle in' I would recommend Arles over Avignon. I was in each 2 nights and want to return to Arles as there was so much to see. I could have done Avignon in a 1/2 day and it seemed so much more gritty.

Forgot to add, I loved Aix. It is a sit outside a cafe and watch the world go by kind of place. Not many 'sites' to see, but so attractive and easy to get around.

Just found a website with detail on taking bus from either Nimes or Avignon.
https://fearlessfemaletravels.com/bus-to-pont-du-gard/#:~:text=The%20bus%20from%20Nimes%20to,121%20from%20the%20icons%20below.

I agree with Arles. We stayed in Avignon primarily as we thought public transport options would be better. I think we might have enjoyed staying in Arles, day tripping Avignon, and muddling through other trips better.

We stayed in Arles four nights at an Air BnB and found a small tour company that took a group of 6 to Pont du Gard and a couple other places. The disadvantage is that you don’t have a lot of time in each place before you have to drive to the next.

Another day we took a train to Avignon. We went to Tourist Information, asked for location of bike rental, found it and rented bikes for a bike trip to Isle Sur la Sorgue that day. Fun!— So, we couldn’t go everywhere as easily without a car, but had fun figuring out trains and nearby places from Arles to go. Also, we found out that we were so happy we based our trip in Arles rather than Avignon. Arles seems smaller and more laid back. There are lots of things to see there within walking distance. We stayed near the coliseum.

Thank you so much Jazz+Travels, Laurie Beth, and Greg. The three of you have given me just the information I was hoping to get.
As I mentioned in my post, our RS' tour ends with one night in Aix-en-Provence. We are staying 3 additional nights in Aix, moving to a different hotel, then 3 nights in Arles. Booked hotels in those two towns.
I have tentatively penciled in 2 nights in Nimes and 3 nights in Avignon. I might consider changing to 3 nights in Nimes and 2 in Avignon, before heading to Lyon. It does take 15 minutes longer to go to the Pont du Gard from Nimes rather than Avignon.

Jazz: Good to know you went to Pont du Gard by bus from NImes. My concern about NImes is we arrive on Friday and buses are more infrequent on weekends.

Laurie Beth: Thanks for the positive words on Aix. Your description Aix is exactly what I envision as we decompress after a 2 week scheduled tour. Thanks also for the link to the blog, which also describes things to do at the Pont du Gard.

Greg: Thanks for the positive words on Arles. A good friend of ours loves that town. I'm hoping 3 nights there will be enough.

I’m planning our trip to Provence for May 2024. Thanks for your question, Carol. We are in a similar situation. Also, thanks to Laurie Beth, Kate98 and others for weighing in on Arles v Avignon. Kate98, you mentioned a tour company for Pont du Gard. Would you please share the name of the company? Thank you.
Gail

Can give you my experience last summer, which maybe isn't totally on point, but I was mostly public transportation too. As part of a longer trip, I picked Avignon as a home base for two nights. The first day, I got a tour guide with a car. She took us to Nimes, Pont du Gard, and Uzes. We could not possibly have done this without her. The second day, we took the train to Arles and did that on our own. We focused on Roman history in Arles, and therefore did not see a lot of Van Gogh stuff. We missed the Roman history museum in Arles, as that was on the outskirts, and we didn't have time. However, we did see the museum in Nimes, as well as the Maison Carre, the arena, and the Tour Magne. We stayed on the Place d'Horloge in Avignon, and that gave us a chance to see the markets, and the gardens outside the Palais des Papes. From there, we saw the sunset over the Rhone. I'm sure that there was more to do in Avignon, but we enjoyed it, and the inside of the Palais des Papes is just not that exciting. We did not go to Lyon.

I would add: we literally arrived the day of the big theater festival in Avignon, so it was packed, but it somehow wasn't hard getting a hotel only a few months before. Arles too had a big photography festival -- there were literally no hotels available and it was also packed. This was early July, so perhaps you are missing these festivals, but it is something to consider.

@gail. I can’t remember how I found that little tour company. This was a few years ago. I set it up before I went, so I’m pretty sure it may have been in the RS Provence guidebook.

During our stay in Avignon in summer 2013 we (family of four) used public transport to do a day trip from Avignon to Pont-de-Gard to Nimes (back) to Avignon: Take regional bus to Pont de Gard, and then another bus from Pont de Gard to Nimes, and then train from Nimes to Avignon. Below are our times, and we didn't feel rushed, and had plenty of time at the museum at Pont de Gard:

8:45am: bus departed Avignon. (bus station is next to the non-TGV train station, at least it was when we were there)
9:30am: bus arrived Pont de Gard
9:30am-1:52pm: Pont de Gard (including the excellent museum)
1:52pm: bus departed Pont de Gard
2:45pm: bus arrived Nimes
2:45-6:24pm: Nimes: lunch, Maison Carrée, Temple of Diana, outside of Arena (didn't enter the Nimes Arena as we had spent time on another day inside the Arena in Arles), etc.
6:24pm: Train departed Nimes
6:56pm: Train arrived Avignon

We learned of the above routing from the Rick Steves guidebook.
[EDIT] Carol: yes two kids, but teenagers.

geoffB: Thank you for posting your trip details to and from the Pont du Gard by bus and train.. I am impressed that you caught the 8:45 am bus with (I assume) 2 kids.
Our plans now are to go to the Pont du Gard from Nimes, even though it is a slightly longer trip than from Avignon. We'll probably go to Avignon on a day trip from Arles.

Let us know when you return how this worked out for you. As I said before I really loved Arles.

Laurie Beth: I hope I remember. Our trip is for September 2024.

Thank you for all of the good information! We are doing the RS Eastern France in September 2024 also and I've just begun planning for the post tour travel. We also plan to go to Avignon, Pont du Gard, Arles and possibly Roussillon. I was debating whether to stay in Avignon or Arles, now I'm definitely leaning towards Arles.