Nimes/Avignon/Pont Du Gard

You can do it with a car, but you'll really have to hustle. It's a pretty good walk from the parking lot to the aquaduct - - that might take an hour and a bit. In Avignon, you can take a look at the bridge and tour the palace in a couple of hours. Nimes is probably another two hours. It's how you're going to connect the dots that might be the kicker. By public transportation it's going to be a real stinker to pull off in one day. The real problem is Aix. By car, it's an hour and a half from Nimes (more central) since getting out of (and into) central Aix can be a bear if youdon't understand that darn one-way circular road with a thousand names. The real question would be, why Aix? It doesn't have a heck of a lot of general tourist interest. My pick would be Nimes and then catch the train from Avignon.

We wanted to take the high-speed train to Paris...can we do that fr Avignon? And we really don't want to drive - I know Pont Du Gard isn't directly from a train...we were going to have 2 days (well, 1 1/2 coming from Nice) so Nimes and Avignon are higher on my list then Aix...I had planned to do 2 nights and take an early train to Paris, but we need to squeeze another day into Caen/North France, and I thought if we left late (6pm-ish) to head to Paris, we could still get our 2 nights in there...(we were to PAris in 2010 for 3 nights, so we don't need a big stay) Oh, just checked the rail schedule - you can do the high speed fr Avignon - maybe will leave out Aix (and do a quickie to Arles...or not)...tks for the thought!

Yes, you can take the TGV from Avignon to Paris. I think it takes about 3 hours. And you can probably book a bus tour out of Avignon that will take you out to Pont du Gard. I just googled and found one that goes out of Avignon to Pont du Gard, Les Baux and Gordes, a six-hour tour for about $78. I'm sure if you researched, you can find quite a few bus tours from Avignon...

tks for the heads up guys! We aren't leaving til Sept, but part of the travel thrill for me is the planning - will def check out some daytrips to Pont du Gard...

Agree entirely with Ed. I would recommend staying in Nice and then train to Avignon. While your preference is to not drive, you do not state why. Trains in Europe are great, but Provence is one of those areas where a car is far better. Driving in that area is very easy. You can go TGV nonstop from Nice to Avignon TGV which is somewhat out of town. You could stay at the Holiday Inn right at the TGV station and use that as a base for driving to Pont du Gard, Nimes, and other places. The Holiday Inn has a large free parking lot. There is an inexpensive shuttle bus from there to "downtown" Avignon. So, you could take the bus into Avignon and drive to other locals.

Well, unfortunately what started out as 6-7 days in South France got cut to 4 because hubby wants to see Juno Beach/Mont St Michel and I said, well, if we're going back thru Paris, lets spend a few more days there...oh well, it's his vacation too...sigh...as for driving - we just aren't that comfortable driving overseas, and the expensive of a car/parking/etc when the trains are so plentiful...I think we'll arrange a day trip with one of the companies (anyone have some good/bad experiences/recommendations?). If we did have more then 4 days, we prob would seriuosly think of renting a car, but since right now it only looks like we have a few days in Nice, and time to see Avignon area for 2 days, it's not really worth the hassle...we'll be taking the train fr Cinque Terre to Nice... And I know everyone tells all the silly people not to cram too much into their vaca - we did that last time (because of hubby)...but another reason for hitting North France is to take the ferry across to Portsmouth (where my sister is - we are using our air miles, so unfortunately, no open jaw flights - only in and out of Heathrow)...and in my head, I know I should cut our 2 nights in Venice, having been there 2 times, but my heart says to keep it cuz I love it there...anyways, I still have til Sept to make some adjustments - thanks everyone for the help and suggestions.

With just a few days you can see a lot of Provence without a car. Nimes, Arles, and Avignon are connected by a triangle of rail; transferring to the TGV from any of these is not hard (and really only necessary from Arles as the TGV serves the others.) Aix is charming but the heck with it for this trip. What you miss with a car is a chance to see the smaller towns and the countryside, a shame but you don't seem to have time for that anyway. The lighting one-day itinerary you proposed is, as Ed says, out without a car, but I think it's too much anyway, so you are not losing much. If you are really pressed for time skip Avignon; the best Roman antiquities are in Nimes, Arles, Orange (the Theater) and of course the Pont du Gard. You could have a great day in Nimes with a bus trip to the Pont du Gard ALONE; you would not be bored. If you are very quick you might squeeze in a visit to Orange. I also think that given you are already spending time on the Italian riviera you might skip the French one and spend that time better in Provence.

I think some day will return to Provence and do it properly - I have honestly (and this may seem weird except to you travel dreamers) wanted to see Nice since I was a teenager many many moons ago and saw a week of Regis and Kathie Lee (!) when they went to the south of France - I can still picture them going thru the old town and winding stairways and alleys - I have had this in my head for 25 yrs or so...and if I want to get Kathie Lee out of my head, this is the only way to do it! ;p lol

I would skip Avignon in favor of Nimes and Aix, and also Arles, although Avignon is a good center for bus travel. But those other towns are all more attractive than Avignon.

We did some of this area last Aug. Awed by Pont du Gard, loves Arles. We hired a private driver (not one I'd recommend, although we "saw" lots) and we whizzed through the area. Avignon didn't do much for us and we weren't that impressed by the palace. Everything is a personal choice, but maybe check out the differences between some of the towns to see what appeals to you both. The TGV in Avignon is high speed and an easy station to navigate, but it is out of town. Also, if your husband is a WWII history buff, have you done the museum in Portsmouth? Operation Overlord embarked from Portsmouth and we thought the museum there was really good. It's small, but well done and the Overlord tapestry, a take-off on the Bayeux tapestry, is amazing.

I can only take soooo much WW2 per vacation - 1st trip was the War Museum in London, 2nd trip was Vimy Ridge...this trip he gets the beaches...maybe he can go see that when I meet up with my sister - we can go shopping! I'll def check into it...and I actually managed to get an extra day - and we are going to spend it in Aix/Avignon/wherever we decide to stay...after checking flights to Venice fr London, Gatwick is wayyyyy cheaper then Heathrow, so we're gonna fly in a day early (can only do Heathrow because of air miles and flying fr Halifax), and spend the night in London, (-) it off the end of the vaca and add it to S.France! I feel soo much better about it...