I am having a very difficult time planning an itinerary including the Pont du Gard because getting there seems to be very inconvenient. Please let me know if you have any suggestions as to how I can spend consistent nights in the same hotel and get to the Pont du Gard. After awakening in Arles, I am spending day 1 in Arles, sleeping somewhere for night 1, day 2 at Pont du Gard, sleeping somewhere for night 2, and the morning of day 3 I take the train to Nice. Where should I sleep for nights 1 and 2? I think ideally I would spend night 1 in Avignon and night 2 in Marseille, so I'd have a quick trip to Nice on day 3, but that involves a one-nighter in 3 different cities in a row. I could also spend nights 1 and 2 in Arles, but getting from Arles to Pont du Gard seems to require numerous transfers as does Arles to Nice. Additionally, I could spend nights 1 and 2 by the Marseille St Charles station, but I'm not sure how complicated getting from Marseille to the Pont du Gard is as well (Marseille to Avignon Centre to Pont du Gard to Nimes to Avignon Centre to Marseille?!?). I appreciate any assistance, or any advice as to whether it's better to have more one-nighters or fewer train transfers since it looks like that is the trade-off. Advice about getting to the Pont du Gard is also helpful since it's the Pont du Gard part that's making this whole thing a mess and the travel (first time to Europe) seems very daunting! Perhaps the Pont du Gard isn't worth it? Oh, and I will only be traveling by train or bus - no rental car.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
If it were me, I'd stay put and ride the rails (and buses) to see the sights. Shifting your bags to a new town is lots more hassle than taking a short train ride. Arles is a great base.
Consider this plan. The morning of Day 2 catch an early train to Nimes. See the city for a few hours and take the bus to the Pont du Gard. In the afternoon take a bus to Avignon. Explore a bit and return to your room in Arles that night. The train rides are from 20 to 30 minutes each. This is an ambitious itinerary--you do want to cover a lot of ground, right? but if you don't have a car you have to use mass transit. Fortunately in France that's not so bad.
In any case, take a look at map of Provence. Marseilles is not near the Pont du Gard. Arles, Nimes, and Avignon are. Good luck!
Posted by
vancouver, bc, canada
421 posts
I say chose one place as your home base.
this sounds sort of like what we are doing but sort of reversed.
I say either stay in Arles for all three or else two in Arles and one in another city
Posted by
OP
Washington, DC, USA
31 posts
Staying in Arles is a possibility, but it seems to be complicated getting from Arles to the Pont du Gard and back. Additionally, the train from Arles to Nice goes through Marseille taking over 4 hours, so I was wondering if there was a more direct itinerary to address both of these.
Posted by
oregon
131 posts
Another possibility is to use the services of a tour. Viatour (or maybe it's Viatours)is a company I've used in several countries other than France- without a car for my upcoming trip, either, I have booked an all-day lavender tour with them for later this summer. They pick you up from your hotel in Avignon (although the website sort of said Arles, too, but not later in the process). Some of the tour options included Pont du Gard as one of the places they stopped. Granted it's a tour, but it gets you where you need to go and all you have to do is sit in the seat and not try to plan all the routes! Additionally, while Avignon is more expensive than Arles, some of the hotels I looked at included mini-tour promotions that of course included the Pont, too. If you are set on Arles, I really bet at the TI you will find some company that does half or full day trips like this, too- maybe try doing some looking online.
Posted by
Lansing, MI, USA
85 posts
I did a day trip to Pont du Gard from Arles, and Arles works fine for a home base. (It's hard to find the info on the bus online.) You really should pick one city as a home base, because moving around from one hotel to another is harder than using the train and bus for day trips.
How I did it: Early morning train from Arles (actually, it was a shuttle bus run by the train company) to Avignon, bus to and from Pont du Gard, train from Avignon to Arles. The bus station in Avignon is right next to the Avignon Centre Ville train station. (Exit the train station and turn right.) The bus to Pont du Gard leaves at 7:55 AM or 12:05 PM. (Check with the TI when you arrive to confirm.) You get off at a roundabout -- cross the street and follow the road. Pont du Gard is about 20 minutes' walk from the bus stop. The bus going back to Avignon is at about 1 PM or at 6:45 PM. Be sure to wait at the other bus stop (the one on the same side of the street as Pont du Gard.) It's worth it!
Posted by
Lansing, MI, USA
85 posts
Also, the TI offers half day Pont du Gard tours. Talk to them when you arrive and weigh your options.
Posted by
Annandale, VA, USA
18 posts
We traveled to the Pont du Gard a couple years ago. I believe that we added it on as a daytrip from Arles. It worked out okay, but if you want to take the canoe trip under the Pont du Gard book in advance through a tour company to ensure that they'll be there to pick you up at the traffic circle. From memory, I believe that the guidebook says that the tour companies will visit frequently, but we didn't find that to be the case. Go early (ie first thing in the morning) if you plan to canoe.
Whether it's worth it depends on your interests--it's subjective. From experience, however, I think you may be trying to pack too much into your time and you may be left with too little time to enjoy your individual destinations. We were also guilty of that during our first trip to Europe.