First time to Arles. We spend 3 nights here. I hope to do day trips to the Pont du Gard, Nimes, Aix, Avignon, Rousillion – everything unfortunately. All via rail, no car. Should we take a tour? Recommendations, please, of what can be done in 2 1/2 days.
Thank you.
I agree. It's too much for 2 1/2 days. I would definitely leave out Aix - it's too far in the opposite direction of the others. You should be able to find bus tours that will get in the others.
I stayed in Arles and day tripped to Avignon. I spent around 7 hours there and felt that I saw all that I needed to see. Liked Arles a lot more. It was very easy to take the train there as they come quite frequently. Arles is also a lot smaller than I thought and that too didn't require lots of time to see it all. However I am more interested in walking around and spending time being outside rather then visiting museums.
This is a lot to do in not much time. However, we did something similar almost by accident. We were headed to Arles with no plans, but this is how it played out: We spent 2 nights in Arles. En route to Arles, we had a rail change in Nimes for about 2.5 hours. We walked from the station to the Arena and took the audio tour. After the tour, we walked back to the station and continued to Arles. This was hardly experiencing Nimes, but it was a spectacular way to spend a few hours during a layover. Arrived from Carcassonne via Rail early in the day, visited Arles all day. Took train the following day to Avignon, then returned, having dinner and evening stroll in Arles. Spent third morning at market in Arles gathering picnic supplies and purusing, then rented car and headed to Roussillon via Pont du Gard. If you go to PdG, DEFINITELY pack picnic supplies. It's awesome. That was our impromptu itinerary, and I don't regret it at all. We had a full day in Avignon, even more time in Arles, and a smattering at the other locales. The afternoon in PdG stands out.
I think Darren's experience is a great clue -- be flexible. If I was trying to do what you are, I'd print out the train times between all these places. Then I'd prioritize them based on what's most important to you and which ones are near each other, and start down the list without being too locked into keeping a certain schedule.
We've done something similar in Italy, when we felt like we'd seen the sites in the town we were staying, and took day trips to nearby towns and it worked out great. I think the problem comes when you put yourself under pressure to get to everything on your list.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you're staying in Arles, you can see quite a bit either early in the day (such as the morning market)or in the late afternoon/evening, after returning from a day trip. That will help with train schedules.
My feeling about Provence is that you'll probably enjoy your time no matter where you go. Happy travels.
Is it possible to re-think the car rental? It gives you so much more flexibility. And you could drive to the Pont du Gard.
Thank you all for your responses.
Avignon and Pont du Gard are high on the priority list. Nimes is third. I'll explore the tourism office and bus tours to see how to get to PdG. I wish we could rent a car, but both of us worry about navigating once the sun starts to set. I imagine we’ll have difficulty reading signage. Since no one has mentioned Rousillion, I guess that’s totally out of the question. That, Aix, and maybe Nimes will just have to wait until we hopefully return!
Darren, I like your itinerary, as well. Too bad we're not coming from Carcassone, then I could get a small taste of Nimes!
I think you can combine Nimes and the Pont du Garde, if you catch an early train and take the local bus to the Pont in the afternoon.
