Roman Provence by Rail

We had a marvellous time touring the cities of Occitainie. Throughout, people were kind and helpful and we managed on our very basic schoolgirl/boy French. Carcassonne, our first destination (added on) was fascinating. Arriving on foot via the pedestrian bridge provided a fine first view of the mediaeval town’s ramparts and was the best approach for a wow impact. Our hotel, within the Cité, was picturesque standing on a large plot of land with a modern garden. All the hotels on this trip were comfortable, well located and had lots of character. In Narbonne, the Cathedral was astounding in its height, beauty and unusual organ, and also interesting in that a nave had not been constructed. There was much to see and our two days were made perfect by the serendipitous discovery of the new Narbo via Museum by our own UK based Fosters and Partners, full of Roman exhibits and a Café. It is a very successful building incorporating rammed earth walls that aptly echo the artefacts. You can walk to the Museum along the charming canal in twenty minutes. Onwards to Nîmes, again by train, a great mode of travel which proved to be reliable for us. Here, was a much livelier city with pockets of delightful antiquities. The hotel staircase is worth mentioning because it was like something from a Fellini film, or as my daughter said when I showed her the photo, well suited to Game of Thrones! We stayed an extra night to enable us to visit Pont du Gard. Easy bus journey took 45-50 mins. We found a magnificent aqueduct with an excellent museum exploring all aspects of the history and construction. We took a picnic and our swimming gear for this very worthwhile daytrip. In October, the river felt safe and was shallowish with pebbles underfoot and the water temperature bearable, quickly feeling gloriously refreshing on an unusually hot day. We would highly recommend a visit to this superb historic site just as the Inntravel guiding notes also do. The next city, Arles. The Arena here was even more impressive than the one in Nîmes perhaps because restoration is further advanced. We stayed at the Hôtel Musée with its pleasant breakfast courtyard opposite the Reattu Museum. The thermal baths were located close by. They retain a monumental height, soaring up to an apse leaving you in awe that it is still standing after 2000 years. We bought the 19 Eur ticket but wished we had considered more carefully and bought the cheaper one. We saw the Thermal baths, The Cloister, The Arena of course and The Crypt. The Theatre can be seen very well, we thought, from outside the protective fence. There are your four monuments available on the lower priced ticket. The Camargue museum is only accessible by car and they don’t tell you that. For a fantastic Museum, drop in on the Archaeological one (The Musée départemental -acronym of MDAA on the ticket) displaying brilliant models of the ancient Roman structures and also, floor mosaics. Their ‘piece de la résistance’ is a limestone laden barge dating to the First Century, pulled out of the muddy waters preserved by the salt. It is astonishing with its original wide wooden boards and rivets and made even better by the model showing where and how it was found. From antiquity to modern day, Arles is further enhanced by a very interesting new building called Luma by the American architect Frank Gehry (he of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao). You can see it from the tower at the Arena, reflecting the light and creating strange shadows with its mirrored irregular cladding and calling out to be visited. From the major road intersection where you step out of the Roman defensive walls, it is only a 10-15 mins walk. We thoroughly enjoyed Luma, including the videos where we heard the original concept from the architect and the genesis from the founder of the Foundation. We saw dramatic permanent art installations including two long slides intertwined in a double helix. We took the mats and skimmed down two floors. A significant building with splendid gardens too. It really added to the experience of Arles. This was a fabulous holiday! Roman remains held our interest probably because we alternated with modern buildings and a day trip to Pont du Gard. We did not have time for Avignon and Orange and would love to go back to enjoy their sights and wonders too.

Be very careful what you do with your cases on the trains. Luggage racks are limited but keep luggage in sight. If it looks unattended, they fetch it off as suspicious.

Outstanding visits for us were Avignon and the papal palace, and Carcassonne. This seemed an ideal time to visit as we had beautiful weather but not too hot for sight-seeing. We arrived around 11am at Carcassonne and did not find it too crowded. Booking tickets online the night before did speed up our entry to the cité. We also loved Aigues Mortes and were able to buy train tickets for €1 each single from the red machines in Nîmes station. It is an easy 30 minute walk to le salin where we took the petit train tour, again booking beforehand online.

As recommended, ask the Reception staff at hotels for restaurant recommendations. Their recommendations in Nimes were excellent. The arenas and Roman remains were just as wonderful as we had hoped. The Crytoportiques below the Hotel du Ville in Arles are spectacular.

An unwelcome arthritic knee nearly cancelltd this trip. However use of Uber / taxis saved some longer walks. Several very kind people, often young, helped heave our bags around and in doing so restored our faith in humanity. Only the Paris hotel had a lift to the floor our room was on, all the others though needed stair access. This was another in the long line of excellent Inntravel holidays, taking us to places unvisited and giving us lovely new experiences. Thank you again.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our Discovery Journey by Rail Provincia Nostra - a discovery of Roman Gaul with our city add-ons in Paris and Marseille 

Wonderful historical sites in Narbonne, Arles and Nimes. It's a dream come true for those who revel in all things Roman! 

