Avignon City Add-On

An excellent holiday. The first two days pass through peaceful and pleasant countryside, becoming more scenic at the Gorge du Gardon. The third day gained interest with the charming villages of Argilliers and Vers-Pont-du-Gard before the highlight of the Pont du Gard itself. We were happy to be there at the beginning of the season as it obviously gets very business in the main holiday periods.

The hotels are reason enough to do this trip. Each has its own character and charm, and all were welcoming and friendly and served delicious dinners.

We also enjoyed two nights in Avignon where we would recommend privately arranging one of the guided walking tours. The Hotel Cloître Saint Louis is very convenient for the station. 

We had lovely meals at L'Oxalis in Collias, and Le 26 and Arlequin in Avignon. We strongly recommend making reservations in advance at any time of year. 

Varied terrain of the walks, well chosen village locations, interesting acrhaeology, flora and fauna. Obviously avoid Le Bistro de Coleur. We think we pushed the envelope for "end of season" and would have had more access to museums etc a little earlier.

Highlight: The Walk of the Ancient Aqueduct for the variety, despite some difficulty with the notes

For anyone spending longer in Avignon we would definitely recommend walking over the river to Villeneuve-Les-Aviginon and visiting the sites there.  We took the bus back.

This was an excellent holiday, with three delightful hotels linked by pleasantly varied walks, and a highlight at each end. Uzès is a charming way to start (we don’t understand why it is not better known) and the Pont du Gard and the other ruins of the Roman aqueduct provide a unique climax to any trip. The included meals, not to mention the two picnics, were delicious and generous – we had forgotten quite how good French cooking can be. We extended the basic holiday with two nights in Avignon, and very much appreciated the city tour walk notes that Inntravel provides (though we would also urge other people taking time in Avignon to try to find time also to visit Villeneuve, just the other side of the Rhone). We did run into 3½ days of Mistral wind, which made some of the garigue walking a bit blustery, but the sun shone and it did not rain – not always the way things go for these particular Inntravellers! We suspect it would be even better in spring, with wildflowers in bloom, but it made a lovely early autumn holiday.

This was our first ‘Journey’ style holiday with Inntravel, and we found the same meticulous planning and attention to detail that we have experienced in previous walking holidays.

We undertook the whole journey from the UK by rail, which although it takes much longer than flying, is actually quite relaxing. All the train links worked well, with plenty of time allowed to make the necessary connections.

The 3 cities were all fascinating, with so much to see in each one. We found it worthwhile spending an extra night in each of the cities, as that enabled us to spend an entire day exploring each one, as well as giving us a chance to take some of the recommended day trips. We were able to take a day trip to Carcassonne from Narbonne, as it’s only 30 mins by train, and it’s quite a frequent service.

The 3 hotels Inntravel use are all very well situated, not too far from the stations, yet within easy walking distance to the main attractions.

We were fortunate that our stay in Narbonne coincided with a ‘free’ cultural weekend, so we were able to visit all the main sights without having to pay. In Nimes and Arles we bought the respective tourist pass which is a cheaper and more convenient way to visit all the historical sights.

September is an ideal month to visit this part of France. We had warm and sunny weather apart from one showery morning, and it wasn’t overwhelmed with too many tourists.

Rather than taking the suggested day trip to Avignon, we booked 2 nights there as a city add on at the end of our holiday. This was worthwhile, as it is quite large, and there is a lot to see.

Finding good places to eat in the evenings was never a problem. Our favourites in each city were Restaurant Gaia in Narbonne, Les Magnolias in Nimes, Le Constantin in Arles and Le Cochon Bleu in Avignon. They were all close to the hotels as well.

Our highlights include the cathedral, archbishop’s palace and the Horreum in Narbonne, the Jardin de la Fontaine in Nimes, our day trip by bus to Aigues-Mortes, the Alyscamps, lunch in the delightful courtyard of the Espace Van Gogh and the Archaeological Museum in Arles. In Avignon, we enjoyed our visit to the Palais des Papes, walking on the famous bridge, and the views of the Rhone and Mont Ventoux from the Rocher des Doms gardens.

However, the most pleasure came from taking our time and wandering through the streets of these ancient cities, helped by the Inntravel maps and walking notes.