I was on my own so I thoroughly enjoyed going around the towns at my own pace, lingering at sights and museums. Each town had its own particular charm and beauty. I was in Nimes for the summer solstice (June 21) and loved the unexpected torrent of live music that erupted around the streets that evening. Magical.

The travel, transfers, hotels, and included meals were as expected and were of high quality.  The easy to follow detailed walking and touring instructions were much appreciated and made for a stress free experience.  Many of our hotel rooms had fantastic views.  The included meals were delicious and added to the overall ease and enjoyment of the trip.  Booking the trip was not as efficient as would be expected.  While we will definitely travel through Inntravel again, we will request to be paired with a one travel agent next time to help the booking process to be more efficient and accurate.

Relaxing and enjoyable, 3 interesting towns full of history, both Roman and medieval. Good food everywhere we went. Useful tips and recommendations in the holiday pack.

Train journey across France well organised and relaxed. Choice of towns and hotels very good.

We were lucky to arrive in Nimes for the weekend of Journées Romaines, May 6-8. This meant that there were many extra Roman things to see, gladiators, dancing, crafts, life as a citizen, life in the legion. It did mean that the Amphitheatre wasn't available for visits. However we bought tickets for the Vercingetorix, Grand Spectacle Historique, and were treated to a 2-hour spectacular show In the Amphitheatre. It was all in French but being visual was easy to follow. It brought a different dimension to the holiday and lively atmosphere to the town

Overall an excellent holiday with masses to see and do. A longer stay in Nimes would be useful as there are 3 excursions from there, Avignon, The Roman aqueduct and the small recommended town (Aigues Mortes) all of which we would like to have done. We only managed Avignon which was well worth it. 

We enjoyed this holiday.  We travelled by train from the UK via Paris and started the holiday in Nimes, before travelling to Narbonne and then Arles.  We added an extra night in both Nimes and Arles. Inntravel provided assistance and advice when our planned train from Narbonne to Arles was cancelled due to a strike. One Roman highlight of the holiday was the Arena in Nimes. Another was the recently opened Narbo Via archaeological museum in Narbonne, with its amazing Stone Gallery, a 76m long, 10m high wall displaying 760 blocks of stone from Roman monuments (relocated from Notre Dame de Lamourgier Church) and excellent archaeological exhibitions (relocated from the Archbishop’s Palace). It’s a 15+ minute walk from the town centre, but it looks like there is a free shuttle-bus (Citadine 1) that stops there. In Arles, we were lucky that our visit coincided with the inaugural Festival du Dessin (Festival of Drawing) with exhibitions of art, including cartoons and comic art, spread over many venues in the town. Two of our best meals were at Le Caboulot de la Sérendipité and La Locanda, both in Nimes. Some online research before we travelled was helpful in identifying restaurants suitable for vegetarians. The mid/late April weather was perfect for walking around, and nowhere that we visited was too busy.

We have been on many Inntravel walking holidays, but this was our first city journey, and it proved very successful. I suspect we are not alone in having very little prior knowledge of the wealth of Roman remains in this part of France. I am in awe of what they managed to achieve.  The trip took us to major sites and also helped us to see them in their modern context. We were very pleased that we had added extra nights in both Nimes and Arles, as this allowed us to do the day trips in a relaxed manner without curtailing the time in these cities.  I would highly recommend the Pont du Gard, and Aigues- Mortes (although note that their festivals provide local colour but are extremely noisy!) We also broke the journey from Nimes to Arles by spending the day in Avignon  rather than making a separate trip. 

None of the cities or sites we visited were particularly busy, which made visiting very comfortable, but we did find many restaurants closed, especially in the evening, and online advice was often misleading  in this respect. 

As usual, Inntravel's choice of hotels was excellent, they were comfortable, friendly, and well situated. All the travel arrangements worked well. We also had excellent weather for site-seeing, almost no rain, mostly sun  but not too hot, and good for eating outside in the evening. 

We loved this holiday;  the Roman history was fascinating and so much of it! Each place from Narbonne to Nimes then Arles had its own charm - walking through the narrow streets glimpsing everyday lives. Wedding groups in the Jardine de La Fontaine in Nimes. There is still so much left to see and do. The Hotel La Residence in Narbonne was outstanding, from the welcoming  staff, the stylish rooms the quality of food at breakfast. It set us up for the rest of our holiday. The 42 steps to our room in Hotel du Musee kept us fit. An altogether memorable 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.

The pacing and destinations were ideal: two nights in each city, all close to one another by rail line, each hotel carefully chosen so we never used a car or taxi even from rail station to hotel. Exactly as we hoped. Be prepared to make hard decisions: with typically only one full day in each town, tempting day trips need to be balanced against taking full advantage of local sites and the provided walking tours, which we always made time for. The day trip to the medieval fortified town Aigue Mort was an absolute highlight. We never would have known to travel there were it not for the Intravel suggestion to do so. Coincidentally, our itinerary landed us in Arles on Saturday for its twice weekly open air market, one of the largest in Provence and another highlight.